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The Future Of The Podcast Is Something I’ve Been Thinking About A Lot Lately.If you’ve been wondering what’s up with the podcast… join the club. After doing this for so long, I was really thinking that maybe it was time to turn the page and put it to bed.

But the more I thought about it, the more I knew that that decision wasn’t coming from the right place.

The last thing people would say about me is that I’m indecisive.

In fact, I’ve probably made a lot of decisions quickly that could have used a little more processing time to weigh the pros and cons, but that’s really not how I operate, so I’ll leave that one alone.

The past 6-8 months have fascinated me when I step back and examine what’s happened and how my mindset has shifted (read ‘grown’).

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I attribute this to a few things:

• Experience – having been in this game for a long time, I know enough that in times of uncertainty or the need for clarity, it’s best to be patient.
• Age – there is something so freaking delightful about getting older and caring a whole lot less about what other people think
• Life changes—The move back to California in February 2023 was right for me, and now I’m heading back to Costa Rica. People have asked how long I’ll stay there, and I honestly don’t know. I want to stay put for a while (which, to me, is 3+ years). Ultimately, I’d like to buy there, but we’ll see where the economy goes.

A little history about the podcast:

I started podcasting in 2013 when I was “The WPChick” and the podcast was “The WPChick Podcast.”

There were maybe 5 other WordPress podcasts at the time, so getting some traction was pretty easy. I alternated between solo shows and interviews, which was a smart strategy because it really grew my audience.

I think the years between 2019 and now were so challenging personally that to host interviews and truly show up for other people felt like a lot of work… work that I didn’t really have the energy for… until now.

During that time, I went through some extremely challenging situations with my son, and then my Mom passed away unexpectedly in 2019, and my world was turned upside down.

Then, we all know what happened in 2020, when I decided to move to Boise, ID, followed by a move to Costa Rica in 2021.

So… needless to say, the last 5 years have been a lot (with other things happening in the background, but I’ll save that for my therapist).

Here’s the thing with all of this: To some people, this may not seem like a lot, and to others, it may seem overwhelming. I’ve been so incredibly hard on myself for things I’ve done, not done, not done enough of, woulda’, shoulda’, coulda’…. the judgment is what’s really gotten in the way.

None of us get through this life unscathed, without messing up, losing people we love, and without challenges and struggles.

That’s life.

It really is how we handle what happens to us that makes all the difference.

SO… all that being said… I’ve been incredibly hard on myself for the inconsistency with the podcast and, in many ways, my lack of excitement about doing it. It felt like a chore as opposed to the thing I loved doing.

A handful of things have changed for me (which I’ll share), but specifically, it’s my decision to fully #JustShowUP again.

No more censoring myself, no more worrying about what other people think (well, at least not feeding that, because that may always be part of my process), and doing the work.

Here’s what that means for the podcast:

• Way more interviews: but with a bit of a twist. I’m currently scheduling the interviews for the Women & Money series, which I’ve wanted to do since the beginning of this year.
• Conversations: There are a lot of conversations I want to have with friends who have been in this space for a long time, and we’ve seen each other grow, pivot, and stick it out. There’s so much power in sharing experiences.
• Other series: I love the idea of focusing on a topic as a series – I can already see doing one on AI, one on Costa Rica (living and working there), and one with SaaS founders. I’m getting more and more excited as I write this!
• Video: I have a lot of podcasts already recorded on video. It’s time to ramp up my YouTube channel and make the podcast feed available through YouTube as well.

I’d also like to do some live streams and free workshops with some of the companies whose tools I use and recommend.

All of this has me completely fired up.

Especially since there seems to be a return to long-form content (not that it ever went away, but just like everything else online, things are cyclical. I will be doing a post and/or podcast on this soon).

Side note: You know how I know I’m on the right path with this? I’ve written almost 1000 words without even looking up. Everything has just flowed as I’ve been writing. I write directly in the editor, whichever editor I use (WordPress, beehiiv, etc.).

So to look up and see how effortless this has been has made me a little giddy.

The other way I always know I’m on the right path is when I get goosebumps… this happens a lot when I’m coaching someone or helping someone work through something. When I get “lit up” and feel goosebumps, I know it’s right.

My goal is to complete the women and money series interviews by the end of June. If I can’t, I can at least start publishing them. I plan to publish them consecutively so you can follow the series.

I’ll do a before and summary episode to sort of ‘bookend’ the series (I will do this with any series I do). In fact… I think I may just jump into this whole ‘series’ thing and start planning the second series while recording the first.

Hmm… I think AI will be the next series.

What I’m Focusing OnGrowth.

More specifically, my email list.

The move to beehiiv has been great (my open and CTR have both gone up), but I know I need to get very specific with my list growth strategy.

I think this will also include some paid traffic (so I can target my ideal customer to a certain degree).

I’m also in the process of lining up some email swaps to support other creators and grow my list through the exchange. I’m participating in an upcoming summit and it’s for a new audience that I’m excited about getting in front of.

My goal is to have an organic + paid strategy that complements each other.

I am SUPER fired up about my new content strategy and attribute some of my enthusiasm to GaryV’s new book: Day Trading Attention.

Say what you will about Gary V – he knows his stuff. This book is incredibly tactical and it’s helped me reframe how I think about content and social on a whole new level.

Which, not surprisingly, completely supports “Everything Is Content.”

I’ve spent too much time overthinking things (we already talked about ‘what other people think, ‘ so I won’t go sideways with that here) and trying to ‘get it right’ that it has prevented me from simply being me and following my gut.

The irony is that it’s through doing the work that we become clearer and better at our craft.

I’ve let a handful of my own ‘rules’ get in the way: I hate using my phone for editing (there’s a workaround for everything), I don’t want to ‘waste time’ on social, I don’t know what to post (never been true, I just held myself back), organic doesn’t work, blah, blah, blah.

What’s been incredibly helpful for me is realizing the numbers game isn’t what we think it is.

Meaning you don’t need massive followers, likes, or other vanity metrics to create a business you love that serves the people you want to serve and supports the lifestyle you want to live.

Whether you want to live simply or extravagantly, you don’t owe anyone an explanation for how you want to live your life.

Back to growing my list.

In addition to some email swaps and paid traffic, I will also run my first giveaway.

I discussed this in a recent newsletter issue and have decided it’s time! I’m going to let this run for a few weeks with the goal of adding at least 500 quality subscribers to my list (this will be based on the engagement of the follow-up series and who is still subscribed after the giveaway is over).

One task with my organic strategy is ensuring that ALL my links on all social go directly to the newsletter opt-in page.

I’m also editing my bio on each platform and including my hashtag for #EverythingIsContent wherever I can (on the graphic and in the bio). I want to be known for #EverythingIsContent (this still trips me out that this is an actual searchable hashtag… because I’m telling you that it wasn’t before I created it. #justayin—clearly someone needs some credit or validation, haha).

To feel as excited as I am about my business again feels amazing.

And, as esoteric as it might sound, I think it’s because I’m choosing to trust myself. I’m going with my gut and not playing small anymore.

I’m crystal clear about the things I want to do, the things I don’t want to do, and the things that I need to work through the discomfort of doing to create the life I want.

I give much credit to this internal shift to Dr. Benjamin Hardy and his book ‘Be Your Future Self NOW.’

And, of course, my mentor/therapist and our work together.

But most importantly, I’m giving myself credit where credit is due.

I’m pretty sure that part of my DNA is that I’m tenacious. I’d rather spend the rest of my life betting on ‘Me’ than give up.

And I hope it inspires you to do the same.

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Before we get too much into discovering and defining Your ONE Thing, I want to preface this by saying that it isn’t about only doing or having ONE thing.

Even though that level of focus is pretty amazing (and is something I’m working towards, it’s a process).

This is about creating the ONE thing you’re known for.

Not a niche (swear I’m not anti-niche, I’m anti-ONLY-niche), but more of a brand philosophy and mantra that people associate with you and your business.

And if you’re a personal brand, ideally, people associate your ONE thing with YOU personally.

I’m hosting a free workshop next week, so I thought I’d give you a little sneak peek and preview what we’re going to cover and why this is crucial to differentiate yourself in a very noisy world filled with AI content.

And for what it’s worth, I LOVE AI and use it all the time.

But what sets you apart is who you are.

If you have even a little understanding and knowledge of copywriting, marketing, direct response, and content, you can use AI pretty easily and get decent output.

What AI can’t do is be YOU (and hopefully not in my lifetime because, let’s face it, that’s a little creepy to even think about).

You can absolutely train it to sound like you, write in your voice, use the type of language you use, but you still have to train it.

That’s where Your ONE Thing comes in.

I have a 6-step framework for “Your ONE Thing” – so let’s jump into it.

Be sure to register for the FREE workshop here. The LIVE Workshop is on Wednesday, May 15th at 11:00 PDT. It will be recorded, but you need to register.

If you get this after the live workshop, you can register and watch the on-demand workshop for free with the same link (and my goal is to run this live more than once while I continue iterating and refining everything).

Your ONE Thing FrameworkHere’s the 6-step framework, with more detailed explanations below:

1. Core Discovery Dive
2. Audience Alchemy
3. Idea Incubator
4. Reality Check
5. Identity Imprint
6. Launchpad Lift-Off

Let’s dive deeper into each one.

1. Core Discovery Dive (self-assessment & reflection):
2. This is the self-assessment and reflection step of the framework. You’re going to want to dive deep into the core of your personal and business identity to uncover the unique elements that define you. Self-awareness is key here. This step also requires a certain level of courage and commitment to showing up genuinely as yourself and letting go of what people think.
3. Understanding your strengths and passions will make creating more authentic and engaging content much easier.
4. Audience Alchemy (market and audience analysis):
5. This involves a combination of market research and analysis andknowing your ideal target audience, including psychographics (which are just as valuable, if not more valuable, than demographics).
6. You want to hone in on what excites them, their desires, and the specific problems they have that you can solve uniquely.
7. Understanding market trends and audience preferences can help refine your unique selling proposition to meet your audience where they’re at.
8. Idea Incubator (ideation & concept development):
9. This is where we will start brainstorming potential “ONE Things” for you and your business. I love all the steps, but this is probably my favorite. There are a couple of different methodologies for doing this, including the SCAMPER method (which I just discovered) and my Umbrella method.
10. The Umbrella method is an easier place to start, and then, as you get clearer, you can iterate and move on to the SCAMPER method if you want to go deeper.
11. Reality Check (validation and testing):
12. This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. Once you have “Your ONE Thing,” – you want to start testing this with your audience via email, social, and content. I did this with Everything Is Content and have shared that before (mind you, I knew this resonated with people because I had already used it before). It was a 5-part email series that then became 5 videos, 5 podcasts, a long-form blog post, coaching sessions, and a workshop.
13. There are a handful of ways to test this, but the key is to do what feels most natural to you that you can deploy quickly – you don’t want to overthink this (and bonus if you can create a hashtag of it, but it’s hardly necessary).
14. Identity Imprint (definition and documentation):
15. Now that you have your ONE thing, you want to explain in a clear and compelling manner what it is (clear is better than clever here) and map out how you can integrate it into all aspects of your content and, quite possibly, your business.
16. We’ll document and standardize this core concept across all business channels and content (for example, I’ve integrated “Everything is Content” onto all my social profiles) so your messaging is consistent and clear.
17. Launchpad Lift-Off (implementation & promotion):
18. Here’s where you’ll create a plan (mini-campaign?) to integrate your new core message into your current marketing efforts.
19. Your plan should include some storytelling and personal elements and give a little behind-the-scenes look at “Your ONE Thing” and the impact you hope to create with it.

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Today, I’m coming to you not from my usual studio setup but rather from the driver's seat of my car.

This freestyle episode is all about embracing what I like to call "sacred simplicity" in both our personal and professional lives.

06:41 A Busy weekend led to a much-needed rest.

09:11 Appreciate health because it can be fleeting.

11:52 Woman shares emotional video, regrets, seeks comfort.

15:21 Working for a year, not just privilege.

18:40 Experiences shape us and make us strive for self-actualization.

21:27 Regret over past, compassion for self, insignificance.

24:04 Prioritizing joy, learning, and mastering paid traffic.

27:10 Uncertainty about shift, preference for simplicity explained.

32:50 Tangible benefit motivates discussion of white labeling.

33:43 Offer writing, content, SEO services, validate organically.

39:07 Discussing lead gen and content strategies for ads.

40:42 Optimize traffic ads, capture leads, and test.

43:45 Focusing on quality work and living with ease.

A Time of Transition and ReflectionI’m currently in a season of significant change, counting down the months until my move to Costa Rica. As part of this transition, I've been tackling the task of decluttering and sorting through years of accumulated belongings at my dad's house, now up for sale. This process has been both physically demanding and emotionally revealing. It's amazing what we hold onto over the years, isn't it?

During a weekend dedicated to clearing out my storage unit, I realized that some boxes hadn’t been opened since my move from Boise in March of 2021. Items were still labeled "go through before Costa Rica," a reminder of postponed decisions. Yet, this clean-up wasn’t just about sorting through physical objects but also about reassessing what’s essential in my life. This is where the concept of sacred simplicity really comes to life—finding clarity and joy in the essentials, shedding the excess that no longer serves us.

The Refreshing Break from Digital ClutterThe physical labor of sorting and moving boxes provided a much-needed break from the digital clutter of my daily life. There’s something profoundly liberating about stepping away from screens and focusing on physical tasks. It allows for a mental reset, which is increasingly rare in our hyper-connected world.

This disconnect from digital work brought a surprising freshness to my thoughts. It reminded me of the importance of balance and taking time to enjoy simple pleasures—like the perfect weather we had, a crisp 76 degrees of pure sunshine. It was a reminder of the beauty of living in the moment and appreciating the small, simple joys that life offers.

Learning from Vanessa Lau: A Lesson in Sacred SimplicityDuring this time, I watched a video by Vanessa Lau, an influential content creator who recently returned from a sabbatical. Vanessa chose to step back at the height of her career to prioritize her well-being—a decision that resonates deeply with the concept of sacred simplicity. It’s about making life choices that honor our deepest needs and values rather than constantly pushing for more.

Vanessa’s courage to choose herself over perpetual business growth is a powerful testament to the strength found in simplicity. It’s a reminder that sometimes, the best thing we can do for ourselves and our businesses is to take a step back, reflect, and recalibrate.

Sacred Simplicity in MarketingIn the realm of digital marketing, sacred simplicity can transform how we approach content and engagement. It’s about stripping back the unnecessary and focusing on what truly matters—connecting with our audience in authentic and meaningful ways.

For instance, my philosophy of "Everything is Content" is an embodiment of this simplicity. It’s about seeing the value in everyday interactions and experiences and using them to engage with your audience more naturally and effortlessly. This approach not only makes content creation more accessible but also makes it more relatable to your audience, who sees real-life applications of your teachings and insights.

Feedback and Iteration: The Heartbeat of SimplicityAs we navigate through business and life, gathering feedback and being open to change are crucial. This episode itself is an experiment in simplicity—no script, no bullet points, just raw and real conversation. I would love to hear from you about how this format works for you. Does the spontaneity add to the authenticity, or do you find a more structured approach more helpful?

Your feedback is invaluable as it helps refine my approach and ensure that the content I provide aligns with your needs and preferences. This iterative process is simplicity in action—cutting out the noise and honing in on what genuinely adds value to our conversations.

Concluding Thoughts on Sacred SimplicityAs we wrap up today’s episode, I encourage you to think about how you can incorporate sacred simplicity into your own life. Whether it’s decluttering your physical or digital spaces, taking a sabbatical to focus on personal growth, or simplifying your marketing strategies, remember that there’s profound power in reducing complexity.

Thank you for joining me on this freestyle journey. I appreciate each and every one of you for tuning in and sharing this space with me. I’m excited to continue exploring these themes and more, always striving to find that sacred balance that enhances our personal lives and professional endeavors. Let’s keep the conversation going. Until next time, embrace simplicity, seek joy, and live with purpose.

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I Think It’s Safe To Say Most Content Creators Are Using AI For Content Creation These Days.But I thought I’d go deeper, specifically, with how I’m using it.

There are a few different ‘camps’ when it comes to AI and some of them are totally over my head.

In other words, I’m not sure that I really care how it works, what LLMs are doing, which companies have completed a new round of billions of dollars invested, or whether Nvidia or AMD is producing more chips.

All I care about is how I can use it in my business to do one of two things (I’ll go deeper with each of these below):

• Get clarity and create
• Cut down the time it takes to complete things

I haven’t gotten into much in terms of automations or having AI do tasks I don’t want to do, but that’s mainly because I don’t have a significant need for it right now.

My primary focus with AI right now is on using it for content creation.

I write all of my podcasts, blog posts, and emails. In other words, none of this is generated by AI (probably obvious, but you know what they say about assuming).

I’ve created one post with the help of AI (you can read that here) because I wanted to test creating an outline, seeing what the output was, and then adjusting from there. It was a good experience and process, and I’ll use it again for a couple of more in-depth tutorial posts I’m working on.

For example:

I’m in the process of moving from ConvertKit to beehiiv (at the time of writing this post).

As beehiiv continues to grow, I know a lot more people will be making this move, and I think it’s a great way to get traffic to the site, attract new subscribers (people making this move are definitely my target market), and make some affiliate commissions along the way.

Here’s the prompt I used to start this post:

Good afternoon! I’d love your help writing an epic blog post (that I’ll create a video for as well) on the process of moving an email list, subscribers, newsletter, and automations from ConvertKit to beehiiv. Is this something you can help me with? I want this to be super clear, easy to understand and highly optimized for SEO. I’ll convert the blog post into a PDF that people can download as well. What do you need from me to get started?

By the way, that’s one of my favorite ways to start a conversation with ChatGPT (yes, I call them conversations).

I give simple context about what I want to accomplish, then ask what it needs from me to get started to accomplish what I’ve asked for.

I don’t want to get into the weeds with detailed prompts (I think I may start doing some video on this), but I want to give you an example of how I’m using it) – but the initial question of “what do you need from me” will help you get the best result possible.

OK, let’s look at the first of the two bullets I mentioned first.

Using AI For Content Creation To Gain Clarity And CreateFirst, I treat ChatGPT (or Chatty as I call her) as more of a partner than a tool, which is why I write in a conversational manner as opposed to simply imputing prompts.

I find the entire process way more enjoyable, and the relational nature works for my brain. So, I talk to ChatGPT rather than dictating to it.

Here are a handful of things I’ve used ChatGPT/AI for this week for clarity and creating content (btw, I use ClaudeAI and have started playing with Gemini. I tend to default to ChatGPT out of habit more than anything).

1. Images: I LOVE using DALL-E inside of ChatGPT. I’m publishing regularly (aiming for daily) on Medium and will create a unique image with DALL-E. I stick with illustration-style images and tend to go for a Pixar look (I have to entertain the kid in me somehow).

2. Lead Magnet: I’m running ads on Facebook via Laurel Portié’s teaching and need to come up with a new lead magnet (she calls them value bombs). My videos are performing well, but no one is asking for the lead magnet. I took my Everything is Content ‘playbook’ (the original 5-part series), uploaded it, and worked with ChatGPT to turn it into something that was more of a workbook.

3. Once I validate that people want this, I’ll add it to my site and integrate it into the welcome sequence for my newsletter.

4. Content plan for a client, based on an SEO Ahrefs report: This was pretty genius if I say so myself. I manage content and social for one client. A friend ran an SEO report for me (I don’t have a paid Ahrefs account), so I uploaded the report and asked Chatty to give me 20 blog post ideas based on keywords and a detailed social plan (the prompt was a little more in-depth than that, but you get the idea).

5. Social Media post for LinkedIn: I’ll share more on LinkedIn later (I never thought I’d enjoy that platform, but there is a LOT of opportunity there!)- but I had a hook from a LinkedIn tool (tools below), and asked for help writing a post and bullets for the hook I was using.
6. LinkedIn Carousel, based on a Medium article I wrote: There’s another amazing tool I’m using for carousels, and I wanted to see if ChatGPT would give me better textual output (it did). I pasted the post in and it generated the headline and copy for each slide in the carousel.
7. Podcast meta description: I copy and paste the entire written post into ChatGPT and ask for a 255-character meta description with my keyword (I use this for the ID3 tag for the audio and the SEO description).
8. Custom GPT for Everything is Content: I’ve been working on my framework for EIC for a while and knew I wanted to show people how to use the framework with ChatGPT, so I created a custom GPT to get people started (I taught this in my first “Everything is Content” workshop).

That’s just a handful of ways I’ve used AI (specifically ChatGPT) to clarify and create content over the past week.

The clarity of piece of this may not be as direct as the content creation piece but in some ways it can be a little more fun.

When I’m trying to flesh out an idea or concept, it can take a few sessions with ChatGPT to accomplish what I want, but that’s to be expected (hence the desire to get clarity).

Often, I need to sit with something or revisit it the next day. I can tell when I need to do that because it feels a bit like I’m going in circles with ChatGPT. I’m not getting the output I want (or anything I can work with) because of the input (FYI: it’s safe to say that most of the time, it’s your input).

Using AI For Content Creation To Save TimeI get that I’m stating the obvious here, but it only saves you time if you have a good base or foundation from which to work.

It’s not that you can’t spit out content quickly, but if you do that without something solid behind you, you’ll end up with obvious AI-generated content that people (and search engines) can see through a mile away.

You also run the risk of damaging your brand/business.

Even as AI gets better (remember that it’s also learning to write in your voice the more you use it – when you’re consistent with the tools you’re using), you still need to make sure that what you put out sounds and feels like you.

While it depends on what you’re creating, using AI as a starting point can significantly cut down your creation time.

It’s also an incredible brainstorming tool.

Take my initial example above, give it some context as to what you’re trying to accomplish, and then ask it what it needs from you to get this done.

Just like anything else, the more you use AI, the more possibilities you’ll start to see. Then it becomes fun to test and try things – especially if you do it in a conversational tone and talk with it as opposed to copying and pasting prompts (BOR-ING 🤣).

Suggestion:

Pick 1-3 types of content and platforms you’re going to focus on.

For me, that’s my own site, Medium, LinkedIn, and soon, YouTube (technically, that’s 4, but I’ve been doing this for a while).

When you find what works for you, create your own process and customGPT if it makes sense.

For example:

This podcast episode becomes the following:

• Video for YouTube (and other platforms)
• Video shorts
• Post on Medium
• Social content
• Email (to drive people back to listen)

Because I have the original content and wrote it myself, it’s easier to edit any output I get from social (as opposed to starting from scratch with only AI-generated content).

So, a great custom GPT for me would be a podcast repurposing GPT. I have a friend who wants to know how to create a custom GPT, and I told her I’d do a video for her. Think I’ll create this and use the podcast repurposing GPT as my example.

This will allow me to open the customGPT and select one of four prompts:

• LinkedIn content
• Carousel prompt
• Text prompt (to create a few different text posts for LinkedIn)
• YouTube headline and description for that podcast episode
• Email to promote the podcast

You see how this starts to feel a bit like the Matrix (or inception)… it gets a little meta when you start drilling down in different directions.

If you focus on using AI for content creation for only a handful of things at first and make mastery of what you’re doing the goal (because you’ll want to measure how that content performs) – then there’s no where to go but up!

OK, let’s talk about some of my favorite tools when it comes to AI for content creation.

General writing:

1. ChatGPT: obviously 😉
2. ClaudeAI (Anthropic)
3. Gemini: I’m still getting my feet wet here
4. Neuron Writer: Same; I want to use this primarily for SEO purposes
5. CoSchedule Headline analyzer: I returned to this for headlines, and the AI is helpful.
6. Reactor.is: This is a new tool by Rob Lennon that is pretty amazing. I plan on doing a full post on it as well.

Video/Audio:

1. Opus.pro (will probably cancel because RiversideFM will create shorts)
2. Riverside FM
3. Jupitrr: Will be testing this again
4. Munch: Looking at this, but probably not until I ramp up video (have tested it)
5. CastMagic
6. Canva

Graphics/Social

1. DALL-E (ChatGPT)
2. Canva
3. ai carousels (LOVE LOVE LOVE this tool)
4. Supademo (doing an in-depth post on that too)
5. Gamma.app
6. MyMarky.ai
7. Taplio

Chrome Extensions

I had a great extension I was using for folders and removed it, sort of by accident. It added a second panel that I thought was something else, so I deleted it. Now I can’t find it again (I will keep looking for it).

Most of the Chrome extensions for ChatGPT felt like they just added clutter and didn’t really save me much time (patience isn’t my strong suit).

I’ve come across plenty and tried them and may revisit them in the future, but for now, my focus is elsewhere.

There are plenty of other tools I share and have mentioned in my newsletter (which, if you’re not subscribed to, can be found at KimDoyal.com/the-SPARK), but there is only so much time in the day.

My focus has to be on what I’m currently doing and whether a tool is a distraction that creates more work or helps me focus on what I’m doing.

There are a lot of AI tools out there that focus on one element of content or marketing, but unless they have something unique (like Rob Lennon’s Reactor.is or Neuron Writer for SEO), then for the most part, I can do a lot of that directly in ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini.

AI tools are pretty fun to play with, so I have to reign myself in and not get sidetracked.

The only other tool I want to really take a look at and test is Content at Scale, but for $249 a month, it may come later (I’d rather put the budget towards ads).

And just like everything else in content, marketing, and business (well, life really), it takes consistent practice and use of the tools to get to a point where you’ve found exactly what works for you.

We’re still in the very early stages of all of this, so the sooner you can adopt AI into your own content creation process, the better.

Keep in mind that you certainly don’t have to adopt using AI for anything… but I have a feeling it will eventually become a situation of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”

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Organic traffic still works.

It’s not that I thought it didn’t, but in many ways, I think I had resigned myself to thinking it was so much harder than it used to be.

In some ways, it is harder, but in other ways, we have so many tools at our fingertips (AI) that there’s no reason you can’t test and try things much faster. You can get data in 90 days that will tell you what’s working.

Depending on how long you’ve been online (i.e., you’re not starting from scratch), you may get results much faster.

For me, I’ve seen some pretty fun results in only a few weeks.

Let’s get into it.

After 16 years online, you would think I would have learned to “never say never”… but here I am, changing my tune.

Fortunately, I’m pretty transparent about these little lessons I go through and have no shame in sharing that I’ve changed my mind.

Ideally, when we know better, we do better, right?

Mind you, things change so quickly online (especially with AI now) that we better learn to be comfortable changing our minds and trying new things (once we have the fundamentals in place, anyway).

The best part of what I’m experiencing right now is that this is all happening because of ONE thing.

And I’m on a mission to help you figure out your ONE thing.

And no, this doesn’t mean you only have ‘one thing’ in your business (I’m speaking to all of you multi-passionate entrepreneurs who, bless you, can manage multiple offers, directions, or businesses).

I’m talking about starting with one core content idea that is part of your foundation.

For Now, Let’s Call This “One To Many.”Let me back up a bit and explain how this relates to organic traffic still works.

I won’t go too deep into my journey, as I’ve shared it multiple times on the podcast. You can get a snapshot of that on my About page.

Over the last 16 years, I spent the first 10 years as ‘The WordPress Chick,’ pivoted to my personal brand, started focusing on content marketing, launched a content planner (with a strategy, not a fill-in-the-blank), added email marketing and newsletters to the mix, and have come back to content marketing as my core focus.

My ‘complementary’ categories to content marketing are email & newsletters and using AI for content marketing.

Now, let’s talk a bit about social media.

Which I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with.

Because of the clarity I’ve gained with my ONE thing (for now, let’s call it Core Content), I’ve jumped back in full force and am happily gaining some traction and, thankfully, traffic.

I attribute the results I’m getting to a few things:

• Not starting from scratch
• Having a presence on most platforms (regardless of recent engagement)
• LOVING what I’m doing again

This isn’t to say you can’t start from scratch and get results because, of course, you can.

It just might take a little longer.

But here’s the thing: time is going to pass whether you do the work or not, so you may as well do it now.

And the work I’m referring to is creating, publishing, and promoting your content.

Which will always differentiate you from people who want to do things quickly and easily. Especially with AI…

I LOVE using AI in my business – but I also know what I’m doing, who I’m talking to, how I want to serve them, and what my business goals are.

I’m not under any illusion that AI can replace my voice.

What it can do is help me define, iterate, and dig deeper with ideas.

OK… let’s get back to the ONE thing and how I’ve used it to start getting some great results with organic traffic again.

My ONE ThingFor anyone who is listening to or reading this and is feeling resistance to the one thing (even though I stated that it doesn’t mean you only do one thing in your business), stay with me!

I used to have a massive resistance to this, too.

Here’s a perfect example.

There’s a book called “The ONE Thing:The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results” by Gary Keller. Here’s how much I’ve resisted this whole concept.

I purchased this book… TEN YEARS ago, and I am finally reading it. 🤦‍♀️

What the hell, Doyal?

All is well. This is probably a case of “when the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

And ya’ girl is ready.

This entire thing started when I was feeling frustrated on a Sunday when I was trying to plan my week. I went into more detail about this in a previous episode (you can listen here), but the TL;DR is that instead of trying to force myself to figure something out, I got up from my desk and did something else.

Then, later that afternoon, I felt inspired to write an email series.

Based on “Everything is Content.”

The hashtag I created six years ago when I started focusing more on writing and turning stories into email, content, and ultimately, sales.

This 5-part email series was sent Monday through Friday.

I didn’t overcomplicate things, make a big plan, create a mind map, or do any research.

I simply wrote one email a day out of inspiration and a desire to get back to something I loved.

Before I get into how this has all evolved, I also want to say that this doesn’t mean it’s the ONLY thing in your business that you create content about from now on.

Creating Core Content, which is based on ONE idea- meaning – it’s not necessarily pillar content from an SEO perspective (that’s a whole other conversation)- it’s about taking ONE idea and creating tons of content around it to get leverage and drive organic traffic.

Leveraging The ONE Thing And My Content StrategyI received great feedback from the email series, which is part of the reason I ran with Everything is Content again.

Plus… I really love the concept.

There’s a level of freedom that comes with “Everything is Content,” which makes it super easy to keep creating. When I feel I can only create content on one topic (niche down!), I feel stifled and get bored.

Starting in early March, I decided to start publishing on Medium again.

I’ve been on the platform for a long time (2015?) and have primarily been repurposing content there (you can do this by setting the canonical URL).

I also joined their partner program (you get paid when people engage with your stories when you set them as ‘Member Only’ content). I hadn’t done this in the past because I thought you couldn’t have affiliate links in your content.

Affiliate marketing isn’t my business strategy, but I’m an affiliate for tools I use and like. It’s kind of like the icing on the cake.

Turns out all you need to do is include a disclaimer that there may be affiliate links. Note to self: you know what they say about assuming. 😉

My goal with Medium isn’t to create a full-time income with my writing. It’s to attract my ideal customer to me, create some new connections, and grow my list. The earnings are a bonus.

Since I began this experiment less than a month ago, I’ve made over $40 on the platform. And, of course, previous articles continue to earn more engagement (reads, views, claps, and comments).

I’m also actively engaging with other writers' work.

I think by the end of the year, I could be up to $1k a month on Medium, which would easily cover my business expenses (excluding paid traffic).

I’m going to create a separate landing page that I send Medium traffic to (for my opt-in), but for now, I’m pretty pleased. I have no doubt this is contributing to the increase in my website traffic, too.

That’s in the last 30 days.

The final kicker for me was when I logged into ConvertKit today to send an email and saw that the last 6 people to opt-in all came through my opt-in form on my site (my SPARK Popup).

I’m still in the ‘Creator Network’ and get people through there, but many of them don’t stick around.

I haven’t turned that off yet because I’ll just wait until I make the move to

beehiiv (more on that in the next episode. I’m hoping to start that process later this week and be done by next week).

We’ll see if the subscribers through beehiiv’s network stick around longer. Side note: I don’t think it’s the quality of the person subscribing but the method through which they subscribe.

I think of these referral engines as barely one step above cold emailing.

There’s so little context as to who you are or why they subscribed… even with the best of follow-up sequences.

Back to leveraging the ONE thing.

I’m now adding LinkedIn and YouTube into the mix.

I’ve been on both platforms for years, but since pivoting from The WP Chick to my personal brand in 2018, I haven’t done much with either.

Previously, I would push content to LinkedIn and post videos here and there on YouTube, but I didn’t want to jump back in until I was clear on a strategy.

In other words, what I would be creating content about… consistently.

Getting clear on my ONE thing (Core Content, which is “Everything is Content”... talk about getting meta), has made all the difference in the world.

The other piece of this flow and focus I’m in now is how I’m integrating the personal with the professional (my business).

Once I made the decision in January to move back to Costa Rica this summer (for the foreseeable future), I realized one of the things I miss most about living there was the ease and simplicity of my life.

It really is “Pura Vida,” – which means pure life.

I realized I could easily integrate that into my business as well.

Not only are the photos on my site (background photos on pages) of Costa Rica (that I’ve taken or friends have taken), but I’m removing and eliminating things from my business that don’t give me that feeling.

And I’m LOVING it.

Streamlining, simplifying, and staying focused has been GOLD.

I had been working on a website rebrand for a while but couldn’t put my finger on what was missing.

As soon as I realized it was more of a feeling than a look it all came together.

And it’s lit a fire in me to create my own strategy for growth.

As You Can See, Organic Traffic Still Works.While I continue testing and trying things (everything will get at least a 90 day commitment, but honestly, my plan is to focus on a few things for the remainder of the year), I’ll be doubling down on “Everything is Content” with paid traffic too.

One week into running my first set of ads based on Laurel Portié’s $5 a day strategy and I’m getting clearer and clearer.

My lead magnet isn’t working (sharing my custom GPT) but I’m getting video views.

What this means is that I’ll be turning off one or two ads while adding one or two more in. As soon as I’ve replaced the videos with a new lead magnet (Laurel calls these ‘value bombs’), I’ll continue iterating on the copy and the value bomb until I find one that’s working.

I’ll also be doing more surveying of my list and audience.

The best way to figure out what problems people are having is by asking them (I know, duh).

Most people want to stay behind their screens though and not have actual conversations (And I’ll admit, I love me some no-call weeks), but when you take the time to talk to people you’ll understand where they’re stuck and find the exact language they use (helping you to speak in their own words).

To make sure I’m on the right track I’ll be sharing updates on all of this once a month.

It may be via email (so make sure you’re on my email list), a podcast, video or blog post.

Guess it depends on what else is going on.

Regardless, I’m incredibly excited to see how this all unfolds.

All of the initial data is very promising, which is definitely inspiring me to keep going.

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There is something so absolutely freeing about getting older.

I was texting with a friend in Costa Rica the other day to set up a time to chat. I had been hoping to go down in April to bring some stuff down before my move in July, but with my Dad selling his house, I decided not to.

In our text conversation, we both said that we would put it on our calendars and put sticky notes everywhere so we didn’t forget. Last time we set a time to chat, we both spaced.

I don’t think much about how much time and energy I’ve spent worrying about things that don’t matter. That’s a complete waste.

I do, however, make conscious decisions every day to choose my thoughts. To make today different than yesterday.

I was listening to a video with Dr. Joe Dispenza (who is amazing, by the way, if you’re remotely interested in neuroscience and being able to change your life with your thoughts), and he was saying that the hardest thing to do is to make sure you don’t think the same thoughts you had yesterday. 🤯

The absolute best way to do this is to tune out the things that no longer serve you.

I have always been fairly transparent about what I’m doing in my business, including sharing the challenges and struggles.

In fact, I’ve probably been more transparent about those than the wins.

God forbid I toot my own horn.

As I’ve gotten older and hit, ahem, mid-life (no one tells you that no matter how old you are, you still feel like a younger version of yourself), I’ve come to the realization that I better start tooting my own horn.

Especially as a woman.

In addition to learning to be fiercely protective of my goals and dreams, I’ve also become fiercely indifferent to others’ opinions.

My old self included

If I can share my lessons, challenges, and hell, yes, my wins… and it inspires even one person on their journey, it’s worth it.

It’s probably also because I feel that so much of what we’ve been taught and is accepted in society has been structured around what works for men.

It’s bullshit.

But I don’t want to go sideways here with any of that. All it will do is piss me off and get me worked up, which doesn’t help anyone.

What I want to focus on in this episode is the massive progress, clarity, and focus I have in my business in hopes that it will inspire you to do the same.

What Old Me Would Have Been Embarrassed to Admit

Trying to summarize this in one clear statement isn’t as easy as I thought, but I want to give you something so you know where this episode is going.

It feels like I FINALLY “Get it.”

As in, I’m finally fitting all the pieces of the puzzle together in order to create a business I love on my terms and get it working like a well-oiled machine.

And yes.

It’s taken 16 years to get here.

This is probably also why I’ve adopted the phrase “It takes what it takes” (seriously, good quotes hit my soul deeply).

This isn’t to say that I’ve been waffling for sixteen years or didn’t know what I was doing. I truly believe that everything I’ve done had a purpose and brought me to exactly where I am today, which, quite frankly, is FIYAH.

I did a visual of my journey in 2022 and since I have more to add to it, for now, here’s a quick synopsis of my timeline 👇:

March 2008

Started my business and launched ‘The WordPress Chick’ – blogging and building websites.

Spring 2013

Launched “The WPChick Podcast,” created an outsourcing company, and started coaching.

Summer 2016

Created the Facebook Group, Content Creators and start pivoting more into Content Marketing (less WordPress)

Summer 2018

Pivoted to my personal brand, redirect WPChick to KimDoyal.com

Fall 2018

Partner with a friend to launch an e-commerce brand and physical content planner, the Content Creators Planner.

March 2020

Move to Boise, ID and the world shuts down. Spend one year in Boise (way too cold).

Fall 2020

Launch my #FtheHUSTLE Newsletter (an old hashtag I created years prior)

March 2021

I decided to move to Costa Rica instead of renewing my lease in Boise. Moved there June 1st, 2021. 🏖

Spring 2022

Think I’m going to go all in with #FtheHUSTLE. My focus now was on email marketing.

January 2023

Change the name of my newsletter to “the SPARK” and decide to move back to California.

March 2024

Still focused on the SPARK and have brought back “Everything is Content.” A hashtag I created in 2016. Decided I’m moving back to Costa Rica in July of 2024.

If you’re only listening to this, I’ve added a visual timeline so you can see this trajectory.

And, of course, this is the TL;DR version.

There have been other things mixed in there along the way.

Courses, coaching (still doing both), masterminds (participating and hosting), events, friendships, life struggles, heartache, you name it.

But that’s life, isn’t it?

Here’s what’s happened in my business since last May, which set everything in motion to get to what I’m sharing with you today.

After moving back to California last February and being hit with some of the heaviest snow in years (I’m at my Dad’s, which is about an hour southeast of Lake Tahoe), I got sick and then got shingles (seriously, wtf, right? That’s what a little stress will do to you).

It was a really rough few months, not to mention I was still healing from back surgery I had in Costa Rica in October of 2022.

In May 2023, I drove to Oregon for a weekend away with two dear friends. I met them online years ago, and we had created our own mini-mastermind of bi-weekly calls. It was the first time we had met in person.

I chose to drive because I love the time in the car listening to audiobooks or podcasts.

On my drive home, I listened to “Be Your Future Self NOW” by Dr. Benjamin Hardy, which changed everything.

When I got home, I wrote a letter from my future self, dated Dec. 31st, 2023. I also started bingeing as much of Ben Hardy’s content as I could and really started wrapping my head around prioritizing and setting a BIG goal.

I created a simple journaling habit (that I have kept up since May of 2023) and kept plugging away.

Then, in November, I was listening to a YouTube video by Dan Koe called “The Most Profitable Niche is You,” and it was like I had been struck by lightning.

It was absolutely in alignment with “Everything is Content” and was about letting go of trying to ‘niche down.’

That’s when things started coming together.

In December, I wrote and recorded “Everything Is Content 2.0 – An Easy Guide To Getting Started KDS: 124,” and it was like I had opened a portal to what I was meant to do (how’s that for out there? Stick with me, this will all make sense).

Some of this came from a question a friend had asked me.

This is a dear friend who made a very conscious decision to trust herself and follow her heart. Because of that decision, she grew her business to half a million dollars in one year and is on track to hit a million this year.

Her question to me was, “What do you really want to do?”

I’ve always had a good mix of interest between the tangible and intangible.

I love technology, the Internet, and the ability to create things online and connect with people all over the world—which is the ‘tangible.’

I also love personal development, spirituality, mindset, and all the things we can’t necessarily ‘see’ – which are intangible.

The truth is, I need both – most people do, regardless of what that looks like. For some, it might be spirituality and yoga; for others, it might be nature; and for some, it might be traditional religion.

To each their own.

What matters is that you listen to it.

Here’s another amazing quote I read the other day. I absolutely LOVE this:

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive.”

Howard Thurman

Powerful, isn’t it?

We do NOT need more of the same.

I don’t believe that you have to start with the problem you solve for people.

Which according to direct-response marketers, that’s pretty much blasphemy.

I’m not saying that you don’t need to solve problems for people – that’s why people buy because you have a solution they need.

What I’m saying is that trying to start from that point can create massive friction for people.

You’re better off creating things you want to create, sharing them, and then seeing what resonates.

I promise you your people are out there.

Back To The Thing That The “Old Me Would Have Been Embarrassed To Admit.”I finally know what it is I’m supposed to be doing.

For the first time in a very, very long time, I feel crystal clear.

First and foremost, it’s claiming my skills, expertise, and how I can help people.

I know my purpose in this lifetime is to create and inspire.

I think I was just too worried about what other people would think if I combined this hybrid of tangible and intangible.

It wasn’t enough of a “niche.”

And as a reminder, plenty of people have created creator businesses without only talking about their niche.

I’m calling it my “anti-only-niche.”

I explained this in more detail in the “Getting Started with Everything is Content” episode, but it’s basically about coming up with one main category (niche) and subsequent categories that are of interest to you.

Not just subsets of the primary category.

Once all of this became clear, here’s what fell into place:

• I finally got my new website launched (current site, built with KadenceWP which is amazing)
• Decided to integrate Costa Rica into the brand (all my photos on my site are pics I’ve taken in Costa Rica, at least all the backdrop images)
• Took “Everything is Content” from an idea to an email series, to a workshop, coaching offer, and upcoming cohort
• I am eliminating and simplifying any chance I can get. For example, at the time of this recording, I’m moving from HighLevel to MemberVault because it was overkill for me. I don’t have an agency, don’t want one, and have no desire to white-label their software
• Since deciding to integrate Costa Rica into the brand (especially since I’m moving back), I’ve adopted the Pura Vida mentality in my business. I’m looking for any way possible to live “the good life” in everything I do.
• I might even bring a mascot into the brand, such as a cute sloth! How fun would that be?
• I’m simplifying my offers
• I’m letting go of tools and platforms I don’t like
• I’m doubling down on my commitment to master paid traffic (more on that soon)
• I’m tuning out from anyone or anything that says how things are “supposed” to be done
• I’m talking (creating) about what I want to talk about
• I’m going to promote myself and my work proudly
• I will make sure that I’m selling something every day

I’m also in the process of making sure all my social channels are up to date, my messaging is clear, and my brand feels cohesive and consistent across all channels (regardless of how active I may or may not be on them).

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Someone Has To Go First.I don’t remember where I heard that (or read it), but it certainly struck a nerve.

I wrote it down because I knew it would be a podcast episode the minute I read it.

Before we go into that, though, let’s do a quick catch-up and recap, shall we?

I’m kind of tripping out that we’re almost halfway through March already.

Mind you, I’m not complaining. I looked at the weather for the next ten days, and after a couple of days of potential showers and clouds, it’s all blue skies, sunshine, and warmer weather (mid to upper 60s).

I feel like I’ve been quiet lately because I had the “Everything is Content” episodes ready to go (even if the last two didn’t go out when I had hoped).

I’m going to do a full break-down of Everything is Content now that I’ve:

• Published the email series and blog post
• Published the email series as videos and podcast episodes
• Republished the series on Medium
• I hosted my first live workshop
• I am about to offer the first live cohort

This is all part of a long-term strategy for me, and hot damn if it isn’t working.

The gas is about to be poured on this using Laurel Portié’s $ 5-a-day ad strategy, and I’m beyond excited to see how this all unfolds.

On the personal side of things…

I shared that I’ll be moving back to Costa Rica this summer sometime last month (maybe that’s why I’m tripping out that it’s mid-March already), and as the time gets closer, I’m getting more and more excited.

But there’s a lot to do in the meantime.

My Dad has finally decided to list his house for sale and is looking at moving down to the city where my siblings live (the same city where I raised my kids). We’re hoping to get the house up for sale before the end of the month.

Which means decluttering and getting the house ready for staging, photos, and viewings.

Keep in mind there are 56 years of stuff in this house. 😳

We’ve already started the process, and my siblings are coming up to help, so we should be able to knock things out by the end of this weekend.

And between you and I… I’m kind of hoping I’m not here for the actual move. I have done so much moving in the past five years I wouldn’t mind skipping this one (although I’ll be doing a lot of packing and purging before I leave).

That’s the beauty of moving back to Costa Rica... all I have to do is take my clothes, my dog, my computer, and any decor I want for my place. It’s completely furnished (although I will be hauling another mattress down).

OK… I think we’re all caught up now.

Let’s Get Into “Someone Has To Go First”First, what I’m referring to here isn’t about being ‘first to market’ or ‘first to adopt’ (although I do think the ‘first to adopt’ comes into play here).

This is specifically related to content and the creator economy as we know it today.

When I was getting started in 2008, it felt like everyone was new to the online marketing space, and we were all figuring it out as a collective.

Of course, some direct-response marketers were much more seasoned and had brought their offline skills online, but for the most part, it was a fairly new space at the time.

Social media was new, blogging was still new, and earning a living online was like the Wild West.

I think we need to pretend it’s those early days again.

And not because of AI (which I love), saturated markets, pay-to-play social media platforms, or algorithms.

Because of the massive amounts of information at our fingertips, it feels like someone is already doing what we want to do or everyone already knows what we know.

I will assume I’m not the only one with those thoughts, so bear with me with the collective ‘we’ in this episode.

This is how I decided to bring back “Everything is Content.”

I created that phrase in 2016 and started actively using it in 2018.

We used it with the first content planner brand, and after we closed that brand, I wasn’t really sure what direction I was heading in.

My focus has always been digital marketing, content marketing, and, in the last few years, email and newsletters… but I felt ‘split’ between my personal brand and the content planner brand.

However, I’ve always shared my own journey, personal stories, and interests along with business content (the more you practice a ‘mash-up’ of this, the easier it gets).

Then I came across Dan Koe’s video “You Are the Most Profitable Niche,” and it felt like FINALLY! Someone else is saying what I’ve been thinking for years.

And who knows… I’m sure there’s an element of awareness happening here.

Meaning that once I became aware again of what I’m calling my “anti-ONLY-niche” stance, I started seeing it everywhere.

It’s kind of like when you purchase a new car, and all of a sudden, you start seeing it everywhere.

At the end of the day, though, none of that really matters.

What matters is that this changes the content game.

And I, for one, am here for it all.

What’s Getting In Your WayThe biggest thing I see getting in people’s way is knowledge bias.

Knowledge bias is “the curse of knowledge” or “the curse of expertise. It’s a cognitive bias where we incorrectly assume that everyone knows as much as we do on any given topic” (definition courtesy of Google).

Here’s the kicker about knowledge bias: it’s usually accompanied by its even more annoying friend, Imposter Syndrome.

Knowledge Bias causes us to undervalue our skills, knowledge, and expertise, believing that they’re not valuable enough or that we want to present something as good.

Imposter Syndrome has us feeling like we’re not skilled or knowledgeable enough to contribute.

Talking about both here is a perfect example.

Plenty of people have already written about Knowledge Bias and Imposter Syndrome. I could have very easily decided that I didn’t have enough to say or assumed that someone else had said it better.

The latter is absolutely possible.

But to whom?

This is based on the assumption that anyone listening to or reading this has the exact same experience as I do.

It's a tad ludicrous when you think of it that way, isn’t it?

I had a call last week with a woman who subscribed to my newsletter because she sent me this:

“Kim,

I love your newsletter!! I’m so grateful I stumbled on you while searching for ideas to start my own business towards the end of last year. I appreciate how real you are in your newsletters, the approach you take in business, and the guidance you share on living a happy life.

You inspire me in every email—it feels like we are BFFs because of how you share your thoughts and feelings. Thank you for putting yourself out there and inspiring my belief that I really will be able to start my own business.

I’m rooting for you and your success! 💕”

Transform Ideas Into Inspired Action: Subscribe To The SPARK

Overcoming Knowledge BiasSo, what do you about it?

To quote author Susan Jeffers, you “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”

I know that’s not super helpful, so let’s get a little more specific:

1. Unique Perspectives Matter: We all have our own experiences, knowledge, and interpretations. That’s what makes us unique. What might seem obvious to one person is a mind-blowing experience to another. It is vitally important that you value your own experiences.
2. The Long Tail of Interest: There are 738 billion people on the planet, so there is plenty to go around. The vast internet reach means there’s likely an audience for whatever you’re passionate about (where most people drop the ball is in promoting their work).
3. Learning or Practicing in Public: This is some of the easiest content to create. You can’t get it wrong, and you’re never done. Sharing the learning process is just as valuable as sharing expert knowledge. Let go of thinking it might turn off a potential client or customer… it makes you relatable and trustworthy.

Take Mr. Beast, for example.

And confession… I’ve never actually watched any of his videos.

I have, however, heard a handful of people talk about him.

Dr. Benjamin Hardy talks about him in his book, ‘Be Your Future Self NOW,” when he tells the story of how Mr. Beast recorded a video from his future self, envisioning the growth he wanted for his YouTube channel.

Mr. Beast bet on himself.

He went from doing a little bit with his YouTube channel, where he posted uninspiring gaming videos, to a worldwide phenomenon (and an estimated net worth of $500 million).

You don’t have to want to be as big as Mr. Beast (I certainly don’t. I don’t have the desire or energy, haha)… but you have to bet on yourself.

How This Applies To “Someone Has To Go First”Once you’ve been in business for a while, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “being the same.”

We do the same things our peers, coaches, and creators whose products we’ve purchased are doing.

If it worked for them, we should be able to apply the exact same strategies and get the same results, right?

Wrong.

Solid marketing strategies work, especially when you apply them with the intention of creating and gathering data.

“Fill in the blank” doesn’t work.

This is my biggest pet peeve about writing templates.

Using formulas that worked for one person whose brand and voice are nothing like your own probably won’t work for you, AND… you won’t enjoy doing it because it doesn’t feel right.

And to reiterate a point I make over and over again: learning to write well on the web is the best thing you can do for your business.

• Someone Has to Go First: Progress and innovation require someone to go first. Take the first step; your audience is waiting for your unique voice and perspective. Breaking new ground doesn’t have to happen on a massive scale.
• The Ripple Effect: There are plenty of stories to draw from for inspiration from someone who started small (all of us, right?), and the idea took on a life of its own. The beauty of starting small is that it is how we learn and practice.
• The Iterative Process: I have fallen in love with this idea lately. It’s nothing new, but I finally “get it.” The nature of creating is an iterative process. The first attempt doesn’t have to be perfect. Each iteration is a step towards improving and finding your voice.
• Community and Collaboration: As the saying goes, no man (or woman), is an island. Communities and collaboration provide invaluable feedback. They also provide encouragement and support that help us overcome our own biases and fears.
• Imperfect Action Over Perfection: This might sound harsh, but claiming that you’re not hitting publish because you’re a perfectionist is an excuse. It’s how you keep yourself small. Starting is always more important than waiting for the perfect moment or idea or getting it ‘right.’

The creator economy (and when I say creator, I’m referring to content creators, coaches, course creators, and agencies) is starting to feel like a lot of ‘sameness’.

It kind of reminds me of home decor and trends, which, by the way, I’ve seen a lot of pushback on lately.

The idea is that we’re supposed to decorate our homes for ‘future resale’ value instead of making them feel like a space we want to live in (unless, of course, your intention is to move in, renovate, and resell in a short period of time).

Why wouldn’t you make it feel like YOU?!?!

The house I rented in Boise (in 2020) was very cookie-cutter and had a gray theme (which, thankfully, is on its way out). After a while, the walls felt like I was in prison.

The kitchen was beautiful, but that was about it. I added removable wallpaper to the office, so I had a little color (best invention ever, by the way).

Your business should feel the same.

Like YOU.

Yes we’re supposed to know who we’re talking to and the problems we solve for them. Put aside some of the principles of direct marketing and copywriting for a hot minute.

You need to be willing to listen to what feels right for you.

And as a little disclaimer, remember that it may take time to find what “feels right.”

Be careful not to use that as an excuse for not starting.

Particularly if you’re not doing anything at all (in terms of publishing or driving traffic).

Regardless of your market, niche, or industry, you need traffic. That can come via paid acquisition (advertising) or organic content.

Ideally, you find a combination of both that works for you.

Either way… don’t be afraid to go first.

We need new voices and perspectives all the time.

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As we wrap up our incredible journey through the "Everything is Content" series, I want to take a moment to reflect on the profound concept we're diving into today: zigging when everyone else is zagging. Throughout this series, we've explored various facets of content creation, but today, we're tackling the essence of differentiation and the power of personalization in our content strategies.

Imagine walking into a room full of people all moving in unison, like a perfectly choreographed dance. Now, picture yourself moving to a different rhythm, creating your own steps, and standing out. That's what we're talking about today. In a world saturated with content, being the one who dares to be different isn't just brave; it's necessary.

Why do we zig when others zag? Because, at the core of every successful content strategy, there's a unique voice, a distinct perspective, and an unwavering commitment to authenticity. It's about finding what resonates with you and, by extension, connecting more deeply with your audience.

During this series, we've established that all platforms work, all strategies can be effective, but the magic happens when you align your content creation with your personal passion, consistency, and the joy of sharing your story. This alignment isn't just about being different for the sake of it; it's about embracing what works for you and amplifying it.

Let's debunk a common myth: the idea that certain marketing strategies or platforms are "dead." You've heard it before – "Email marketing is dead," "Blogs are out," "Social media is oversaturated." Here's the truth – for every strategy declared extinct, there's someone out there proving it wrong, thriving and creating impactful, meaningful content. The key is not in the platform or the strategy itself but in how you use it to convey your unique message and connect with your audience.

Consider this: While some may argue that ad costs are soaring and traditional methods are fading, I've seen friends launch successful businesses solely through Facebook ads, targeting cold traffic with innovative, low-cost strategies that captivate and convert. Their secret? Understanding their audience, refining their offer, and staying true to their vision.

Moreover, the debate between long-form and short-form content, between videos and podcasts, between blogging and microblogging, often misses the point. The medium is just a vessel; your content's heart and soul come from your personal experience, your voice, and your passion.

So, how do you find your unique path in this crowded content landscape? Start by choosing one or two types of content that feel natural to you. Commit to creating consistently, whether it's through Instagram reels, blog posts, podcasts, or any medium that sparks joy in you. Give it time, be patient, and watch as your unique voice starts to resonate with an audience that's been yearning for something different, something authentically you.

Remember, the goal isn't to churn out content for the sake of visibility. It's about creating content that matters, content that makes a difference in someone's life, even if it's just one person. As we've explored throughout this series, "Everything is Content" isn't just a catchy phrase; it's a mindset, a reminder that our stories, experiences, and insights are valuable and deserve to be shared.

As we conclude this special series, I invite you to join me in embracing the power of personal content creation. Let's not just follow the trends; let's set them. Let's not just create content; let's create connections. And most importantly, let's remember that in a world where everyone is zagging, the ziggers are not just seen – they're remembered, celebrated, and followed.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Here's to creating content that's as unique as you are, to finding your voice in the cacophony, and to the incredible journey of zigging when the world zags.

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Kim [00:00:00]:

Hey, guys. Welcome back to part 4 of this special series called Everything is Content. First of all, thank you so much for listening this far this week. And if you haven't listened to the first three, I highly recommend them because they all kind of build on each other. But today, we're gonna talk about documenting. We're gonna talk about documenting with a little bit of a twist. And if you've not registered yet, I am hosting a live Everything is Content workshop next week, March 6th at 11 AM Pacific time. Or if you can't attend live, of course, there will be a recording.

Kim [00:00:32]:

And if you've reached this or listened to this, after March 6th, you can still get the on demand workshop. Alright, guys. That's it for now. Let's jump into today's episode. Hey there, it's Kim Doyal, and welcome to my show, where digital marketing meets real stories, experiences, and strategies. You'll get a behind-the-scenes look at what's working and not working in my business, as well as other experts who show up and share their stories. As much as I love talking about marketing principles and tactics, we'll dig a little deeper with mindset and explore what's required to create a business you love on your terms that also supports your life. I wanna help you understand the why behind the how.

Kim [00:01:13]:

Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just dipping your toes in, remember that marketing is a journey, and the goal is to enjoy it. My desire is to guide you on your journey and remind you that no matter what life throws at you, you've got this. Alright, guys. Welcome back to video 4 of the everything is content series. Now today, we're gonna talk about documenting, but with a little bit of a twist. And I believe I I I'm gonna quote Gary v as saying document, don't create. I don't know if he's the originator of the statement. I'm gonna assume he is, but, and to some extent, I agree.

Kim [00:01:49]:

But unless you're you're somebody like Gary v or you have someone like Gary v. What was his his video guy's name was d rock? I don't know if he still does. I'm assuming he does, because he's pretty he's consistent. Right? When he believes in a philosophy, he's he sticks with it, and it's worked well for him. And I like him. He's a nice guy. I met him in an elevator one time, you guys. Just me and him.

Kim [00:02:13]:

He took a selfie. I didn't have my phone, and he emailed it to me. So he really is a nice person in real life, too. Anyways, for me, my day-to-day life looks a little bit boring. Even when I was in Costa Rica, and moving back there, I intend to be a little more interesting regarding what I share behind the scenes. But, you know, my day-to-day looks a little bit boring. So the only difference might be what I wear unless I decide to record 4 or 5 videos in a row, all in the same hoodie, but so be it. You know, people would be bored watching that.

Kim [00:02:48]:

So I wanna give you an example of something I'm documenting, and then the twist that I intend to put on this piece of content directly becomes it's because it's gonna become a profitable asset. And so I recently shared with my email list that I will move from Convertkit to Beehive for my email marketing. I made this decision just a couple of weeks ago, and I shared in an email that I was gonna do it, and that it would be done in phases. And so I'll go way more in-depth into the post but I have loved beehives since they first came out, but it didn't have the capabilities of doing a lot of stuff that you need email marketing to do. Like, I mean, you could do a solo broadcast, but at the same time, the tagging and the segments and automations and stuff. However, a lot of that is changing, and it just was not a full-blown robust email service provider. And out of the gate, it was incredible to publish newsletters, but there were just too many missing parts. So a little birdie told me about some updates.

Kim [00:03:51]:

They're adding, not to mention all the segmentations and automations that they have already added because from the original time that I saw, I mean, they deploy updates like nobody else I know. But when I heard this, I knew it was time to make a move. And I'm not here to bash on ConvertKit. I just I really do love Beehive. But because I will do this anyway, I figured why not document the process and create an epic blog post about it. And, so the epic blog post piece of it, there's a whole point where this becomes a profitable asset, but here's how I'm gonna do this. So I'm separating the why and the how, and then I went into chat GPT and I created an outline for this. Now, I've been working on the behind-the-scenes for this for a little bit because I need to make sure I'm not missing integrations.

Kim [00:04:42]:

So, as an example, I have a ton of opt-ins throughout all my content on my site using Convertbox. Well, I needed to make sure that because there's no native Beehive integration, there's probably a webhook, but I could do something with Zapier or, a tool called Integrately actually does this also. So that way I don't have to change the opt ins, I just have to change the code inside Convertbox. Anyway, I know it's a little, tacky there. By the way, if you download the PDF of Everything is Content, I'll put the link in the first comments again. I've got the link to the whole chat GPT thread that I walked through to create the outline for this post, right, and the structure of of creating the content. I'm not gonna use chat gpt to write the content. I don't ever do that for any of my content.

Kim [00:05:28]:

And not because it's good, bad, or indifferent. I just like to write my content. I just wanted an outline, which will probably then become the table of contents in the post, right, to structure the process and get started, right, and then there's gonna be edits. It's all about iteration, guys. Keep iterating iterating. So one thing to keep in mind is that, you know, we've heard the term build in public, and I have a good friend, Kevan, Chong who does this brilliantly, he's got an incredible cohort that I've gone through. I kind of think of this more as practicing in public, because when I think of building public, I think of having a finished product versus creating and practicing creating content publicly, if that makes sense. So maybe it's splitting hairs semantics, but I like to think of this as practicing in public.

Kim [00:06:17]:

And let me come back. I see this is what happens when Kim goes off script. But what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna make this move, document it, and work on the post. And then when all is said and done and everything's working, then I'll publish the post. Because I need to make sure it works. And by the way, I found an incredible tool that I'm gonna use in this post, it is called supadem0, s u p a d e m o, because with AI you just record your screen and it does the hot spots and the annotations like click here then do this. You don't have to record your voice. It picks up through the HTML, like, it is amazing.

Kim [00:06:56]:

Anyways, you'll probably see me using that for a handful of things with content. So once I have officially completed the move in the content, then I'll go ahead and publish the post. Now I will also convert the entire post into a PDF if people don't wanna have to come back to the post because the other thing you guys with super demo, you can export the screenshots and instructions into a document. So, well, I could embed the video and take them back to the site, but I could also put in the PDF the step by step instructions with the screenshots and the annotations. It's amazing. And then I'll have a a simple checklist to make sure that they have not missed anything, I e, I've not missed anything, like, did you check, you you know, which integrations? Did you check it with HighLevel? Did you check it here? Any other integrations, Thrivecart, like, where do you have integrations out on the web? So that way I create this really valuable asset. So here's where this becomes a profitable asset. The first and most obvious is that it is, I'll have my affiliate link, right? I I've referred, I don't know, 4 people or something to Beehive And with Beehive's affiliate, you get like half 50% for the 1st 12 months.

Kim [00:08:07]:

And so that's one way. Right? But here's here's the long term game that I want you to think about here. Throughout the post, I will have opt ins for for the guide. Right? The the convert kit to beehive complete playbook, migration or something. Horrible name off the top of my head but you get the point. And again it will have my affiliate link in it but the goal is to capture the email subscribers. But here's the thing, not just any subscribers, these are my ideal subscribers because one, if they're on ConvertKit they're already either using email, want to be using email and they understand the important importance of email marketing, and then both platforms have newsletters. So these are also people that probably have or considering doing a newsletter.

Kim [00:08:55]:

And so all of these things integrates email content and newsletters. Right? And then of course there's an element of chat gpt that I can tie into all of that. So the point is to get my ideal customer onto my list and serve them something, serve them, provide them something of value, but I know because of what I'm giving them that there's a definitive interest there. Right? Like I you have to be careful because the truth is, you know, I will also let them know they're getting the newsletter, the spark, but I also don't wanna get caught up in doing a ton of how to videos. Right? I I've got courses, everything is content, like, I'm teaching this stuff, but to be able to show you how to do the framework is gonna be a a paid product probably at some point. But the thing is, you have to be careful with how to because you can also build a list of freebie seekers who just want to learn from you for free. So there's a fine line there, and then at the end of the sequence once somebody opts in, the goal then of course is to have a low price product relative to the follow-up sequence. So here's what I'm gonna do too.

Kim [00:09:57]:

I'm gonna pour the gas on this. I'm gonna run paid traffic to this post. I am in Laurel Porter's $7 a month Facebook advertising, if you wanna get into Facebook ads, the value that Laurel provides is bar none, it's amazing what this woman provides for free, and her ad strategy is definitely for the long term, right, it's it's video views for content, which you will see me probably doing very shortly with everything is content. But I'm gonna test, like, $5 a day ads to this piece of content because the goal again is people who are interested in doing this probably aren't gonna wanna read and are who are interested in doing it are gonna want to read and see the videos and the step by step instructions. And so those people are my ideal subscribers. So we'll test, right, on and I'll see. I'd give it probably a couple weeks to test running, like, $5 a day ads to see how that works. And then the beauty is that once a post is done, it becomes an evergreen piece of content that provides massive value.

Kim [00:10:56]:

Now this post will be highly SEO optimized. I will make sure that I've got the right keywords, possibilities for ranking, you know, I have a, a blog post I did why happily chose BeHive over ConvertKit, it was for another newsletter, and that shows up on page 1. I forget what I had searched, but this is gonna be much more in-depth. Right? And then the other piece of this is there are additional ways I can support people through courses and coaching about email and newsletters and content, you know, because truth is it's unlikely they would be using Beehive if they weren't in this creator space, digital marketing space, and weren't interested in pursuing 1 if not all 3 of those things. So in other words, because I don't provide done for you services, I don't want to get back into the hamster wheel of a tonne of how to content. But if I can have a couple pieces of pillar content that pull my right audience to me, that's where I'm gonna run with it. Alright. And just like everything else I have talked about creating this content will be something I can repurpose into a multitude of ways for different platforms.

Kim [00:11:59]:

I'm thinking Carousel would be really good for this post. And then naturally, tag the beehive team every time I share it with, of course, the hope that they share it too. And here's a little hat tip, hat tip, ninja tip from my brilliant friend Jason Resnick, who if you wanna get, you know, into email automations and, a little bit advanced segmentation and really even setting up your ConvertKit account. Here's your guy. Anyways, this this was so brilliant. He suggested that I set up a zap so that anytime someone mentions ConvertKit and Beehive in the same tweet on Twitter, I can automatically tweet them with just a link to an article. I'm not selling them anything and talk about content karma. Right? Basically, it's here's an article that solves your problem for free.

Kim [00:12:43]:

And side note, if you're not on Jason's list, go to nurturekit.co and you can get all of his brilliance, like that zap and tweet strategy, but he's got all these great email strategies. I kinda think, like, we do regular calls and I think of myself as sort of the content story person and he's much more the, I'm more right brained, I think he's more left brained, although he does an incredible job writing too. So wrapping up you guys. Okay. I get that this post might seem like a lot of work, but I would rather do one really good piece of content that I get massive leverage from and I'm having to do it anyways. Right? So instead of just documenting stuff, think about what you're documenting. And I get it. Some people might wanna do, you know, documenting I'm going for a walk, all those things work too.

Kim [00:13:28]:

You have to test and try things out. So I'm doing this specifically with the intention of leads and sales. And the sales for me preference would be long term, but the there's a bonus that I can do it as an affiliate as well. You know, they're kind of the icing on the cake. So I know this was kind of meaty, there was a lot in this. And then last but not least, video 5, we're gonna talk about zigging when everyone else is zagging. So I'll see you in the next video. And again you can grab the full pdf of all of these videos in the first comments, I've got the link below.

Kim [00:14:05]:

Thanks, guys. If you're watching this somewhere else, it'll be in the description. So, again, we gotta repurpose. Right? Thanks, guys. Alright. That is it for part 4. Tomorrow, we're going to wrap up the special series on Everything Is Content. We're going to talk about zigging like everyone else is zigging.

Kim [00:14:26]:

How's that for a fancy title for you? Yeah. And if you have not registered yet, go ahead and go to Kim Doyal. com forward/workshop for the live everything is a content workshop that is happening on March 6th at 11 AM Pacific time. As always, guys, thanks for listening, and I'll catch you tomorrow for the last in this special series of Everything is Content.

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Unleashing the Power of Content Karma in Your StrategyEmbracing the Concept of Content KarmaHey, everyone! Welcome back to the third installment of our "Everything is Content" series. Today, we're diving into a concept I'm super excited about—let's call it "content karma" for now. It's inspired by Matthew Dicks' enlightening book, "Storyworthy," which revolutionized my view on storytelling and content creation. The idea is simple yet powerful: We're all storytellers, and by harnessing this innate skill, we can endlessly craft engaging content.

Why Highlighting Others Works WondersHighlighting and sharing others' work has been a cornerstone of my journey, especially during my early days as the WordPress Chick. By focusing on what others were doing, I not only carved out my niche but also discovered a formula for content creation that felt both comfortable and authentic. Launching a podcast became a turning point, allowing me to amplify others' voices and, in turn, my own. This approach is not just about creating content—it's about building connections and community.

A Project Close to My HeartI'm currently working on a special podcast series aimed at amplifying women's voices in finance and entrepreneurship. The goal is to share their impactful messages with my audience, much like how we share our favorite novels or movies with friends. This project will result in a rich tapestry of content, including podcasts, videos, blog posts, and social campaigns, all designed to spread their invaluable insights.

How You Can Make Your Own Value DepositsCreating value deposits, or what I like to call "content karma," is about sharing, highlighting, and promoting the work of others. Here are some ways you can start making your own deposits:

• Roundup Lists: Compile lists of people, tools, and resources that have influenced you.
• Mentors: Share the work of both official and unofficial mentors whose teachings have impacted your journey.
• Content Sharing: Promote content that resonates with you, whether it's through newsletters, social media, or personal recommendations.
• Engagement: Actively engage with others' content to help increase its visibility.

The Ripple Effect of GivingBy focusing on giving rather than receiving, you create a win-win situation: your audience gains valuable insights, and you help boost the visibility of others within your community. This ethos of goodwill, or content karma, ensures that your efforts will eventually come back to you tenfold.

Looking AheadAs we continue our series, remember that in the realm of content creation, everything—and everyone—is worth celebrating. Stay tuned for our next discussion on documenting with a twist, and let's keep spreading those value deposits far and wide.

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Telling Your StoriesWhen Content Becomes Personal: My Journey Through Storytelling

I’m thrilled to dive deep into a topic that’s close to my heart and crucial for creators, coaches, and course creators everywhere: the power of personal storytelling in content creation.

In the world of copy and content, there’s a prevailing notion that it’s all about the reader, not about us, the creators.

But let’s face it, that’s only half the story.

The truth is, we’re in the business of connection, of building relationships with our audience through the stories we share, the experiences we recount, and the vulnerabilities we expose.

I’ve Always Believed In The Magnetic Pull Of Personal Stories.They’re the threads that weave the fabric of our connections, making our audience feel seen, heard, and understood. That’s why I’ve anchored my content creation around a core content value: making people feel better for having engaged with my content.

Whether through learning something new, enjoying a moment of levity, or feeling a heart-to-heart connection, it’s about enriching the lives of those who stumble upon my work.

Take, for example, my journey through one of life’s harshest realities: loss.

In 2003, life threw me a curveball that would forever change my trajectory. I was widowed at 32, left to navigate the world as a single mother of two small children (my kids were 6 & 2 when their Dad died).

This part of my story, a marker of my resilience and transformation, was something I initially kept close to my chest, mentioned briefly on my About page, yet it was a pivotal chapter in my life.

It wasn’t until 2017, on the anniversary of my husband’s death, that I chose to share this deeply personal story with my audience in an email titled “In Loving Memory and a Personal Message of Hope.”

The outpouring of responses was overwhelming, a testament to the power of vulnerability in forging deeper connections. This experience taught me a valuable lesson: our stories, no matter how often we’ve shared them, are always new to someone in our audience.

They Provide Hope And Remind Us That We’re Not Alone In Our Struggles.But sharing personal stories is not about airing every detail of our lives; it’s about finding the balance between personal and private. It’s about sharing those moments that illuminate our humanity, that make us relatable, that show we’re more alike than we are different.

For instance, a seemingly trivial incident like falling down the stairs while distracted by my phone became a metaphor for the importance of staying present, of paying attention to what’s right in front of us.

The ‘falling-down-the-stairs’ story I shared with my audience wasn’t just a humorous anecdote; it was a reflection on mindfulness in both life and business.

You might be wondering, what was the whole point of that email?

Sure, there was a pivot and a call to action—though I can’t quite recall what it was, whether it was to click through to a podcast, a blog post, or an offer. The real value, however, lies in the fact that we’re all human.

I don’t take myself too seriously, and that aspect of my personality makes me more relatable and approachable.

Sharing personal stories and experiences is invaluable because, like many of you, I find myself far more creative when I’m inspired or feel a genuine connection. While keyword-based articles, how-to guides, and case studies certainly have their place in content creation—a place that’s not disappearing anytime soon—I believe their presentation will evolve with AI.

It’s crucial to remember that you are the differentiator in everything you create.

Your energy, your voice, your humor, and even your highs and lows are all uniquely yours. Dr. Seuss said it best: “No one is You-er than You.” This is precisely why sharing personal stories and experiences is so important.

This post, part of a five-part series, originally began as an email series before I turned it into blog content and now video content. I discuss how to weave stories into learning content, using my experience at Funnel Hacking Live 2018 as an example. It was the last time I attended the event, and likely my last, but I shared my experiences and two significant epiphanies I had. Despite not using ClickFunnels anymore and having a love-hate relationship with it, the key takeaway is my willingness to share both my successes and failures. This transparency makes me more relatable in a world obsessed with highlight reels.

I’ve also shared stories that may seem trivial but are deeply relatable, like feeling exhausted at large events, which is a sentiment many share. Sharing your stories is crucial, and to help you get started, I challenge you to come up with three content ideas: share a heartfelt story about overcoming a challenge, something funny that reminds people not to take life too seriously, and a case study or recap of an event, webinar, or book that impacted you.

More than anything, it’s vital to give your content a chance to succeed by promoting it. When I started, I didn’t worry about what people thought because I was learning and growing. This ‘ignorance is bliss’ approach allowed me to dive in without fear. As you grow in your craft, remember to share your stories. They are what will set you apart in a world filled with AI and uniformity. And please avoid relying solely on templates. Learn to write well for the web, and study frameworks and best practices because those will truly help your business stand out.

That wraps up this video on the importance of storytelling in content. Keep an eye out for the next part of “Everything is Content,” where I’ll delve into the concept of the value deposit. For those interested in diving deeper, I’m hosting a live workshop on March 6th at 11 AM Pacific Time. You can register at my website, and if you can’t make it live, a recorded version will be available for purchase, or you can sign up for the next live session. I’m committed to running this workshop repeatedly to gather the data I need to understand where most people get stuck with their content creation.

Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to sharing more insights in part three tomorrow.

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Hey, guys. What's going on before we get into today's episode? This is a special series that I'm doing this week. It's a 5 part series based on Everything is Content. Now you might remember, I don't know, a month and a half ago, 6 episodes or so ago, I did an episode on Everything is Content 2.0. And I'll link to that in the show notes for this. But I'm actually hosting an Everything is Content workshop, and so this is kind of a preview for that. This was a 5 part email series that I have since turned into videos, and now I'm doing this as a podcast. So you'll get a taste of the 5 part framework.

I know this sounds a little meta, and we're getting a little into the matrix here, but I watch how I do this, but this is a taste of the framework itself. And again, you can go to kimdoyal.com/eicworkshop if you wanna join me in the live workshop I'm doing. It is on Wednesday, March 6th. So, depending on when you're listening to this, if if that date has come and gone, then I'm gonna be continuing to either do this live or you'll be able to just get the workshop itself. Again, go to kimdoyal.com/eicworkshop. Alright, now here is part 1 of Everything is Content. Hey there. It's Kim Doyal, and welcome to my show where digital marketing meets real stories, experiences, and strategies.

You'll get a behind-the-scenes look at what's working and not working in my business, as well as other experts who show up and share their stories. As much as I love talking about tangible marketing principles and tactics, we'll dig a little deeper with the mindset and explore what's required to create a business you love on your terms that also supports your life. I wanna help you understand the why behind the how. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just dipping your toes in, remember that marketing is a journey, and the goal is to enjoy it. My desire is to guide you on your journey and remind you that no matter what life throws at you, you've got this. Hey, guys. What's up? Kim Doyal here, and I'm doing a 5 part series called Everything is Content. Now, I came up with the hashtag Everything is Content back in 2016.

I'm not going to repeat that whole story here. Still, if you want a little more behind-the-scenes of how that came about, I did a whole podcast episode recently, and it was Everything is Content 2.0, which is an easy guide to getting started, you know, got to use those, what you call it, good headlines, right? But this is all based on a 5 part email series where I'm giving actual examples of everything as content to show you how you can apply this to your own business and how it can translate into conversions, whether that's leads or sales. Now, we're going to go a little bit deeper with this. I'm also working on an ebook that I hope should be done within a month or so. I might do an audio version because I clearly love doing this, but these are what I do with this, so let me back up a little bit. So, Everything is Content is based on the idea that I'm one who I hate keyword research. I know there's value in SEO. I'm not negating that at all, but with AI, I feel like that's kind of a race to the bottom, and who knows where it's going to be a year from now? But my whole goal with Everything is Content is to get people just to start creating, right? And seeing that there are content ideas all around us that fit under this umbrella in our business.

You don't need to only talk about email marketing or for me, email marketing or content marketing. Right? Or I love using AI for content, but not necessarily to write for me. There's a whole other marketing element that I use it for. But sometimes I want to talk about, hey, guess what? I'm moving back to Costa Rica. I am. Or, you know what? This is what I do when I feel out of alignment. Or, this is how I ground myself each day. So, all of those are under the umbrella of who I am in my business.

That's where everything is content comes into play. All of our experiences are what contribute to who we are and how we move through the world. Right? So let's get into it. Alright. So, the first example I will give you is connecting through vulnerability. And this is when you're frustrated and you need clarity to get moving. Okay? And there's a lot of advice. Gary Vee made the phrase document, don't create, very famous, or you've heard the term building in public.

And I have a good friend, Kevon Cheung, who created a cohort, and he's great at that and about building in public. And but sometimes when you're in the thick of things in your business and what you're doing isn't pretty or something you want to share, you don't necessarily want to document that, nor I'm not saying, like, the build-in public, I prefer practice in public because sometimes you're not necessarily building something that has a start and end date. Right? Building in public, to me, implies I'm making this thing. Therefore, there's a clear process and a start and a finish. Right? It really implies a completion. But what if what you're doing or what you're working on doesn't really fit into either of those buckets? So here's an example. This was, excuse me, a couple of weeks ago, and I was planning my week, and I was thinking about everything that needed attention in my business. And so I remember this clearly: it was a Sunday.

I kind of like to plan my week ahead on a Sunday. And my initial thought was do this, like, master to-do list, kind of like a brain dump, right? But that started feeling overwhelming and not so fun. Does everything really need to be addressed and dealt with right now? No. So I started streamlining things last year based on the work of Doctor. Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan, but somehow, it can still feel like too much. And I have stuck with for nine months, I'm not kidding you guys, I have a daily journal practice where I write down a mantra daily. I have the three things I'm focusing on at night, three things I'm grateful for, three wins, and then I plan out the next day's 3 things. And so I write them at night, and I rewrite them in the morning. Right? But the problem when you start doing these master to-do lists is that everything feels like a priority, which is silly, right? Of course, there's no way everything can be a priority.

Or I should say, my friend Les says this great saying and it's, That's not a today problem. Because most things are not today problems. Now, keep in mind, none of these are necessarily problems. But the only way to move forward is to prioritize what needs to be done. So this is where I choose 3 priorities at the time. And Jim Collins, who wrote Good to Great, has a great, saying. And where is that? Oh, I thought I had that. Anyways, but if you have more than 3 priorities, you have none kind of thing, right? And, the simple steps that I needed when I was kind of in this frustrated, like funky state, right, was, to do the brain dump or to do list and then eliminate all but 3 priorities, okay? And you guys have probably heard the whole thing, you know, develop or build your second brain.

Kim:

I'm writing a Medium post about not wanting a second brain because there's enough in my first brain. I don't need more stuff to do, right? Or I don't know about you guys, but sometimes the productivity systems and tools and project management, that becomes a part time job. I'm not interested in doing that either, right? Okay. So the goal with this, this is again circling way back, this is about sharing a vulnerability as a piece of content. So doing the brain dump or the to do list and then eliminating all but 3 priorities. And what I'm sharing with you, this whole story is how I'm turning this into content and why anybody would care, right? Because remember, the premise of this video, this is part one, everything is content. And so what I decided was that the process of getting clear and getting this muck out of my head was that it was going to be a podcast episode for the week, And I needed to get it done as soon as possible, so deciding to use it for the podcast ensured that it had to happen, especially because I announced it in an email, right? And I am a huge proponent of being transparent and not just sharing the highlight reel. Because honestly, I don't know, my day to day is probably a little bit boring.

Kim:

And I don't know, the highlight reel might be what I'm having for lunch. But I have done this for as long as I can remember. And I have plenty of validation that sharing the struggles is what resonates with people. It also makes you incredibly relatable. Your subscribers and customers need to feel that what they want to achieve and accomplish is possible. And if you're only sharing the wins and not the losses, then people, we doubt things, right? And so we have to remember, you guys, creating and growing an online business is not easy. It doesn't matter what market or what niche you're in. It takes a lot of work.

And so sharing the less-than-pretty side of things shows that we all struggle. But choosing to keep going is the differentiator, right? How many people, God, you guys, when I was doing websites or even done for you podcasts, I cannot begin to tell you how many people we would build a website for, and then I would go back 6 months later, and they hadn't put one piece of content on it. The logos and what I call the peripherals, the logos, the colors, the packages, and all that stuff are fun. But the day to day pushing and marketing, pushing is not the right word, but you know what I'm saying? Publishing and creating is the work. Anyways, so when I decided to take this funky feeling and turn it into a podcast episode, this is what I decided it was going to look like, that I would go deeper with the frustration in the story than I did in this original email or in this video. And I prefaced it with wanting my desired outcome, which was the clarity I needed and what are my 3 priorities. And because I'm such a visual person, I'll create something that allows me to see everything. And I should have grabbed it here.

So what I did was I just did a brain dump on a piece of paper with colored pens and I just wrote down everything as it came to mind and then I went back and I circled, I circled 3 priorities. Like, the reason I did it with pen and paper too is because it's very easy to become like distracto ball. And next thing you know, I'm in mind map software and I'm doing this or I'm trying to create something with AI or something and all I need to do is get it out of my brain. Okay. Keep it simple. Oops. I need a different mic. This arm is so in my face.

Anyways, and then all I did was take a quick photo with my phone of this brain dump, and now I have another image for the post. So, again, you guys, I ranted in this email about, you know, when you find yourself spending so much time in the tools that are supposed to streamline your business, question whether or not you need them. Now, I don't have client work. Like, I'll have coaching clients. I have one person that I do some marketing with on a monthly retainer, but I don't need a project management system for it. I use Asana for some of my own stuff once in a while, but you have to decide. And I'm going to preach this till the cows come home, but if it's not something you enjoy using or want to work with or your brain doesn't naturally work that way, don't force a square peg in a round hole. Anyways, okay, enough of that rant.

Okay. So, sorry. You guys, this is really trippy. I don't know if I said this at the beginning, but I am testing using a teleprompter with Riverside FM. And so it's great to have the notes here, but it's a little interesting. And so the whole point of this was that I would also then have the after picture for the post, right, meaning once I circled and selected those 3 items. And then all I did is list the 3 priorities I've chosen, and then, this is again for the podcast episode, I went into the why behind why those three things were the priorities and the action that I was taking. And then if I'm lucky, I might come up with some name for this process, right? And I didn't.

It wasn't necessary to do this. Now remember, this is an email that I sent out and there's 5 parts of this to start teaching people that everything really is content. Right? It doesn't not everything has to become a proprietary system or course or workshop or what. It can just be useful to you, right? It's kind of like it reminds me of I was talking to my daughter one time. It was so funny. And she said something about, you know, she really wanted more side hustles that she didn't have to monetize. And I go, You want me in a hobby? Right? So it's just the world we live in. It's okay to have things that you do simply because you enjoy them.

Anyways, the whole point of this, right, is that this was work that needed to be done and I was frustrated and I caught myself thinking that I needed to create this big to do and make this project. And I was, I was like, This is making me crazy, like trying to figure out how to pull this clarity out of myself. And I will tell you that what I did also was I just got off the computer. Like I said, it was a Sunday. And so I got off the computer and then I just went, I don't know, I played a game on my iPad. I watched a little TV. It was a rainy day. And then I had this this inspiration.

I'm like, do this, this everything is content email series to start talking about this. And that is what inspired the podcast episodes. You see all these pieces, everything does really become content. So you might be asking, why is anybody gonna care? Because the other thing that we hear often in marketing is that it's not about you. It's about your reader. It's about your subscriber, your listener, whatever. But here's the thing. I I can't I I can speak to their problems and offer solutions if I'm the one to solve those problems, but all I have is my experience.

And stories are what connect us to people. So get put that whole thing to the side. Your your audience, subscriber, customer needs to feel to to feel and see themselves in those stories, but it's more about being relatable and creating that connection. And so the reason why, again, would anybody care is because we've all been there, right? We've all felt that frustration. And then sometimes we hear or read someone else's process and that's all we need to get moving, even if how we do it is completely different. And so what I'm hoping with this is I want people to start simplifying, right? And the post will serve as an example of everything is content that podcast episode did because I know this is getting very meta, right, where creating content that shows that everything is content, it's getting a little meta, but you get the point, right? And for the story part of the episode, I was completely honest about how I got distracted. And then I realized what the problem was, right? Which, Q Taylor Swift, it's me. Hi.

I'm the problem. And so I also wanted to share the desired outcome, right? I wrapped up the episode with 2 things I mentioned at the beginning, the clarity and the 3 priorities. And then finally, I now have this brain dump of priorities. And so when the the top 3 that I listed, which one of them is about ready to get done, it was a new website. I've been working on it for a little bit, bit, and I'm literally going to pull the trigger in a day or 2. And so, but I've got this document to go back to and get in line with, right? And so I know that that this might seem obvious, this example, because it's relative to my business, but in some ways, it definitely still falls under the documenting bucket. And you know what? I don't know. Maybe we need to create a 3rd bucket of the shit that needs to get done bucket.

Right? Because the entire purpose of everything is content is to help people who are sick of the same niche down advice. I, I, I as soon as I felt like I needed to niche down, I did this when I was a WordPress chick for 10 years. I got to a point where I was so tired of talking about WordPress. And I had already pivoted to talking more about content marketing. But then when I decided that I was gonna focus on email marketing, then I felt stuck too. Like, all of a sudden, now I have to, you know, go do keyword research, and what can I rank for, and what are long tail keywords? Just stop. Like, we are it's a very different world today. We don't know where SEO is gonna be in a year from now.

Again, it's totally still relevant. I'm not an SEO expert, but I know where I get stuck. And so my challenging call to you is to start listening to that inner voice and trusting yourself and saying, What do I want to create content with? Who do I want to serve and how can I help them? And then move forward, right? So people get stuck when it comes to creating content, to get run out of ideas because they feel like it has to fall under a certain umbrella. And it doesn't. I'm just, you know, don't be afraid to step outside of the box when it comes to content. And, lastly, here's a great example. So I wrote a post on Medium. If you're not following me there, just Kim Doyle.

And the post was titled, What Gen X Women Really Want. And what we want is ease. Now, I'm not saying other people don't want ease. I don't get into generational wars and I'm not about to try and speak for men, okay? But I know as a woman who is Gen X at this stage, all of my friends, people that I know, they're were freaking tired, right? And so you've raised your kids, it's like, I want things to be easier. That doesn't mean you don't do the work, but start asking yourself, what would my life look like if it were easy? Right? That's a better question to pose. Anyways, so this is part 1, like I said, of a 5 part series for Everything is Content. This originated as an email series. Now, last bit, because I know we're getting a little chatty here.

But the last piece is this is part of a bigger sort of, content flywheel that I'm creating, meaning all 5 of those emails are now becoming a blog post. Each of these videos will go on YouTube and into the blog post. I have not transcribed them, they are emails. So I've got a PDF for them, excuse me, and I'm going to start running paid traffic to that post because I'm on a mission. I want people to ease up about content creation and start having more fun. And so those 5 emails, though, totaled about 4,500 words. So I'm editing the content now to make sure that it makes sense in a post versus an email series. Right? So anyways, that is part 1 of Everything is Content.

And I can't wait to watch this recording to see how using a teleprompter looked or worked. Yeah. So, have fun, guys. Be easy about it. Everything is content. And if you want the PDF of this email series, just comment PDF in the comments below and I will DM you with a link to grab that. So, anyways, thanks guys. Stay tuned for part 2.

And I'm gonna give you another example. So I've kind of got different categories, but anyways, here we go. Let's do this. Alright guys, that is it for part 1. Thanks so much for listening. Again, I would love to have you join me on the workshop on Wednesday, March 6th at 11 AM Pacific time, and of course, it will be recorded, if you register. So go to kimdoyle.comforward/eicworkshop, all one word, and you can register to join me live, get the replay, or depending upon when you have listened to this, you can probably just do the on demand workshop. But I'm probably gonna run it live for a little bit.

Anyways, stay tuned for the rest of the week for the other four parts. Alright. That's it. As always, thank you so much for listening.

View Details

00:00 Sending random rants, reconnecting with authenticity. China.

05:31 Embracing ignorance, shifting perspective, and embracing fun.

09:13 Balancing organic and paid traffic for brand.

11:49 Challenges with apps integration, user demands, burnout.

15:38 Frustration with big companies and their rules.

17:23 Generic ebook platform with AI and marketing features.

22:43 Seeking genuine connections, not just building tools.

23:53 Favor real connections over forced opt-ins.

29:14 Long journey to clarity and productivity.

32:46 Custom GPT creation for sales page writing.

33:34 Task manager helps stay on track, API potential.

38:28 AI tool not useful, unclear beneficial use case.

42:15 Draft article based on conversations, structure content.

44:29 Focus on actionable, personalized content for improvement.

49:51 Simplify your website strategy, focus on writing.

51:10 Newcomers face overwhelming and confusing landscape.

53:54 Big platforms need better customer support. Thanks!

Kim [00:00:00]:

Hey there. It's Kim Doyal, and welcome to my show where digital marketing meets real stories, experiences, and strategies. You'll get a behind-the-scenes look at what's working and not working in my business, as well as other experts who show up and share their stories. As much as I love talking about tangible marketing principles and tactics, we'll dig a little deeper with mindset and explore what's required to create a business you love on your terms that also supports your life. I wanna help you understand the why behind the how. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just dipping your toes in, remember that marketing is a journey, and the goal is to enjoy it. My desire is to guide you on your journey and remind you that no matter what life throws at you, you've got this. Hey.

Kim [00:00:44]:

What's going on, everybody? Welcome to another episode of the Kim Doyal Show. It's been a while since I've done a I was gonna say live interview, but it's live for us. So we'll go ahead and run with that. And I'm excited because I think this conversation is gonna go in directions that neither of us are really aware of, but it's gonna be really fun. My guest today is Addison Best. So first of all, Addison, thank you so much for being here.

Addison [00:01:06]:

Well, thank you for having me, Kim. It's I think we talked about a little bit before this started. I haven't spoken to anybody in, I feel like, a decade. I used to have an English learning podcast with my brother, but that was all audio. Now, I'm just looking in my camera, and I feel like a deer in headlights, and I'm just kind of like, oh, wait. This is how I look? And I'm kind of freaked out, but I'm gonna try to calm down and carry on, I guess.

Kim [00:01:30]:

Yeah. Well, you know what's funny is it's almost like because I wanna do the eye contact thing, I'm like, well, I'll just go ahead and look at the camera and not worry about seeing myself or whatever. But, yeah. No. This is gonna be fun because first of all, for a little backstory about, you know, Addison had reached out to me. And this just goes to show you guys in the fall, and I was not getting the notifications from Gravity Forms. So it was like, oh my god. I've missed all these but before we get into a lot of the meat of what we wanna talk about, which we're gonna kinda go down this AI and and the impact it has on content and email, I love the backstory, Addison.

Kim [00:02:12]:

So if you could share your backstory with listeners, that would be great.

Addison [00:02:14]:

Well, it's funny. Yeah. I've been sending Kim, random emails that are kinda rants recently, so I didn't even know if she was getting it or she thought this guy's a bit nuts or whatever she was thinking. But I do it anyway because I'm trying to get back to my roots and being authentic and just having fun with different people and thinking and hoping that maybe they feel the same kind of thing. Specifically, my backstory, I guess, was in 2003 or so, I graduated university in Canada, and I went to visit my older brother in China, and I ended up staying for 14 years. That's the short end of the story. And then, of course, I got into a bunch of digital marketing and things since being there, and now a couple decades later, here I am.

Kim [00:02:57]:

Okay. So I just have to unpack a couple things. First of all, can you speak fluent Chinese now, I'm assuming?

Addison [00:03:02]:

I wouldn't say fluent. I lived in Shanghai, but, of course, you need to speak at a certain level to get by, and nobody like, taxi drivers, which you take everywhere, don't speak English and stuff like that. You have to my wife is Chinese. I moved back to Canada 5 years ago or so. And, of course, I have to speak to some level of Chinese. And, yeah. And but I think also if I knew I was gonna be there for 14 years, I would have learned it even more. It was almost like I kept extending my stay for 14 years, and somehow I ended up staying for 14 years.

Addison [00:03:39]:

You know what I mean? It wasn't a plan, if that makes any sense.

Kim [00:03:43]:

No. It totally does. Well, you know, after almost 2 years in Costa Rica, I am not fluent in Spanish, but I've decided to move back. And I'm, like, girl, come on. And the the tough thing there is that everybody not everybody, but most people speak English. And then, of course, you have Google Translate now. So you can speak to, you know, people that you need to. But, anyways, god, what incredible experience though.

Kim [00:04:05]:

I I just you got into digital marketing then and at in the early stages. Right? So it looked really different when you were getting started compared to now. And I always tell people, I'm like, on one hand, I feel like it was easier because there wasn't as much competition. On the other hand, to get up and running, you can do it quickly today. So I don't know. What are your thoughts on having been through that, a, in a foreign country, and, b, just this whole, like, let's just see where this takes us.

Addison [00:04:33]:

Well, yeah, as I said, I was in China. I didn't really know what I was gonna do. The 1st venture I did in digital marketing was create an English learning podcast with my brother in China. Part of the reason we did that, there was a super popular one, for Chinese learning in our city in Shanghai. And we just thought, Oh, wait, why don't we do that? We went even to their studio, we saw what equipment they had and we're like, whatever, we can buy a few microphones and just put up a podcast. And then of course you think, once you have a podcast, you're going to make a website and try to monetize it in some way after that. And so we just kind of dove into it, not thinking about it, which was great, I think, and a good attitude to have. I learned a lot, I think, from doing that, and I actually, to be honest, I'm trying to get back more in that mentality now, So, you know, looking back what I did, I actually think I was on the right track in a lot of ways.

Kim [00:05:31]:

Well, we talked a little bit before, so and and this is something that is super near and dear to my heart, and that is just kinda ignorance is bliss, but also not being so concerned about, you know, anything external. You just put it out there and you publish and you see what works, you know. So if you could talk a little bit about what's brought you back to that place of why do I care so much now? Like, you know, and shifting back because honestly, I think with where with where everything is today, there's so many you know, this is what you need for a brand. This is what you should do on this channel. This is what you should on that channel. I think people are just sick of it. Like, there is a little bit of there's market maturity so people can like, people can see a launch coming a mile away, right, versus, like, just genuinely connecting and and going back to roots and and having fun and testing stuff out. So, I just would love for you to go a little bit deeper into your own thoughts and realization of where'd that guy go?

Addison [00:06:29]:

Well, yeah. I had mentioned that a little bit before the show, and I just, went on YouTube. We had a an English learning podcast, so at that time, there wasn't even really YouTube. So that was a video that I saw later, But it was entitled Saturday Night Drinks, and I just I had a vodka Red Bull with my brother on a couch, and we talked about some English learning material for slang spoken English. And, I mean, obviously, I didn't give a shit about what people thought. It didn't even make any sense, but I read the comments, and they were amazing. People loved it. And then I think now the vanilla stuff I'm, like, putting out there, and I'm thinking, why am I doing that? And certainly, nobody cares about it if you have go down too far in that mentality.

Addison [00:07:12]:

But at the same time, when you get older and, certainly, you have more of a professional, maybe a brand, you might kind of revert back and think, oh, now I have I can't say this and I have to act in a certain way. But I think that's where shit, to be honest. And that's why I wanna get back into being a real person and having a real following, if if I can. We'll see. Maybe I'm a dinosaur, and I'm just gonna, like, fall on my face. Like, I don't care. That's the thing now either, and I'm not gonna pretend like I do.

Kim [00:07:41]:

Leo, dinosaur. I think I'm probably about 10 years older than you. Sorry to interrupt. There might be a bit of a delay here, but I feel like people are craving that though, Addison. I think people are, you know, it's like, we're when it comes down to it, and I keep quoting doctor Seuss, but it's like, no one is youer than you. And, like, we are the only differentiator. Especially with AI, like, you know, you can create massive amounts of of content and it's a race to the bottom. So if you wanna differentiate yourself, then, of course, you need to be uniquely yourself.

Kim [00:08:13]:

Right?

Addison [00:08:14]:

Exactly. And what I realized, I like the simplicity, as you mentioned before back then as well, there weren't so many tools, there weren't all these social media platforms. You could build a simple HTML website or like a simple WordPress one. We had a simple email box collector. We made partnerships with real people, and we were collecting hundreds of emails a day from all opt ins. And, like, I made my own email server, and I just kinda went with it. We were sending out hundreds of thousands of emails to people. And it was that kind of mentality, well, what's wrong with that? And the answer is nothing.

Addison [00:08:52]:

I mean, that's it's pretty good. If if you just have a simple strategy building, collecting emails, emailing that group, selling them something else, and then giving them the content that they want as well, and then reaching out to people and making partnerships. And if that's all you do, I mean, you don't really have to do much else, and there's nothing to think about.

Kim [00:09:13]:

Well, completely, especially today where you look at, you know, organic social, it's like, I don't wanna spend that much time to master a specific platform. At the same time, like, it's still I mean, my brand's been around for a while now, so it's it's still obviously drives traffic. But a perfect scenario for me would be creating content. And then I have no problem with paid traffic, like getting a really solid paid traffic strategy down. And I just get to create and connect with people I like, And then the traffic engine is running, you know, like, Oh God, I do not want to spend all day mastering Twitter templates or X or whatever the hell he's calling it. So okay. I wanna pivot to some of the the content that we wanna get into. But before we do that, I would love to hear just one of the things with the backstory piece that I think is fascinating is the pivots and and kind of trajectory.

Kim [00:10:07]:

So I would love to hear kind of your journey. Like you sent me some dates and steps along the way, because it wasn't just, oh, I just launched this, this English, you know, learning channel podcast, you know, and that blew up. It was you you definitely had some, you know, your own path there. So if you could share a little bit about that, that'd be awesome.

Addison [00:10:24]:

Right. So it's not like I've only done that. That was my 1st start into internet marketing and just doing stuff online. Since then, I've done a lot of consulting and, you know, working on different startups even and just different projects. One of the things, I own a health supplement brand. I sell physical products. I sell 1,000,000 of dollars a year in that. And even 8 years ago or so in China, kind of at the end of my time there, I started making Shopify apps with a friend, and we had about 8 apps.

Addison [00:10:58]:

And they started getting a bit of traction, but then, you know, through some personal issues, and some other reasons, we ended that. And I'm kinda going back into a similar thing, which was LeadSlide was created then, and that's my I made an AI ebook creator software marketing funnel platform recently, and I kinda wanna go back and do the things I was doing then, but do it in a way that makes sense for 2024 as opposed to 2016. And I learned a lot from doing that and I made a lot of mistakes, so basically I wanted to not do those anymore hopefully.

Kim [00:11:40]:

Yeah. Okay. Well, not to to get super personal, but, like, what would you do differently. Right? And and what does it mean to do things differently today?

Addison [00:11:49]:

Well, I'll give you an example. We had, I think 8 apps, and again, I like collecting emails, so part of the reason some of them were freemium, we collected a lot of emails every day, we didn't have to pay a lot for advertising, and that was amazing. And we started doing too many integrations with the platform. And so what happens when you do that is themes and other things start breaking, and then your apps don't work anymore, and then you create a bunch of headaches. So it sounds like a good idea to listen to your users and give them whatever they want, but what ends what ends up happening, especially in a small team, is you got shitty software and nobody wants it, and then you're just like, why am I even bother doing this anymore? And then on a personal level, my business partner was going through a divorce, and I was getting ready I was busy with other projects and moving back to Canada at that point, so it's just kind of fizzled out, and that's the main reason what happened. But I mean, nothing earth shattering that happened, but it's just like, I don't want a simple solution now. I don't want to waste my time dealing with all this horseshit either. So, like, I'm trying to go back to, like and that's what I was saying.

Addison [00:13:01]:

The English learning strategy was simple. We collected a lot of emails. We sent emails. We made partnerships, and we made a podcast. That's all we did, and it kinda worked. So

Kim [00:13:13]:

Well, it's it's funny I just

Addison [00:13:14]:

to that. Yeah.

Kim [00:13:16]:

People, I was just gonna say I have a kind of a mini mastermind with some friends, and I emailed them yesterday. I'm like, alright, you guys. I said my focus on on on simplifying. I wanna simplify, meaning whether just because I've created it doesn't mean it. Mean I need to keep selling it. I don't need to use this tool. Do I need that tool? Whatever. Just because and maybe it's a stage of life for me, but I'm like, I want more free time.

Kim [00:13:37]:

I want what I'm doing to afford me more free time as well as it's a whole lot easier to grow 1 or 2 things versus 10 or 15 with focus. Right?

Addison [00:13:49]:

Absolutely. It gets confusing. You start, thinking about, you know, why am I not doing this? And then you look at your week, and it's like, did I even make anything? I didn't even make any content this week. I didn't produce anything. I didn't collect any emails, but you felt like you were busy the whole week. You can have that. You can just feel, like, anxiety and feel feel terrible the whole week, and it's like, wait a minute, it's Friday, and did I do anything? The answer is often no, I think.

Kim [00:14:18]:

Mhmm.

Addison [00:14:19]:

And I don't wanna be caught in that trap and just feeling kind of just, I don't know, residual guilt and like angst and like, why am I not doing this? I just don't want to feel that way, and that's partly why I want to simplify it as well. It's not necessarily to make the most money. It's like, I don't wanna shoot myself in the head at the end of the week.

Kim [00:14:38]:

Yeah. Well and the other thing is that that feeling then, all of a sudden, when you look at the end of the week and you're like, I didn't produce anything or, you know, you took care of stuff, it's like then I start feeling like I'm behind. And I don't want that. I'm I'm not. You're you're never done in this space. There's always gonna be more to do. And I don't wanna feel like, oh my god. Now now I've got it.

Kim [00:14:58]:

I have to work this weekend to get this done because I didn't do this. And I don't know. Like, part of why I love what I do is because I can take the dog for a walk in the afternoon or, you know, when I'm in a warmer climate, I can go hang out in the pool and read a book for a little bit, like walk. I those are the things that I wanna do. And so it's it's I've always said this. There's a big difference between productivity and activity. And activity can take over pretty quickly if you're not super diligent about your time. You know, so I totally got that.

Addison [00:15:27]:

No, absolutely. And and I find sometimes you focus, or I I focus sometimes too much about pleasing algorithms and things that I don't wanna be pleasing, and I don't give a shit

Kim [00:15:38]:

what

Addison [00:15:38]:

Google thinks, and I don't think what care what Amazon thinks. Sometimes you end up sometimes it's working well and you think this is great and then something shitty happens, like you lose all your traffic randomly overnight with SEO or something like that, and you get so stressed. So at least if you're building an email list and partnerships, you're not gonna lose that part of your business, you know, and you can keep some level of sanity, and that's part of it. And I think that part seems to be getting worse in my feeling and just dealing with big companies and they're always changing the rules and like changing things like, Now you gotta pay for this and that, and this doesn't work, and you have to act this way. You're not allowed to say this or that. And it's like, sorry guys, I'm gonna do it anyways. So just, I'm tired of listening to it. And so that's part of it.

Kim [00:16:28]:

I totally agree. Yeah. Well, it's like I've kind of been ranty about I don't know. When I was a WordPress chick, WordPress content was very easy to rank for. It was like 2008 to 18 or what. And it was like, it was, it wasn't, I...

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Simplifying your business to increase sales might seem counterintuitive, but it’s far from it.

The funny thing is if someone had told me five years ago that I wanted to simplify my business, I’m pretty sure I would have disagreed with them.

I was reminded of this last weekend while working on my new site.

I’m using KadenceWP (which I absolutely LOVE), and because it’s been a long time since I’ve done a new theme, I forgot about the domino effect that happens when you start touching things.

The domino effect is when you touch one thing; it creates a ripple effect (and multiple dominos start falling that have to be dealt with).

Here’s what I mean:

I started with the homepage of my site and have two areas that highlight what I do and how people can work with me.

The problem with these is that since they’re only highlights, there’s a learn more button that people click on to go deeper.

So everything from the homepage that has a “learn more” button needs an additional page (I know, I’m stating the obvious, but go along with me).

I’ve been working on the site for a while, so it’s been a process. I didn’t create a sitemap first (which would have solved some of this), but I also have a lot of pages and content on my site that I need to go through to delete or update.

I’ve also gotten some much-needed clarity about my business over the last few months, so things have changed slightly.

It wasn’t until listening to a podcast after working on the site (and internal pages that need to be linked to) that I realized I was probably making things more complicated than they needed to be.

I was listening to the podcast episode on the ‘Get Paid Podcast’ with Clair Pelletreau. She was interviewing a woman I hadn’t heard of named Kirsten Roldan.

First, I LOVE discovering new people (anyone else go down the rabbit hole when they listen to podcasts?), and I LOVE this woman. She made $350k in her FIRST year in business!

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Yes, it was her first year.

The two things I love about her:

1. She wants people to find peace in their business and stop complicating things
2. She does that primarily through teaching email marketing and business systems

She had me at email.

When I went to her website to check things out, I realized she only had a few offers.

She has an agency (first offer, DFY) and two primary offers.

That’s it.

Talk about simple, right?

Which made me think about my site and offers.

I do coaching and have courses. Easy enough, right?

Well… I’m not so sure.

All the courses I’ll be listing are already created and are relative to everything I do (email, content, newsletters, AI).

And I’m only selling things that are recent-ish.

But…the bigger question is whether or not this aligns with my bigger goals and where I want to be a year from now.

Because of this, I realized I needed to edit the homepage… again.

This isn’t a big deal because I’m essentially combining two things (Newsletters & Email Marketing) and combining them into one (I know, duh).

So, it will become three columns instead of four in the section “How I Can Help.” I’m using KadenceWP, so creating another block of three columns and dragging the content into the column will be super easy.

Back to simplifying (because I’ve gone a little sideways here).

I started thinking about the different offers and had to get real with myself for a minute.

Here are a few thoughts I had:

• First, just because you’ve already created it doesn’t mean you have to keep selling it. Even if it’s relative to what you’re doing, does it really align with where you’re going? 🤔
• Is this the stuff you WANT to be doing/talking about/selling?
• Are you going to continue creating content around all of this so that what you talk about aligns with your offers?
• What if it were easier?
• What if you only had three offers like Kirsten Roland… and ALL your energy went into promoting those?
• How much easier would your content be? Your marketing?

That last one is the million-dollar question, isn’t it?

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What if it were easier?!?!All of this was validated when I talked to my friend, Jason Resnick.

Jason and I had a weekly call that started when we had a project we were working on together, and then we decided to keep it up when that ended.

What’s great is that we have similar business goals, which is more ease and more free time while scaling revenue.

It might sound a little obvious, but depending on where you’re at in your life and the stage of your business, your goals might look very different.

Back to the validation.

On our last call, I told Jason that I had three things I wanted to accomplish before our next call:

• Getting my new theme up
• Making the move to beehiiv from ConvertKit
• Launching some Power Content (this is relative to Laurel Portié’s Facebook ads program)

Well… none of those things happened.

Only because swapping out the theme for my website isn’t as straightforward as flipping a switch.

It’s the domino effect in full force.

As I was working on the copy on the homepage, I realized I was WAY overcomplicating things.

What I was setting up wasn’t supporting the business I truly wanted.

This brings me to the next point, which, more often than not, isn’t where people start when they think about starting a business or pivoting a business (although I think this is changing).

Oftentimes, the desire to start a business comes from not wanting to work for someone else, being able to make money with something you enjoy, and providing the income you need for the life you want.

All are completely valid.

When I started my business, freedom was my primary motivator. This supported having the freedom to be around for my kids and control my schedule.

Fast forward 16 years later (what the bucket?), and I want a business that gives me a different level of time freedom.

Meaning, way more white space on my calendar.

I’m clear on what I do and how I help people (finally… this has definitely pivoted throughout the years), but instead of constantly creating and testing new offers, I want a few core products that I can completely focus on.

In other words, create a solid content strategy combined with paid traffic that turns these offers into a well-oiled evergreen machine.

What happens is that when we get bored talking about the same things over and over, we assume our audience feels the same way.

But the likelihood of your audience seeing your content to the degree that you share it is minimal.

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Let’s play a game, shall we?

I’m going to define exactly what I want.

I’ve recommended this ideal “everyday” day exercise before, but I’m going to paint this picture for you so you really get a feel for the process and remind yourself that you get to create exactly what you want.

To set this up:

I’ve shared that I’m moving back to Costa Rica this summer, and some concrete things are in place now.

First, I got my place back, which I am THRILLED about! The landlord had raised the price quite a bit since I left, and because I have good friends in the building, I knew it was available. My friend, who knows the landlord pretty well, called him (he had said if she knew someone personally, he would do a lower rent), and he was thrilled that I wanted to come back.

My rent is only $100 more than when I left (and $400 less than he publicly offered it).

So that takes care of that. I have a lot to haul down again, but that’s ok. The apartment is mine July 1st.

All that being said, I’m doing this exercise as though I’m living in Costa Rica.

My ideal “everyday” day

I wake up without an alarm between 6-7 am.

Get my coffee going and take the dog out.

Once she’s done, we go back upstairs, make my coffee, and meditate.

After meditation, I head to my desk to start my workday.

I work until the next trip down with the dog, which is usually around lunchtime. Visit with a neighbor for a few minutes, and head back upstairs for lunch.

I enjoy a healthy lunch, usually with some green juice I bought from the fruit & veggie stand.

I get back to work for a few more hours and get off the computer between 3-4.

Then I get the dog, and we head to the beach for an afternoon walk along the water and get some fresh air.

Dinner is with friends or on the patio, where I can watch the sunset (those Costa Rican sunsets are something else).

Once the sun goes down, I do some artwork or get on my laptop for a bit and watch some TV.

I never have calls on Monday or Friday and am usually done working by noon on Fridays. I start the weekend by going to lunch with a friend at Las Brisa’s (best margaritas!).

My weekends are spent relaxing in the pool, at the beach, or hanging out with friends.

Can’t you feel the ease in that?

Does living simply mean I don’t have goals and desires?

Of course not.

It just means that the work that I do when I am working supports that lifestyle.

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The Oxymoron of Simplifying to Scale

It really feels counterintuitive that simplifying things is the easiest way to scale because we live in a culture that rewards busyness.

You must be a “hard worker” if you’re always busy.

How often have you asked someone how they’re doing, and they reply with “Good, just super busy” (or some variation of that)?

I’m guilty as charged with that one.

And this isn’t a dig at people who are multi-passionate.

In my opinion, multi-passionate is just a different way of saying diversified income.

Where people who are multi-passionate get into trouble is when they can’t keep up with any of their passions and find themselves always playing catch up, feeling behind, or never quite getting the thing launched or deployed.

I’m all for diversified income, but after years of experience, I’ve learned to ensure my foundation is solid – one thing at a time.

It’s hard to try to launch multiple things concurrently.

Think about it this way (bear with me; this analogy just popped into my head).

Let’s say you want to start growing your own fruits and vegetables.

You wouldn’t go out and start/buy three different farms, would you?

No. You’d start with a handful of things you could plant in your garden and easily manage. You’d ensure your little gardening patch was in the right spot for the sun and the water source was close (or you’d set up a drip system).

Then you’d tend to the garden and WAIT.

We’ve all heard the analogy that you wouldn’t plant corn in the morning and expect to be able to have corn from your garden the same night for dinner, would you?

But we do this in business ALL.THE.TIME.

We create something, share it a few times via email and a few places on social, and then when it doesn’t give us the return we wanted, we immediately decide it doesn’t work (also guilty as charged).

So, how do we change this nutty cycle?

We SIMPLIFY.

I have a few goals, but my primary focus is “Everything Is Content.”

I’ll move on to the next thing as soon as I have that front-end offer running, converting, and making sales on Evergreen (paid traffic).

This doesn’t mean there aren’t other things I’m trying/testing/thinking about in the background.

It just means this is my focus and gets the majority of my attention (this is why I allow myself “play time” to test and try things. Because I allow myself this time, I don’t have FOMO or feel like I “should” be doing something else.

Think about people in your own space or niche that you consider successful.

Are they constantly moving from thing to thing or are they staying focused?

Do they have a few products (a signature offer) or do they have tons and tons of separate projects?

Before you can truly succeed in business, you need to be clear on what you want your life and business to look like.

This isn’t woo-woo; it’s necessary.

To quote the late, great Zig Ziglar:

“If you can’t hit a target you can’t see, you can’t hit one you don’t have.”

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There’s nothing like pissy internet trolls to help you get crystal clear about who you engage with and that you don’t owe anybody anything.

Not to mention the joy of choosing to block these people from your life.

My friend Karen Michaels (a brilliant social media strategist) repeatedly repeats that it’s vitally as important to curate your feeds as it is to post and engage.

I won’t get into a bunch of details here- because the entire exchange was, quite frankly, a little wackadoodle. I re-posted something on Facebook about the Barbie snub of Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie not being nominated for Best Director or Best Actress.

The FB repost was a quote from Bette Midler.

To which a friend replied that it was typical of Amercians to lie and omit only to advance a narrative.

Um… excuse me?

What I should have done was delete him and block him immediately. But because this person was a “friend” (we’ve had actual conversations on Zoom, I’ve interviewed him, etc.), I was pretty respectful in my response.

Why a white male from Canada has a dog in the fight when it comes to American women feeling this was unjust (and just a little bit ironic considering the context of the movie) is beyond me.

Little fact for you: In the 100 years of the Academy Awards, only EIGHT females have been nominated for director, with only three winnings.

Either way, it was a ridiculous exchange and out of left field. After I deleted all of his comments and blocked him, all I could think was that this person must have something deeper going on and decided to pick a fight.

I’m all for differing opinions, provided you can be respectful.

Transform Ideas into Inspired Action: Subscribe to the SPARKThe implication was also that because the movie received other awards, people (i.e., women) shouldn’t be upset.

Here’s the thing: I’m at a point in my life when I’m done trying to appease idiots. I don’t need to justify or explain myself to anyone.

That being said, I’m pretty sure social media isn’t the place where meaningful change is going to happen, especially with someone shows up just to be a dick.

It makes me think of the Maya Angelou quote:

“When someone shows you who they are the first time, believe them.”

Maya Angelou

Here’s another internet troll story from last week that happened with a friend.

I’m going to be a little cryptic since it’s not my personal story, but you’ll get the gist of it.

A friend posted on Twitter that he was deleting a large quantify of cold subscribers from his email list that had come through one specific growth strategy, then asked if people could guess what it was.

Someone from a company that sells this growth strategy jumped in with what appeared to be an attempt at a diplomatic reply, only to end up basically blaming the issue on the creator/business owner not having a good onboarding sequence.

Sigh.

Huge opportunity missed for creating a conversation about doing better.

My friend is pretty brilliant when it comes to email marketing, growth, data, and automations.

By the way, the growth strategy that was called out was referral programs.

I’ll go on the record now and say that if these programs don’t improve, in other words, stop shoving 3-8 more opt-ins in someone’s face after they subscribe, a lot of people will stop using them.

I also think advertisers will stop paying for sponsorships in newsletters with big subscriber lists and crappy conversion rates.

Moving on…

WAY too many people are running their businesses with their egos driving the bus.

Internet trolls aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.It always comes down to how we handle what shows up.

And even then, we’re all human and have bad days, engage when we probably know we shouldn’t, and get riled up by people… especially when you think the troll was a friend.

Ideally, though, we move on.

This also validated my goal of mastering paid traffic this year. 😉

Transform Ideas into Inspired Action: Subscribe to the SPARKA Content Strategy for 2024There’s something about the energy in the creator/marketing space that feels a bit like there’s a renaissance happening.

AI may have sparked all of this, but this is more about the space in general.

Digital marketing is now just ‘marketing,’ and gone are the days of jumping into strategies that big names/gurus have recommended, are doing, or are selling you.

This isn’t to call out companies or people by name, but for the sake of giving you an example, I kinda have to give some names here.

Let’s look at a company example first (and this is all from my own experience and observations).

ClickFunnels, which has been the leading funnel software for years, is losing a lot of ground and, no doubt, customers as well.

The launch of 2.0 was a bit of a cluster. After being announced, it took a full year to make it public, and then it launched with only half the features.

The launch was in the fall of 2022.

Meanwhile, High Level continues to grow at an accelerated rate, and a lot of big names have left ClickFunnels to move to High Level (many of whom had spoken at Funnel Hacking Live and were part of their Inner Circle) and are white-labeling High Level and speaking at the High-Level annual event.

Another company example would be ConvertKit.

They’ve made a lot of updates in the last year, but that feels like a mad-dash attempt not to lose people to beehiiv.

My primary frustration with ConvertKit was that it was supposed to be for Creators, yet we didn’t really get a visual builder for email until the last year or so.

Along comes beehiiv, who is growing at a rapid pace and deploying features their customers wanted, and it feels like now ConvertKit is paying attention.

Competition is good, but that’s not what this is about.

This is about the fact that, as entrepreneurs and business owners, we now have more options than ever before.

Whether it’s a website/blogging platform, email service provider, social media platform, or content strategy.

You have choices.

Now, let’s look at a few examples of people in this space.

The first person that comes to mind is Alex Hormozi.

And for the record, I have both of his books and have nothing against him.

But every time I see a piece of content that references how to do something like Alex, I move on.

I was watching a Laurel Portié training, and she explained very clearly why copying what Alex does won’t work for you.

And no, it’s not because you’re not Alex, and his content works because it’s him.

His style of content won’t work for you because he’s not trying to sell you anything.

What Alex does on social is part of a bigger strategy and his business model has nothing to do with selling courses, coaching, or any other digital marketing strategy.

I don’t know about you, but I use social to support my business (and some entertainment as well… one of my latest TikTok obsessions is Scottish toddlers…way too cute).

There are a whole lot of other things I’d rather be doing than spending time on social media.

I’m there because it’s marketing.

It’s all about perspectiveI launched my business 16 years ago, so my perspective is going to be WAY different than someone who is just getting started.

We also have the dichotomy of it being both easier and harder at the same time.

It’s easier today because the tools we use to build and grow a business are so much better than they were in 2008.

It’s harder today because there’s so much more competition; social platforms would rather have you pay to play (the organic reach on social used to be amazing, with far less effort than is required today).

And then add AI into the mix and it’s a whole different ball game.

The best way to succeed online with content is to put blinders on.

For example, here’s a sampling of the content I came across this morning:

• Selling over 1.5M via Instagram and chatbots (DMs)
• 4000 followers in less than 70 days on Medium
• How to start writing on Substack
• An email about a TikTok course
• An email about YouTube
• An email about email marketing and another about list building
• An article about lead magnets not working (and one about what type of lead magnet is working)
• Selling digital products
• Making millions through curated content
• How to rank on Google
• How to grow on LinkedIn
• Using a $5 a day ad strategy for FB & IG

There are SO many options when it comes to creating and publishing content.

You’ll never know what works for you if you try to pay attention to everything (I know, that’s a little dramatic, but trying to keep up is overwhelming).

I’m going to keep this super simple when it comes to creating a content strategy for 2024:

1. Decide what you want to create content about
2. Choose the 1-2 mediums you enjoy (writing, audio, or video)
3. Choose 1 -2 platforms to focus on

This doesn’t mean you can’t test a different medium or share on more than 1-2 platforms.

It means this is your primary focus, and you can do what you want after those are done.

Put your focus into getting better at the things you enjoy, and then allow yourself some time to test/play/explore.

Provided you can do that without derailing yourself (we’ve all been there).

ALL of this stuff works.

That doesn’t mean you have to do it all, nor do you have to hire someone to do the things you don’t like doing.

I will happily hire someone to do social for me later this year once I have a strategy down that works for what I’m doing in my business.

Recently, I was listening to the Free Time podcast with Jenny Blake, where she shared that she’s shutting down her private community and stopping both her podcasts (Free Time and Pivot).

One of the things I’ve loved about Jenny Blake since I found her was that she’s so honest about what works for her. She’s not active on social media and talks very openly about needing time and space in her life outside of her business.

She worked for Google, and once she was promoted to managing a team, she was miserable.

She never wanted to manage people but felt like that was what she was “supposed” to do (Oh, corporate America… you’ve done a number on a lot of us).

I’m sure this is why she came up with the term “delightfully tiny team” – which she talks about in her book Free Time.

You do not have to want to be on every platform, creating every type of content.

And if you do?

Go for it.

You also get to change your mind.

I will change my mind and try new things as long as it takes to find what works for me.

And… if you don’t want to create content?

That’s perfectly OK, too.

As long as you can drive traffic to your products and services (paid traffic, referrals from previous customers, etc.), and you’re good with how things are running in your business, that’s all that matters.

If you do want to create content, you have to make sure enough people see it.

Whether that’s social or paid traffic, you need people to consume it.

At the end of the day, the best type of content you can create is the type you enjoy.

From there, you can work on getting better. Fine-tuning it, drilling deeper, making it more entertaining, and learning to edit your own work (that’s an art form in and of itself!).

And of course, if it’s not fun, don’t do it.

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There is nothing like a little avoidance to force your hand on getting some much-needed clarity.

Especially when the priority is cash.

Let me back up a little and share what brought me here.

I spent a lot of last year trying to remove things from my business, or so I thought.

On one hand, I created some incredibly solid habits that have stuck, but I feel like I still haven’t moved the needle on things that will have the biggest impact on my business, at least not as much as I had hoped.

And honestly, who’s to say what’s enough?

Could I have done more?

Sure.

We always can.

But I also know that last year was a lot. Being back in California, my Dad’s health challenges, and more time with family & friends (which was great, but when everything is a 2-hour drive, one way, it can throw your schedule for a loop), and my own recovery from back surgery made for a long year.

So, even though my goal was to simplify and remove things, I can’t say I was super successful.

I’ve accepted the fact that part of who I am is about exploring new ideas. This is fine, provided I keep the new ideas in the “exploring stage” and not in the “pivot and implement” stage.

The two things (outside of life in general), that threw me off my path were AI and then hosting the retreat in Costa Rica.

Neither of which I regret. Both were totally worth it, but both brought up deeper questions and a certain amount of evaluating what I want my business to look like.

But let’s not go sideways with that.

This episode is how I realized I was more frustrated than I thought and how I found the much-needed clarity I didn’t even know I needed.

Which will lead to more cash flow.

Avoidance At Its Finest

Unless I’m out of town or have other plans, I usually do a little work every Sunday just to get ahead of my week.

I look at my calendar, plan my week out, and try to get ahead of a few things if I’m in the mood.

This past Sunday started out like every other Sunday that I chose to work, but after my first cup of coffee, I couldn’t get into any sort of rhythm.

I found myself going from thing to thing and then from one idea to the next.

Then, I had the brilliant idea that I should “create a plan.”

I know you know what kind of plan I’m talking about. One of those “big picture” plans that looks pretty, presents itself as the ultimate organization for a “beautiful mind,” and represents all things fabulous about your business.

But in reality… it’s just a HUGE distraction.

It’s the epitome of activity disguising itself as productivity.

Even though I wasn’t sure what to do next, there was no fooling me this time. I knew that would be a waste of time, and I wouldn’t be any clearer on what was going on.

So… what did I do?

I stepped away from everything for a while.

Then it hit me.

I didn’t need to make a plan to accomplish everything; I needed to do a brain dump, pick my top 3 priorities, and then make a list of things I could “put aside” for a while.

Here’s what that looked like:

Here are the categories of my brain dump:

1. Website
2. Content
3. High Level
4. Paid Traffic
5. Courses
6. Coaching
7. Community
8. Priorities

Hopefully this won’t be too boring, but I’m going to share what I scribbled under each of these and will go into more detail in the podcast, and then I’ll explain the three priorities.

Website:* Switch to my new theme (Kadence, which I LOVE) * Finish copy * Add shop * Update coaching & courses pages * New tools & resource page * Check SEO & Google indexing, update older content for SEO (if relevant to current content)

Content* Podcast: schedule the special series interviews, get a few episodes ahead * Newsletter: update posts on website with featured images, VA adding to Medium, content flywheel (for promotion), add Content Snacks segment * Blog: 2 posts a month, add relevant content to Medium with CTA * YouTube: Add podcast playlist, get videos up (have a backlog, can now schedule these). Start testing newsletter as video. * Social media: Focus on 2 platforms, schedule time weekly for getting content scheduled, Missingletter campaigns for backlog. * Everything Is Content: Finish ebook

HighLevel* Finish writing follow-up sequences * Update Community * Move calendar from Zcal to HighLevel – create automations for reminders * Set up e-com for planner

Courses* When follow-ups are done, promote in this order: * Hit Send * List Explosion * Conversations with ChatGPT * Everything is Content (when ready)

Coaching* Update coaching page (copy and layout) * SPARK Collective: Regroup, update community – what does this look like? * Offer Email Coaching (one on one) * Focus sessions: New name? Update copy

Email* Keep working on move from ConvertKit to beehiiv * Simplify automations & segments * Finish by first week in February (write the post on the move second week in Feb) * Relaunch imperfect

Paid Traffic* Get power content and offers up week of January 21st (Laurel Portié) * Ads to create: * Everything Is Content * Coaching (goal: 6-10 coaching clients max)

Priorities1. Site move 2. Ads running 3. Promote coaching

All three of these relate directly, or in the case of the website move, indirectly to cash flow.

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Choose one primary marketing objective.And it should be email; the rest is just icing on the cake.

But, before we get into that…

One thing that has me really excited about the New Year and 2024, in general, is that there seems to be a broad desire in the marketing space for things to change.

Hallelujah!

A few things have contributed to this.

The last 3+ years have been a little nuts across the globe, which in turn has made people feel weary. Of course, it’s not all been gloom and doom, even if we have to make a conscious effort to seek out what’s good (which is totally worth it).

But I think we can all agree that it’s “been a lot.”

In terms of the digital marketing/creator space, the bottom line is that the space has matured.

People are more educated about how everything works; they’re burnt out from hype promises, big launches, and the idea that you have to strive towards millions (and no judgment if that’s what you want, ya’ girl does, but you won’t see me driving any lambos or posting pictures of mansions).

With a massive distrust of government and media, we’re learning to rely on ourselves.

Which is a beautiful thing because that’s where real strength comes from.

I’ve seen a lot of New Year’s posts about people wanting to remove things as opposed to “kicking ass and taking names” (something I’ve said myself on more than one occasion).

Every year, I choose a new word. I chose my word for 2024 in December of last year. This is something that’s sacred to me and isn’t something that I have any desire to share, but rest assured it’s a positive word.

This year, I’ve also chosen a “money” word.

I was listening to a podcast episode with Kendall Summerhawk yesterday, and she explained how she does this and what her word is/has been. She suggested the first word that comes to mind (and it’s ONE word, not a phrase or sentence).

The first word that came to mind for me?

EaseWhich is something I want across all areas of my life.

You might be thinking that this is something most people want – and to a certain extent, I agree. Of course, most people want more ease.

But more often than not, they don’t want to change anything or do anything to achieve it.

My therapist said she read something that said that 90% of people don’t want to change. 🤯

Which is a little mind-blowing to me.

When you’re hardwired or have spent the last 30 years constantly learning and growing, it’s a hard concept to grasp.

At the same time, I get it. Unless you’ve realized there is another way to do things (to live, to be, to feel, to earn, etc.), how do you know what’s possible?

This is why I’ve started signing off my emails with “Stay curious.”

Most entrepreneurs I know are curious, they do want something different or they wouldn’t be in business for themselves. And now even the ‘different’ looks different.

Back to ease and how that translates to money.

For as long as I can remember, money has felt hard for me.

My parents raised my siblings and me with incredible work ethics (and were both hard workers their whole lives. My dad still has a hard time doing “nothing”).

I had no other concept of earning or having money other than you had to “work hard.”

No one taught us (or them) about compound interest, investments, and the role money played in our lives (and here I am, at 53, doing a deep dive on ALL of this).

It’s not that any of these are new concepts to me at this stage in my life, but I guess we don’t “get it” until we get it. 😉

When I had a job, I maxed my 401k and did “all the things” I was supposed to.

But unless you see that there’s another way to do things or have a strong enough “why” for making change, it’s probably not going to happen.

The two things that shifted everything for me were:

• When my therapist said I needed to stop being a victim when it comes to money (ouch! But also, AMEN!)
• Listening to Tori Dunlap’s “Financial Feminist” and hearing her say that the best way to fight the patriarchy was for women to be financially independent and earn LOTS of money

The Power of Reframing Things

Learning to reframe our thoughts and beliefs is one of the most powerful things you can do. It also comes back to taking complete and total responsibility for everything in your life, which I talked about in episode 125.

This is the ultimate freedom.

My first introduction to this was many years ago when I heard Dr. Wayne Dyer say, “Change your thoughts, change your life.”

Which is also an incredible book.

And there are TONS of books on Amazon that can help with this (or find an amazing mentor like I have). A quick Google search of “best book on reframing thoughts and beliefs,” and you’re off to the races.

So, how do you reframe your thoughts and beliefs in your business?

The simplest way to start is to take inventory.

Make a list of things you’d like to change. Things that you know, if you worked on, would make a difference.

One of the best examples, and one I’ve heard SO many times (or a variation thereof), is, “I’m not a good writer, I don’t like writing, I don’t want to write.”

And at the risk of sounding like a completely heartless human, if that’s a cross you’re willing to die on, then you probably shouldn’t have an online business.

I don’t care what niche or market you’re in or what your skill set is.

You can’t grow an online business without writing.

You have to do the difficult thing and practice. Start writing, take a course, create content, and pick a social platform where you can be consistent.

A belief I’ve had for far too long is I don’t like doing Facebook ads. Correction: I don’t like being the one to create, set up, and manage Facebook ads.

I LOVE Facebook ads because I know firsthand that they work. Maybe not on the first go, but they work.

So, I’ve had to make a conscious choice that I’m going to master them this year. As much as I love creating content (and will continue to do), paid traffic is like pouring gas on a fire.

This also means EASE.

The ease is the end goal, and paid traffic is the means to that goal.

Will it be easy while I’m doing it? It’s probably not as easy as I’d like, but eventually, it will be.

It also means having a well-oiled machine running in the background, driving traffic, leads, and sales.

OK., what does all of this have to do with picking ONE primary marketing objective that should be email?

Everything.

Making Email Your One Primary Marketing ObjectiveLike I’ve said many times in the past, my biggest regret in my business is not starting email marketing sooner.

I started my business in 2008 and it wasn’t until 2016 that I made the decision that I was going to figure it out.

Best. Thing. Ever.

There are plenty of nuances and ways I can improve – so it’s always something I’m working on. I’ve also had different times in my life personally that affected the way I was able to show up. No biggie, life happens.

Once you have the skill and understand the power of email marketing you can pick up when you need to.

Do yourself that favor, and even if you’ve let it slide or been MIA – it’s OK. Get back at it.

All activities should lead to this one primary marketing objective.

Here’s what I mean:

Podcasting => Include a CTA for people to get on your list

YouTube => Include a CTA & link in the description

Social Profiles => ALL links should lead to your primary opt-in

Social content => Wherever you include a link to your own content, make sure that content has an opt-in

Blog posts/Medium/Substack/beehiiv => All should have a link to your primary opt-in

I’m probably missing something, but you get the point.

As I was writing this episode, I reached out to a dear friend who does social media (for clients, teaches it, etc.) and asked her if she had any sort of social media audit. This then led me to do a quick search and found a free one from Hootsuite (I haven’t looked at them in years).

I’m still hoping my friend has one I can share, but until then, here’s the article on Hootsuite: How to Run the Easiest Social Media Audit [FREE TEMPLATE].

This might be the scenario of “which came first, the chicken or the egg,” – but you should have a current lead magnet, follow-up sequence, and low front-end offer in place when you start this.

All of these should solve a problem for your ideal subscriber/customer, and the low front-end offer should be the next logical step for them to take after consuming your lead magnet.

That being said, if you have something you can use now (like a newsletter) that serves the same audience, don’t wait until you have all of this in place.

Start where you are with what you have.

There are a lot of factors that make up all of this, so don’t worry if it takes you longer than you’d like. Just commit to doing it (and ideally, set a deadline. I’m a huge fan of accountability, which is why I make announcements or share with people who will be direct with me.

The best way to start this is to keep it simple.

And then you have to be patient.

Create the process for ongoing sharing, publishing, and promoting, and pay attention to what’s working.

Even if you only have three people on your email list… start emailing.

Those three people gave you their name and email and they matter.

Be transparent; let them know you’re new-ish to email marketing and would love their feedback.

You’re going to make mistakes; links won’t work, and you’ll have misspellings or grammatical errors – no biggie. We all do it (also why it’s good to always send a test email to yourself first).

Wouldn’t you rather ‘learn as you go’ with a small list than a big list?

The Magic of Email Marketing and the Ease it CreatesThere is nothing, and I mean nothing, that beats sending an email and making sales. Especially when you’re off doing other things.

Who doesn’t love seeing an email that says “notification of payment” in their inbox? 🤔

More ways to think about email marketing:

• It’s a relationship builder: Not every email has to sell. The more often you email (I’m a fan of “almost daily emails), the more your subscribers feel they know you.
• It’s also content: I’ve published plenty of broadcast emails (I call these story-based emails) as blog posts and then created a social campaign around that post.
• It keeps you top of mind: How many times have you unsubscribed from an email list because it’s been so long since you heard from the sender that you don’t know who they are or remember signing up? (and if you’ve been this sender, let it go and move on).
• It’s a great testing ground: Once you’ve found a consistent email rhythm that works for you and your list, start asking questions. Create polls, ask for feedback, etc. It’s also a great way to test the content your subscribers like most.

Email marketing is the traffic you control (unlike paid traffic – I think Russell Brunson originally said this).

Unlike the social media platforms, which, quite frankly, all suck and have issues (in terms of who owns them, how they’re run, privacy issues, etc.), YOU get to control the narrative and relevancy with email.

We’re entering an election year in the US, so we’ll probably see an increase in paid traffic costs at some point (at least based on previous years), so do everything you can now to make sure you’ve built a solid foundation for your business.

Email marketing needs to be a part of that.

My Email Marketing Plan for 2024:* Make the move from ConvertKit to beehiiv * New lead magnet and follow-sequence for “Everything Is Content” * Continue with the weekly edition of ‘the SPARK‘ on Thursday, adding in two “Weekend Editions” a month * Pre & post-marketing for each issue of the newsletter for lead generation * Start adding in more conditional personalization as available in beehiiv * Implement a paid traffic campaign for the new lead magnet * Find/connect with other female marketers who serve the same audience and do one or two email swaps a month * Test running a giveaway

I don’t have an exact plan on what this looks like – meaning, I’m not stopping everything I’m doing to implement everything immediately.

I’ve got three phases for moving to beehiiv (and, of course, with technology, you never know), and I’m finishing up the new Everything Is Content lead magnet.

If you’re new to email marketing, instead of creating a massive plan, how about creating a “Starting Plan?”

Pick three things that you know will make a difference and start.

With the changes and focus in my own business, I know there will be things I’m doing this year that are tests, and ideally, one by one, I’ll remove the things I don’t enjoy and/or aren’t bringing me the ROI I had hoped for.

Regardless of what I remove, email marketing will always be my primary marketing objective.

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Lessons Learned and Finding My Voice Again resonated much more than doing a typical year-in-review post (at least how I’ve done them in the past).And for what it’s worth, that’s kind of the theme for this next year: both with business and my life.

In other words, doing things differently.

Initially, I was excited to do a year-in-review podcast. I’ve always enjoyed doing my look back on the year and seeing what worked, what didn’t, and how that would impact the coming year.

So much happened in 2023 that much of it feels a bit like a blur.

In so many ways, the year really felt like “a lot.”

The contrast I experienced in moving back to California from Costa Rica felt overwhelming at times.

The first contrast might seem obvious, and that was the weather.

Having grown up and spent the majority of my adult life in the Bay Area, I didn’t think it would have such an impact on me, but it did. It didn’t help that I moved back during a crazy, heavy winter with massive snow (I’ve been at my Dad’s since moving back, and it’s about an hour southeast of Lake Tahoe).

Beyond my short stint and one winter in Boise, Idaho, I’ve never lived in the snow.

I have zero intention of doing that again when I leave here.

I also forgot how incredibly dry it is here. Costa Rica is humid, but it’s not like Orlando. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I acclimated to that climate after a while. Not to mention, my skin felt fantastic.

As much as I missed the seasons (to the extent that Northern California actually has seasons), winter is the season I like the least.

Snow is pretty, and I love how quiet it makes everything, but I’d be fine if my only experience of snow moving forward were a weekend visit.

The Biggest Adjustment of All

People.

My Dad will be 80 this year, and his health isn’t all that great. You wouldn’t look at him and think so, but he has a handful of issues (his heart is the main issue) that are somewhat serious. His health and missing family are the primary reason I moved back.

The secondary reason was that the last year there was more trying than I realized. I had visitors every month for nine months, with only one month break during that time.

As much as I was super appreciative that people came to visit, it interrupted my life and work in a way that impacted my income and my energy (again, hadn’t really realized this while I was experiencing it). All my guests were people who were close to me, so it wasn’t like they were difficult.

This just validated what I already knew about myself, and am going to be firm about in the future. I require a good chunk of time to myself. Boundaries are key for me – regardless of whether they make sense to other people or not.

It took a few “come to Jesus” moments with my Dad also for him to “get” that just because I’m at home working doesn’t mean I’m available for midday chats, errands, questions, or whatever else he thinks of. That being said, it’s a good thing I did come back.

We had three trips to the ER this year (all via an ambulance) because of his health. My siblings are both two hours away so my Dad would have been on his own until they could have come up here. I had given myself until the end of June (2024) with him, hoping that he’d start thinking about moving.

It looks like that might be coming to fruition this year (he’s started looking at retirement communities and downsizing the house). We’ll start looking with him when Spring rolls around. In the meantime, I’m on a mission to help him get rid of things, so when the time does come, it’s not a massive undertaking (my kids are grateful I’m somewhat of a minimalist).

I’ve also spent a lot more time with family and friends since coming back, which has been great.

It also means a decent amount of traveling down to the East Bay (Bay Area), which is a four-hour round trip. I try to pack in as much as I can when I go down (I stay at my sister’s), but then that means being away from my own space, as small as it is) every month for a chunk of time.

No bueno.

Fortunately, this gave me a break from my Dad and him from me (although he’s one of those people who loves company no matter what he’s doing). He had a few trips throughout the year; I had a couple of trips (Oregon in May and Costa Rica in October), so that helped keep me sane. I realized how much that helped when neither of us had any trips in November and December, and I was ready to find a cave to hibernate in. 🤣

Being close to family and friends is a gift, and I’m super grateful for it, but with it comes a feeling of obligation.

After this Christmas, I have definitely decided that I’ll be doing holidays differently. Not sure exactly what that looks like, but it has to be simpler.

Most of my friends live in the East Bay as well, so when I try to time seeing them with trips down, which is also means staying longer (and lots of driving, which isn’t really a big deal because I don’t drive that much working from home).

I definitely felt more stress this last year than I had the three years prior (one year in Boise and almost two years in Costa Rica). That was the first time I had lived alone, and it was/is BLISS.

I honestly think every woman, if given the opportunity, should live alone. I know it’s not for everyone, but I can truly say that I never felt lonely or wished someone was living with me.

Because of the stress I experienced, I ended up getting sick within a month of coming back and then got Shingles in April (which sucks, and yes, I will be getting the vaccination). Fortunately, I didn’t have a severe case of Shingles, but I’m still dealing with nerve issues).

Personal Lessons Learned* I need more time to myself, with zero explanations or justifications. I said yes to things I wanted to say no to or felt bad about saying no. Fuck that. * I definitely want to be closer to amenities. My dad’s (parent’s) house is beautiful and quiet, but it’s a good 20+ minutes to a decent grocery store. On the one hand, it’s kinda nice that there aren’t a bunch of conveniences around (i.e., you make do with what you have); on the other hand, if I’m going to live without conveniences, I may as well be in Costa Rica. 😉 * Boundaries are EVERYTHING. Trite as it is, the old adage of putting your own oxygen mask on first is key. * Alignment has to come first. This means meditation, exercise, good sleep, and people that fuel that deeper part of my soul.

2023 was really about regrouping, rebuilding, and getting clear on what I want my life to feel and look like for ME.

My thoughts about my life and business have changed multiple times over the past year. Not because I’ve changed my mind, but with time and experience, I got clearer on what works/doesn’t work for me.

I’m still not sure exactly where my next spot will be (leaning again towards Auburn, CA, which is above Sacramento and below Lake Tahoe), but you never know. I’ll do some more exploring when Spring rolls around.

The biggest takeaway, which is the same for my business, is that it’s time to do things differently. I’ve said on more than one occasion that the things I’ve been doing weren’t working… it only makes sense to do something different.

A Look Back on Business and Finding My Voice AgainOne thing I did when I started planning this post was look back at my Google Calendar for the last year.

There were way too many things on in that:

• Weren’t relevant all year (i.e., too many trying new things)
• Weren’t things I enjoyed
• Weren’t relevant to my focus

All of that changed when I went down the rabbit hole with Dr. Benjamin Hardy, his book “Be Your Future Self NOW” and his books with Dan Sullivan, specifically, “10X is Easier than 2X.”

I talked a lot about those books in previous podcasts and my newsletter, but it’s the first time the idea of simplifying (i.e., doing LESS in business), resonated on such a deep level with me.

I have zero problems doing the work or putting in the time, but I was spreading myself too thin. I’d love to think I’m a fabulous multi-tasker, but I’m not. Splitting my attention and energy only creates a longer to-do list.

I’m proud of the things I did accomplish:

• Still publishing the newsletter, haven’t missed a week! 163 issues to date – which means 163 weeks in a row! DAYUM!
• The podcast is back on track.
• Tried a few new things: ChatGPT workshop & coaching (still love this tool)
• Kept up with my mini-masterminds/accountability I have with friends
• Hosted my first in-person retreat in Costa Rica this past fall
• Launched a community – even with a rocky start – I’m 100% committed to this

All that being said, the one word I can use to describe the last year is “incohesive.”

Nothing felt connected or part of a bigger plan.

Now it does.

I also want more downtime in my business. Meaning, more time for learning, creating, and exploring how to go deeper with the things I already do or want to improve on.

That might not sound like downtime, but it is.

I will also be much more strict about my no calls on Monday and Friday. After having set my out-of-office autoresponder for Christmas (almost two weeks!) and nothing fell apart, I will absolutely be implementing and maintaining stricter boundaries with my schedule and time.

Finding My Voice AgainI can’t quite pinpoint when I felt like I’d stopped using my voice in my business, but if were to guess, I’d say it was around 2017. I had been going through some real personal challenges, and they continued for a handful of years.

Challenges with my son and then losing my Mom were more than I could handle, even if I hadn’t quite realized it at the time. My time in Boise and Costa Rica was part of my healing. Grief impacts us in ways that we’re not even aware of until after the fact.

It’s hard to use your voice, which requires a certain degree of vulnerability, when you’re raw, grieving, and weary.

That’s what the last few years have been.

I’ve gotten through it with the help of my mentor, the people I trust to hold that space for me, and a commitment to myself.

This started with letting go of expectations.My own expectations and the perceived expectations of other people. In other words, the BS in my head.

There are so many rules about how things should and shouldn’t be done online that it’s easy to lose site of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it in the first place.

The more I tried to do what I thought I “should” do, the less fun I was having.

And the more my content production slowed down.

Nothing sounded like me, nothing felt like me, and trying to create content based on a niche or to appease the search engines was wreaking havoc on my mind and soul.

I think it was probably around the time Roe V. Wade was overturned in the US that I got pissed off and realized I couldn’t keep quiet anymore.

And no, this isn’t about politics, but I realized I had been trying to keep everyone happy and not ruffle feathers.

Hear my heart… I’m not interested in throwing anyone under the bus, calling people out by name, or causing controversy.

What I am interested in is speaking my truth.There’s massive truth to hitting 50, realizing there’s likely less time left in front of you than behind you, and there are things you’re not willing to put up with anymore. Such as:

• Caring what other people think (a process for sure, but I definitely care a whole lot less than I used to)
• Putting other people’s needs before my own
• Doing things the way they’ve always been done just to keep people happy

What this means for my business

First and foremost, a whole helluva lot more fun.

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Do you want to Grow and scale in 2024?This episode is for you.

I know you might be thinking, “Um… duh Kim, who doesn’t.”

But I will take this in a different direction than you might expect. At least compared to trite advice, you might see popping up at this time of year.

Like everything I’m doing moving forward, this episode is going to be a mix of things that speak to both the tangible (tasks) and intangible (thoughts, beliefs, mindset).

I’ll share the only way to grow and scale in 2024; then I’m going to share a story with you that was the inspiration for this episode.

The point of sharing the inspiration is to piggyback on the last episode, “Everything Is Content, 2.0.” I want you to start finding content ideas and inspiration from all areas of your life.

So first, here’s the ONLY way to grow and scale in 2024:

Take complete and total responsibility for everything in your life.

Doesn’t sound very exciting, does it?

Contrary to how that might feel when you hear it, I promise you that when you truly step into owning responsibility for everything in your life, it creates massive freedom, which then opens all kinds of doors.

Besides showing you that “Everything Is Content,” the story that led to the inspiration for this episode is also an example of me walking the walk.

Because it’s going to be much less about the contrast that showed up and much more about how I caught myself playing the victim, feeding old beliefs, and then stopping that bullshit as soon as I realized what I was doing.

Here’s what happened.

I recently had a conflict with someone I love very much.

It went sideways, some heated things were said, and then a resolution was reached (sounds so formal, but truly, the details aren’t what matters here).

Like all of us, I did the normal regurgitation of things in my head.

You know what I’m talking about… “I should have said this, yea, but, if only, blah, blah, blah.”

After having returned home from the holiday and a fairly good night’s sleep, although not enough, I found myself rehashing things within minutes of waking up.

Two things to note here: even though I was home and had slept pretty well, it was less sleep than I needed, and I was pretty worn out from the previous four days. Because I woke up earlier than I wanted to, in some ways, I ‘woke up on the wrong side of the bed.’

The house was pretty cold (52), so I got to work to get a fire going right away after getting the kettle going for my coffee (I use a French Press and enjoy this slower process of brewing my coffee in the morning).

While I was doing all of this, my mind started going a million miles a minute.

Replaying the conflict, wishing I had said things differently (or not at all), and really working myself up.

It only took me about 30 minutes, but it was like someone had splashed cold water on my face.

I instantly thought, “What the hell are you doing to yourself?”

Which was then followed by a firm and resounding “Fuck this!”

I realized how quickly my ego had jumped in to take the wheel, and I was feeding that little shit as though I was a helpless victim to what was going on in my own mind (humans really are fascinating creatures!).

I’ll come back to this realization in a moment, but before that, I’m going to get a little meta here, and I want to share why this victim realization was so powerful to me.

The first time anyone called me a victim was in 2011.

It was my therapist/mentor (who I still speak with/work with today), and while I don’t remember the exact context of the conversation (it had something to do with losing my husband eight years prior at 32) and she lovingly said something along the lines of me not being a victim (because I was acting like one) and my mind was blown.

A victim is the last thing I would have ever thought of myself as but here it was.

Obviously, losing my husband in a car accident was something that happened to me. But eight years after his death, I was letting it define me.

I was letting it be my whole story, not just part of my story.

I couldn’t control what happened to me, but I could certainly control who I wanted to be at that point in my life. And I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I wanted to move through my life differently.

This is when the “real work” with her began.

It’s also one of the first times I can remember someone being so direct with me (I’m sure there were other times in my life, but I was truly ready to hear it when she said it).

I also love & respect her and know that she always has my back, so as hard as it might be to hear things sometimes, I know it’s always for my highest good.

I also have plenty of evidence that when I take those things to heart and consciously choose to shift the behavior, a whole new world opens up. It’s kind of like leveling up in a video game.

The second time she told me I was being a victim was just a couple of months ago.

And it was about money (which is also why I’m going to be digging much deeper into money, women, and entrepreneurship on the podcast. I’m doing the work on a whole new level with money, and I 100% believe in the power of sharing and not letting old beliefs dictate my behavior).

I’m paraphrasing here, but she basically said I needed to stop being a victim when it comes to money (It was SO powerful to hear, and it resonated on a very deep level, so I kind of don’t remember what else she said).

Since then, what has shown up and what I’m doing has been awe-inspiring.

This is what happens when we take complete and total responsibility for our lives.

Back to the realization from my ego-driven ranty morning.

As soon as I caught myself and made a conscious decision not to feed this old story anymore, I felt like I’d had a shot of adrenaline.

I instantly felt empowered.

With only a few days left of the year and some much-needed downtime before returning to a normal work schedule, I was recommitted to these days being exactly what I needed.

And not letting drama or bullshit lower my vibration and, yes, fall into the old victim mentality.

Here are a few other little epiphanies that came out of this realization:

• The conflict happened because I was out of alignment. I hadn’t been meditating or setting boundaries about what I wanted my holiday to look and feel like.
• I know what I need to do to keep my peace of mind, but yet I fell into old familial expectations and habits so as not to disappoint other people (see the quote below by Oriah Mountain Dreamer).
• Because I was out of alignment, I lowered my own energy and vibration to meet people where they were and essentially threw myself under the bus.
• My initial reaction when I woke up and caught myself rehashing everything is all part of being human. We all do things we wish we hadn’t, no big deal.

Here’s the quote by Oriah Mountain Dreamer that I’ve shared a few times in my newsletter and probably on the podcast at some point, too (this is something my therapist shared with me years ago):

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

ORIAH MOUNTAIN DREAMER

Here’s how you can connect the dots to all of this in your business (and these are just a few examples. My suggestion would be that you do a little free writing and come up with your own that are specific to you, your business, and your life).

Doing the WorkThis is as simple as being brutally honest with yourself.

Remove the shame, judgment, and right/wrongness of this look in the mirror.

Are you doing what you know you should be doing?

• Creating, publishing, and promoting your content consistently
• Going deeper with your craft, there’s no such thing as “done” with digital marketing.
• Sticking with a schedule that supports your future self, not the one that only does things when you’re “in the mood.”

Dedicating Time to New SkillsUntil you can hire people to do the things you don’t want to do or enjoy doing, you’re going to have to do it yourself.

I’ve shared publicly that I’m going to master paid traffic in 2024. This doesn’t mean I will have learned all I need to know or be the best at it, but it’s going to be a regular marketing channel for leads and sales by the end of the year.

This means that in January I’ll start implementing and am going to keep at it until it’s working. Once it’s working, I’ll focus on learning to increase ad spend profitably (if only it were as easy as just increasing your budget, but it’s not).

I’m also going to be publishing videos consistently, so this is going to have to be scheduled weekly as well.

Both of these things may take longer than I’d like, but at the end of next year I’ll be incredibly proud that I stuck with it and have results.

Taking Yourself SeriouslyIt’s been a long time since I worked for a company or had a “job” (2007). It wasn’t the last job I had, but the one prior, where I gave SO much of myself to the company. Worked extra hours, did overnight shifts during the holidays, traveled, and basically did whatever it took to be an exemplary employee.

And for what?

I was in management, so it wasn’t like I was increasing my income with all of this extra time I was putting in.

This doesn’t mean that when you have a job, you half-ass it. But there’s a difference between doing good work and the job you were hired to do and giving your life to a company that would replace you or let you go in a hot minute if it suited them.

So ask yourself, if I’m willing (or was willing) to do this for a company, why on earth won’t I do whatever it takes to create the life and business I truly desire?

Taking yourself seriously means expecting more from yourself where you know you’re able to.

It also means making sure you’re supporting your health and well-being with rest, exercise, and things that fuel you outside of your business so you can stay engaged and excited.

You’re the only one who knows what you’re truly capable of.

You’re also the only one who knows what it is you really want.

And newsflash… it’s perfectly OK to change your mind about what you really want. You don’t owe anyone an explanation or justification.

I know as I’ve gotten older, what I really want at this stage in my life versus even ten years ago looks completely different.

This isn’t about changing your mind or even wanting more/less than you did before.

It’s about living your life in a way that creates choice.

Using Your VoiceThe best contribution you can give to the world is to show up uniquely as yourself. The world does not need more of the same.

I don’t care what the topic is, but be YOU. Speak your truth.

I recently saw a video of a woman on TikTok where she said she was done listening to male self-help authors or marketers after watching a video of Casey Neistat telling the story of having a child before he was twenty years old, then moving to New York to do whatever it took to get his business off the ground.

Sleeping on friends’ couches, staying in a shelter, etc.

He has split with his child’s mother, so he went to New York by himself.

Sharing this part of the story, I bet every woman listening is wondering where his child was.

His child was left with his mother, who would take full responsibility for their child by herself while he was off pursuing his dream.

I have no idea if/what their arrangement was, but you get why this accomplishment feels a little “less than impressive” to women.

I love everything about this video.

I’ve been saying for years that before we take any advice to heart, we need to consider who controls the narrative.

Which is why we need people to speak their truths.

There are a LOT of narratives that need changing.

All of these things will look different to different people.

Maybe you need to…

• Finally, take a copywriting course to understand why your headlines fall flat.
• Start emailing your list – and/or finally putting list building at the top of your priority list
• Dedicate extra time each week to scheduling social (this is a note to self here), and then schedule additional time for engagement.
• Start or restart your newsletter.
• Invest in paid traffic.
• Hire a coach.
• Start creating systems.
• Raise your prices.
• Show up more/different/consistently.

You get the point.

And before you jump into the New Year with plans to conquer the world and get better at everything you put on your list, pick three things and do them really well.

I have stuck with my three things rule for seven months and am practically breaking my own arm, patting myself on the back for having stuck with it (this is part of my daily journaling habit).

That doesn’t mean I only do three things, but I only have three priorities.

And yes, sometimes I don’t always hit those three priorities, or life happens, and the day goes sideways. I don’t overthink this; I just put it on the list for the next day.

Taking complete and total responsibility for everything in your life also means trusting yourself.

When we take responsibility, what we’re really saying is, “Since I created this, I have the power to change it.”

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

At the end of the day, we have zero control over what anyone else thinks of us, believes, or how they behave.

Taking responsibility is the ultimate key to freedom.*

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I came up with Everything Is Content back in 2016.I turned it into a hashtag: #everythingiscontent, and now you can find that hashtag used across social media. Was I the original creator of that hashtag? Who knows, but when I started using it, you couldn’t search it.

I created it because I discovered how incredibly true it was.

This was after I had been writing as The WordPress Chick for eight years and knew I was moving towards pivoting to my personal brand.

Two primary factors contributed to growing my personal brand, even before I made it official. Both were because of writing:

1. My podcast (The WPChick Podcast => The Kim Doyal Show)
2. My ‘almost daily’ emails

I’m going to go more in-depth with both, so sit tight.

I’ve said this before, and it’s a hill I’m willing to die on 👇:

The BEST thing you can do to grow and scale your business online is to learn how to write and do it as often as possible.

You don’t have to want to become a writer, but if you’re going to create the type of business that supports you without trading time for money, you need to create assets that work for you when you’re not working.

In other words, content, courses, ads, etc.

Even if you only want to produce audio or video content, you still need to know how to write compelling copy to attract the right people.

Off the top of my head, here is where good writing comes into play online:

• Content (your website)
• Emails
• Social content
• Website copy
• Sales page copy
• Email sequences
• Courses
• Podcast posts (show notes)
• Engagement
• Worksheets
• Ebooks
• Video headlines and descriptions

I’m sure I’m missing plenty on that list, but you cannot grow an online business without learning to write.

Period.

End of story.

And if you’re listening to this and feeling resistance (i.e., maybe you’re feeling a bit pissy?), then it’s time to do a little entrepreneurial adulting and get really honest with yourself.

How badly do you want this?

In other words, are you willing to do the work?

I’m not preaching hustle here; that’s not what I’m talking about.

I mean, are you willing to get comfortable with being uncomfortable?

I have yet to meet a single creator/entrepreneur who doesn’t experience fear.

It’s part of the journey.

I also haven’t met one who doesn’t have to write (even if you have a ghostwriter or your content is primarily audio and/or video, you still have to write headlines, captions, descriptions, etc.).

When I was getting started, I had plenty of fear but was so ignorant of the entire online marketing space that it was much easier to stay out of my head. I wasn’t terribly worried about other people’s thoughts because I didn’t know many people online.

Ignorance was bliss.

As my business and brand grew, I worried a little more, but it wasn’t until I felt like I had to “niche” down that I started really getting in my head.

I ranted quite a bit about this in episode 121, where I referenced Dan Koe’s video “The Most Profitable Niche Is You.

So, instead of ranting more here (as fun as that can be), I want to give you a more straightforward guide on how to get started with “Everything Is Content, 2.0.”

A quick backstory on Everything Is ContentI actually taught a workshop on this (it was a paid workshop, and yes, I’m doing a brand new and completely updated version of this in January 2024) because I was so passionate about it.

I had begun using the Everything Is Content hashtag because of my ‘almost daily emails’ (I called them almost because I didn’t always send emails on the weekends).

My ‘almost daily emails‘ was something I decided to do after having been a subscriber of Ben Settle’s for a year and watching how he did it (and because of that, I became a customer of his Email Players physical newsletter).

I committed myself to figuring out email marketing regardless of the results. It’s the only thing I regret not starting sooner in my business.

These were story-based emails with one call to action.

The first month, it was crickets.

In the second month, people started replying.

In the third month, I realized I had tripled affiliate income for a product I used, talked about, and recommended.

All through email.

The funny thing is I had always considered myself a decent writer. I could write a paper in school and get an “A.”

But learning how to write in your own voice (not many papers in college or even high school required the same skillset as writing online in your own voice) was a whole new ballgame.

What made the almost daily emails easier to step into was that I had been writing my podcast posts for a few years at that point.

Interview posts were written after the fact, but because of the way I do my solo shows (going off script quite a bit), I knew that I needed to write the post out first and then use it as a guide (not a script, I never read this).

Then, once I started using Grammarly, it became clear to me that I never paid attention to grammar in school (and to this day, I wonder how the bucket I ever got an ‘A’ on any paper 🤣).

Sidenote: I have probably learned more about grammar writing online with the help of Grammarly than I ever did when I was in school. Every ounce of my being believes it’s because I enjoy what I’m doing and constantly want to improve my craft.

Back to my podcast posts.

Writing the podcast post out before recording helps me clarify what I’m trying to convey.

Sometimes, I start with one idea, and through the writing, it pivots into something else entirely. I’m learning to edit my content to ensure that I’m not simply treating the podcast like a personal diary (which I’ll admit, I do pretty frequently and have been told that people enjoy).

Learning to edit your own thoughts is a little tricky.

Sometimes, I ignore Grammarly’s suggestions because even though it suggests a more concise way to say something, it’s not how I would talk if I were talking in person to someone.

What’s most important to me when I write online is that it sounds like me.

This is why I hate templates that suggest I speak in platitudes or definitive ideas that don’t resonate with me.

And quick rant (I know, I said I wasn’t going to rant), but you absolutely, 100% HAVE to consider the creator of ‘said templates.’

I’ve purchased way too many templates and frameworks from creator bro’s who grew a brand on Twitter with this type of writing.

They’re probably 25 years younger than me, targeting a different audience, have different desires, and have a completely different perspective.

None of which is right or wrong, good or bad.

But it’s like forcing a square peg into a round hole.

It’s NOT going to work.

Every time I tried to use these templates, I cringed.

And this isn’t to say that templates aren’t a great starting point – they absolutely are.

But consider the source.

And more importantly, take the time to decide if the structure of the templates resonates with you. If it doesn’t, no amount of trying to put your own spin on it will work.

Just do the work for yourself in the first place, or find someone who has templates that feel more like you.

OK, let’s move on.

How to Get Started with Everything Is Content, 2.0First, I’m going to predict something for 2024.

We’re going to see many more creators sharing personal stories, journeys, challenges, and triumphs that have nothing to do with their businesses (directly, anyway).

To quote Dr. Seuss:

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”

Dr. Seuss

As the old marketing saying goes, people want to do business with people they know, like, and trust.

There’s much less trust in gurus who sell $2k+ courses while never showing up once, outside of occasionally gracing you with their presence in a Facebook group or a once-in-a-lifetime call.

I also think it’s crystal clear that there is no “one way” to do anything.

There are far too many people who have built successful (i.e., profitable, not just status/influencer) businesses in a way that works for them:

• no social media
• only podcasting
• only YouTube
• only writing
• one product
• email only

You get the point.

You do you.

Back to Everything Is Content.1. Embrace the Freedom of Content Creation: Seriously. Don’t start out (or restart) with some dialed-in strategy when you don’t know what people want or what works. You have to test and try things. There are so many places to create and publish online. Break free from traditional norms and explore various topics, especially if it’s a personal brand. Craft your own niche. 2. Share Personal Journeys and Stories: This led me to create #everythingiscontent. The more I shared my personal journey, the more my audience grew. It creates genuine engagement, conversations, and authentic connections. 3. Practice in Public: We’ve all heard the term “Build in Public” – and it’s great. But not everyone wants to commit to “building” something. We could split hairs here and say there’s not a big difference between practicing and building (aren’t you building an audience, a brand, etc. while you’re practicing?) – but using the word practice, specifically around content, implies two things: 4. – commitment 5. – consistency 6. It takes some of the pressure off of the work you’re doing, needing to have a specific end result. Focus on getting better at your craft. This also reinforces that building a business online based on your created assets takes time. 7. Inspiration, Strategy, and Actionable Advice: While figuring out what works, make sure your content combines each of these. You don’t want to do a bunch of “how to” content (unless your business model is affiliate marketing) for free because that can lead to an audience of freebie seekers. Create content based on the psychographics of your ideal customer/subscriber/client. 8. For example: The qualities (psychographics), I look for are people who take responsibility, are willing to do the work, and want to have fun. They’re someone who wants to create their ideal life and live on their own terms. They’re willing to show up and be vulnerable. 9. Linking Passion and Purpose: Don’t worry if you don’t have a “passion.” Think of passion as something you have to create what you want. I was passionate about starting an online business in 2008, even though I didn’t know what that would look like, because I wanted freedom. I never wanted to commute, work for someone else, and have my schedule dictated by a corporation. 10. An easier way to think about this is to clarify your values. 11. And side note: the more you “practice in public,” the sooner you’ll find what really lights you up. You’ll never know if you don’t start. 12. Authenticity & Community Building: Personal brands, and dare I say small businesses (agencies, small teams), have to show up genuinely and authentically. We all feel like the word authentic is overused and possibly a little trite, but that doesn’t mean it’s invalid. It’s also vital that your community feels like they matter. 13. Implement and Iterate: Taking action is key. Start by applying what resonates with you from the guide. It’s not about perfection; it’s about progress. Whether sharing a personal story, experimenting with different content formats, or engaging with your community, the focus should be consistent action. This step is about moving from theory to practice, embracing the learnings from each attempt, and continuously evolving your content strategy to better align with your goals and audience.

So, there you have it.

Some of that might feel like it’s a bit ‘intangible,’ but I assure you it’s not.

Have you ever watched a YouTube video or listened to a podcast and the host or guest is saying something you’ve been thinking about, feeling, or even talking about for years?

The only difference is they’ve published the thought or idea.

Stop holding yourself back from saying and creating the things you want to create because you think it’s all been done, who am I do this, I’m not as good as ‘x’, etc.

And if you’re concerned that Everything Is Content won’t work for your business or audience, let me ask you this:

How’s the whole “niche” thing working for you right now? 🤔Do you feel inspired to create? Do you like creating content for the search engines? Do you have an email list of engaged subscribers who want to do business with you?

I didn’t think so.

One size does NOT fit all.

And even though I doubt this needs repeating, I’ll say it anyway.

Everything Is Content is not about thinking of as many random things as possible and seeing what works. It’s about pulling all of you into your business and expressing that through your content.

As you start practicing this, you’ll find the intersection of where things overlap. Here’s a diagram of what my content topics are:

So, the four primary topics of content are:

• Digital marketing
• Email & content marketing
• Mindset
• Energy & spirituality
• Money/ Finance
• Sharing what I’m learning, mindset around money
• Highlighting women I’m learning from
• Inspiration
• Continue amplifying women
• Sharing personal stories

There will be more under each of these areas, but I’m going to start testing more and see what works.

In many ways, I’ve been talking about a lot of this stuff for years, but in more of an indirect way.

Not anymore.

It’s time to take my own advice and #JustShowUP!

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My friends and I recently revived something we used to do years ago.

But first, a little backstory about these friends…

These are my high school friends, and still, to this day, are near and dear to me. I’ve known one of them since kindergarten, another since 6th grade, and the rest are all from my freshman year in high school. So these are lifelong friends.

By this stage in life, we’ve been through a lot together.

Graduations, careers, marriages, children, loss, heartache, joy, moving… you name it.

There have been times when we’ve been super close and incredibly active in one another’s lives and times when life was so busy that it felt like a challenge to have dinner together.

This is just life.

I get that, but I always miss them when I haven’t seen them in a while.

So… the thing we recently revived was our “ornament exchange.”

My Mom used to do this when I was a child, so in my early 20s, I started an ornament exchange with my girlfriends. The original ornament exchange was handmade ornaments; we made one for each person.

This way, you’d leave with 6-10 ornaments, which was great when we were all starting our homes and didn’t have kids.

As life got busier, we changed things up and would bring one nice ornament (and we started buying the ornaments).

I don’t remember when we stopped doing this, but after finally getting together for dinner in October, we decided to revive it and make it happen.

Even though not everyone could make it, it was soul-filling for me.

However, I was struck by something.

We did the normal catching up that you do when you haven’t seen each other in a while (although this was less catching up since we saw each other a couple of months ago), and then, as the night progressed, the conversations got deeper.

I felt deep sadness for some of the things my friends shared.

Partly because of what they had to go through (or are going through) but also because they hadn’t shared what they were experiencing during the most challenging part.

And I know I’ve done the same thing.

This is what being busy can do to us.

And while I can’t speak for my friends, I’m sure there’s a piece of truth to this for them as well.

And that is that you don’t want to ‘bother’ people when you’re in the middle of something challenging, especially if you haven’t talked to or seen them in a while.

The crazy thing is that I know I could pick up the phone and call any of these women if I were in a crisis, and they’d all be there for me. No questions asked.

And the same is true on my end.

There is SO much power in sharing, being vulnerable, and telling our truths.

The only way to do this is to get beyond ourselves… and remove the ego.

This brings me to how this plays a significant role in our business and marketing.I talked with another friend I hadn’t talked to in over a year. This is a woman I connected with years ago online. She’s on my email list, worked with me, and bought some of my courses.

Over the years, we became friends (this happens with many of my coaching clients).

She’s in Europe; I’m in the States… It never ceases to amaze me that I have people I consider dear friends worldwide.

Anyway, we’ve been friends for years, and she’s seen my transition from the WordPress Chick into my personal brand.

She said something when we were talking that I realized was kind of a superpower of mine. She also said she uses me as inspiration on her own journey, which I know is part of my purpose in this lifetime (to inspire).

She’s in a place where she’s pivoting her business and said that I was constantly pivoting (and bear with me here – I’ll explain more of my pivots in a second), and I never seemed to care.

This idea that we’re supposed to pick one thing and only do that forever is nonsense.

I talked about this in the episode where I was inspired by Dan Koe (episode 121; you can listen here).

This idea that we should pick one thing, focus only on that, and never veer off course or talk about anything else is silly.

We’re multi-dimensional people with varying interests.

Now, before you think I’m off my rocker here and am telling people to create an ‘Everything but the kitchen sink’ kind of business, I’m not.

What I am saying is that it’s OK to talk about and create content that, on the surface, might not feel like it’s relevant to your niche.

What does this have to do with your ego in marketing?

Everything.

What gets in the way of trying things out in marketing is fear, which is 100% ego.

When I think back to when I was a child and had zero hesitation about trying things I was interested in, I remind myself that we’re here to create and that the adults (and the world), could use a little more childlike curiosity.

We’re supposed to try, learn, grow, and make mistakes.

That doesn’t stop because we grow up, become adults, start a business, and “choose a niche.”

Most of my interests overlap in one way or another, and at the end of the day, they are all part of my creativity, drive, and what inspires me.

This is why I hate “niche down” advice.I spent ten years in a niche (WordPress) and felt incredibly stuck towards the end.

Which is why I pivoted to my personal brand.

I have zero regrets or judgment about having niched down with WordPress because everything I did was new, and I was learning as I went.

Which is the beauty of where we’re at today.

The internet marketing/creator space isn’t “new” anymore; making money online has become much more common for many people (beyond people who are hard-wired to be entrepreneurs); side hustle is a widely understood phrase.

People are fed up with corporations, commuting, and basically working hard to make other people money.

I know that’s a huge generalization, but it’s more common than not.

More people would probably like to join the ranks of self-employment, but it’s scary AF when you have a family, mortgage, and other responsibilities.

Then, some people also prefer a steady income, benefits, etc. (not that any of that is guaranteed either).

Back to why I hate ‘niche down’ advice.

This makes getting started incredibly difficult when you’re unsure what it is you want to ‘niche’ into.

You have to test and try things to see what resonates, what sticks, what you’re good at, and where the people are you want to help.

The same is true when you want to pivot.

Without testing the waters, you’re more or less guessing.

Although I will say that when a ‘guess’ comes from deep within and is an intuitive nudge instead of a thought of ‘maybe this will work’ – sometimes that’s all we need.

I read an article this week by my friend, Jamie Northrup, of “Minimalist Hustler” (I highly recommend you subscribe; it’s short, sweet & to the point every day).

He ran a personal challenge and test for himself in November (2023), which he published on Twitter and Medium (daily, I believe) to see which platform was better for growing his newsletter.

The good news?

Medium won out.

Read “Is X (Twitter) Better Than Medium To Grow Your Newsletter?” here.

This is good news to me for two reasons:

1. I prefer writing long-form content. Whenever I write tweets, I feel like I’m pontificating, creating platitudes, or talking ‘at’ people. I know, I know… there are courses and tools to help one get better at writing tweets. But if I enjoy long-form more, wouldn’t it make more sense to focus on getting better at writing long-form?
2. Elon Musk drives me crazy. I waffle back and forth between cutting off my nose to spite my face and supporting my convictions (this is called being a human being). I’ve been on Twitter since 2008… I may just keep ‘pushing content’ to Twitter, but I think I will follow in Jamie’s footsteps and test Medium vs. Twitter (see? I don’t even want to call it X).

Let me be clear about one thing:

Nothing in me says you should create a ‘catch-all’ website for a business. Unless your focus truly is ‘lifestyle,’… it won’t serve you to create content on multiple topics that are entirely unrelated.

What I am saying is that not only is it ‘OK’ to pull different aspects of who you are and what you like into your business content, but it’s imperative these days.

No one knows what SEO will look like now that AI has entered the picture. My content started slowing down immensely when I felt I had to create based on keywords or my niche. 🤮

And c’mon… ranking for things like content marketing, email marketing, and newsletters?

Good luck.

I already hated doing keyword research before AI… let alone now.

Vulnerability in Marketing is MagicCircling back to the story I opened with about getting together with my friends.

There’s another element to that story that left me with an overwhelming feeling of needing to make a conscious decision to stay in better communication with my friends.

There are two sides to this coin:

• One side is that everyone is busy. That’s just a fact about life today – we’d be here all day if I went down the rabbit hole of life before technology and how we seemed to make more time for people (then again, much of my adult life has included technology).
• The other side is that we can choose to stay in touch. Just like we make conscious decisions to exercise, brush our teeth, journal, travel, go to a movie, whatever… I think it’s vital that we make the time to stay in touch with people we love.

After this last get-together, I promised myself that I would do this.

With the two friends who are going through challenging situations, I made a point of reaching out via text.

It was nothing major, just a simple acknowledgment that I knew they were going through some difficult times, had a lot on their plates, and I was here for them.

Both were super grateful.

I also always make a point of telling my girlfriends how much I love them.

Now that we’re all in midlife, there’s a different level of compassion and empathy for one another that I think only comes with age.

The more vulnerable you can be with the people who love you, the easier it is to start being a little vulnerable in business.

And it truly is magical.

Here’s a comment from someone who shared my podcast on Facebook after I thanked him for sharing:

What vulnerability looks like for YOU is personal.

You’re the only one who can decide that.

My therapist has taught me something that I’ve learned to use when I’m not exactly sure how I’m feeling: to pay attention to what I’m feeling in my body in the moment.

After doing this for years with her, I’ve learned these three things:

• Anger/frustration is usually in my head
• Sadness/grief is in my chest/heart
• Excitement/nervousness is in my gut

Excitement and nervousness often have the same physiological feeling in the body; most of the time, it’s excitement.

So, if you’re thinking about sharing something that makes you a little uncomfortable, you’re probably a little bit excited because there’s an unknown element.

“How will people respond?”

“Am I crazy for doing this?”

I would guess that most of the time, you will be excited.

I want to differentiate one thing, though… and this is important.

Ready?

Testing and trying things in your business differs from hopping to thing to thing to thing.

I’ve been saying I want my business foundation built with steel and concrete.

Once that is solidly in place (from my varying pivots and lessons learned along the way), then I can get into putting the rest of the ‘house’ up, so to speak.

Then, I can drill down into the decor, which, in this case, would be the tactics.

Solid strategies based on consistent effort with only a few things.

I can test and try new tactics when those all work the way I want.

I was reading (and will probably reread while taking notes the second time) a post by André Chaperone called “Manifesto: Product Launch Marketing.”

Holy moly, did this article get me excited! It’s SOOOOO good!

The TL;DR is that product launches (based on Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula) are:

• Not working the way they used to
• Not as profitable as people think – see the screenshot below (this is directly from the Manifesto: Product Launch Marketing article):

There’s such an allure for the vanity metric of a BIG launch… but when you look at numbers like this?

That’s a hard pass.

You could do those numbers independently, without JVs and affiliates (I highly recommend you read the article; the JV manager made more than the creator), with a great offer, some paid traffic, and an engaged email list.

There’s always the argument that you get email subscribers from the launch that you can sell to in the future, but not a lot of people who are addicted to launching are doing long-term email marketing or content that builds a relationship.

I’ve done little launches on my own, and that’s plenty for me.

My friend Maritza Parra made the same amount of money on her own with Facebook ads, a webinar, and a great offer (you can listen to that podcast here).

At the end of the day, removing your ego from marketing means tuning out the noise, managing your mindset, and doing a little entrepreneurial adulting.

Doing the things you don’t always want to do so as to create a life you love.

I don’t think this is supposed to be easy, but I do think it should be fun.

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Kim [00:01:22]:

Welcome to another episode of The Kim Doyal Show. I always say I'm very excited about my interviews, and it's true because I only talk to people I know, admire, and respect, and this is actually our 2nd time talking. But The 1st conversation I had with my guest, Marco Schmidt, which I'll do an official introduction in a minute, it was like I felt like we could have talked for hours. I'm like, we need to do a podcast episode. So here we are. So, first of all, welcome my guest, Marco Schmidt.

Kim [00:02:05]:

Marco, thank you for being here today.

Marko [00:02:08]:

Oh my god. Kim, it's Such a pleasure to be here, and it's really true. I mean, every time we connect, I just feel like, oh, wow, sister. You know? We're doing crazy cool stuff together. Even though we're operating in different places, we're still, like, in the same universe.

Kim [00:02:22]:

Totally. Totally. And we connected just through Twitter and then saw each other in a Kavon co cohort.

Marko [00:02:30]:

Right. Yeah. Yeah. We both love Kavon Chung. He's He's such a super cool guy in terms of bringing community together. And so and then, yeah, we've, like, had, you know, tons of, like, back and forth on Twitter and stuff like that, and I just love what I do. And so yeah. Super happy to be here.

Marko [00:02:45]:

Thanks.

Kim [00:02:47]:

Thank you. So I love hearing the backstory. So for the audience's audiences, I've got plurals now. But for the audience, can you share your backstory and what brought you to where you are today? And then we'll get into your business and what you're doing today.

Marko [00:03:01]:

For sure. I'm happy to talk to all of your audiences.

Kim [00:03:07]:

You know what?

Marko [00:03:07]:

Hey. Look.

Kim [00:03:08]:

Swear to god. Yeah. I sometimes my my mouth cannot keep up with my brain, but go ahead.

Marko [00:03:14]:

And vice versa. Right? I mean, sometimes I find my mouth saying something that my brain is going, no. No. No. Anyways, my backstory, probably it Started in some ways with dropping out of high school to join the circus. And, you know, it's like one of those things. I was one of those accelerated kids I was, like, always in the smart classes and got to do, like, the crazy fun things, you know, like going to the factory and seeing how they printed newspapers or, You know, bringing odd guests in and stuff like that. And by the time I got to high school, I had really thought high school is gonna be super fun, like college, like, really exciting, and it was Boring.

Marko [00:03:51]:

It was super boring. I lasted for almost 2 whole years, and then I dropped out to start doing circus work and play in a rock and roll band. And, I actually moved out of my parents' house and, you know, it's like the great thing is is that I already had skills. I already knew how to, like, you know, hustle and sell things, and, I learned how to paint houses. I I did a bunch of things. So I was Financially self sufficient when I moved out, and it always gave me this sort of independent attitude that I don't have to work for the man. And I have to say, here it is, you know, all these years later. Part of what I do as a coach is, like, working with people who are super skilled at what they do, You know, who are experts and seasoned, but they're afraid to let go of the weekly paycheck or or their corporate affiliation.

Marko [00:04:37]:

They they know they're not getting paid what they're worth. They know they're being lighted. But they don't have that background that I have of, like, being able to go and dance on your feet, make shit happen, and, like, Deliver like a great life for yourself. So I would say that's really where I started. And from there, you know, I did circus work off and on for 6 years, got to, like, Work in Europe and different parts of the United States and for small circuses and as a solo person. And all the time, I'm learning about life. I'm learning about, like, how do things really happen, You know, and it's all about people. And this is another, you know, lifelong lesson.

Marko [00:05:13]:

Business is all about people. Relationships, It's all about people. You take care of your people, you connect with people, and it will all come back to you. Right?

Kim [00:05:22]:

Always. Yeah.

Marko [00:05:23]:

So, fast forward, I was working with the Flying Karamazov brothers who at the time were like this crack juggling team that even performed at Carnegie Hall and other things. And I was on a tour with them one time, and, like, we were having a great time doing these crazy shows and Doing all this cool stuff, juggling with fire and magic and stuff like that, and I learned that they'd all gone to college. And I was like, Holy simoleons. Here, I've, like, acted in Shakespeare plays, but I've never actually read a Shakespeare play. I've never, like, really gotten an education. I decided, I'm going to college. And I had 2 literary heroes at the time, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. And I was actually friends with Allen Ginsberg at the time, and So he hit on me a couple of times at Poetryland.

Marko [00:06:05]:

I don't know if that made us friends or not, but I knew he went to Columbia University. And I said, if I'm gonna go to college, I wanna go to a college in New York City. And if there's 1 college I really wanna get into, it's Columbia University. Now I was dating this girl who is an American Ballet Theatre at the time, and she said, hey. I'm going back to New York. You could stay in my apartment and, you know, we'll see what happens. That relationship, like, didn't really last a long time, but we, you know, part of good friends. But I did get me to New York, And so I showed up at Columbia University on the very 1st day of classes.

Marko [00:06:42]:

So I walked into the admissions office and I said, I'd really like to go to school here. And they said, do you have an appointment? I said, no. But, I mean, who do I need to talk to? Well, that would be the director of admissions. Fair enough. Do you

Kim [00:06:54]:

have your high school transcripts? Marco. I love it. Go ahead.

Marko [00:06:57]:

No. I don't have my high school transcripts because I didn't exactly finish high school. How about your SAT scores? Nope. Didn't take those either. I could see the no sale thing happening in people's eyes. But because of my background on the circus, I knew that This is just the beginning of a beautiful relationship. How do I make friends with these people? Well, so what I did was made an appointment With Dean Banfield, who was the director of admissions at that time, and on the way out, I saw a stack of course catalogs. Well, those course catalogs gave me, like, the courses and the room numbers and the times that these courses were happening.

Marko [00:07:33]:

I was thinking, You know, showing up is 90% of success. Right? So I started taking classes before I was actually admitted. And there was a couple of other lucky breaks that were on my way that year because that was the year that Columbia was changing from a paper based, registration system to a computer based registration system. And I also made friends with all of the teachers that I was taking classes, and there's people who are already having problems with registration. Anyways, long story short, eventually, Julie, I was able to talk my way in and get a fabulous education at Columbia University. And I graduated with a Bachelor's in theater and writing, and then I taught for a little bit. I had so much fun that I went back and got my master's degree too. So, this you know, the the moral of that story is that, you know, there's more than one way in.

Marko [00:08:25]:

And once again, it was all about people. So fast forward, I, taught for a few years. I got really interested in educational software. I got a chance to bid on a great project at AT and T Bell Labs. I started a sophomore company. I moved out to Palo Alto, got to bid on a great job with Apple and, Stanford Research Institute raised some money, built a little company, made some money, sold it, had a successful Exit. Yay. Raise money for our next company, and it tanked.

Marko [00:08:58]:

So I got to feel both, like, you know, the ups and downs of being in Silicon Valley and raising money and, you know, the whole venture capital world out on Sand Hill Road. Over the years, I've done tons of boutique software development. I've worked with some really incredible people, both as individuals as well as, in companies, I've had 3 funded, software companies, 2 of which which did do didn't do so well, but one which was a success. And about 10 years ago, I started coaching entrepreneurs, and I found, like, passion. This is, like, where I get to take everything that I knew about business, About, you know, tap dancing, about meeting people, about working together, and all that stuff, and I started coaching entrepreneurs and helping people start and grow businesses. And so today, I have a company called Guiderly, and we help people basically make the transition from corporate or whatever else is holding them back Into starting and growing their own businesses. And then I also work with Miracy, which is a fantastic education and, A business development company based in Montreal where I also help hundreds of people start and grow businesses. Is that a pretty good backstory? And I was like, woah.

Marko [00:10:09]:

How fast can I tell this story?

Kim [00:10:11]:

No. You did fantastically well. And you know what it was? I was thinking about your, How do I get into Columbia? Totally reminded me of Rudy Rudy Rudiger who wanted to get into Notre Dame, and I'm like, this feel that sounds like this sounds like a movie, and it totally is. And something that I gleaned really early on in your story too is when you were talking about being financially self sufficient at such a young age and moving out of your parents' house, which clearly set you up for a belief about earning money and and making your way in life where my guess is, like, with people that you're coaching and working with today. You know, it's not easy to leave the life you've known. I mean, My life was sort of turned upside down, then I was like, that's it. I have to make this happen. And so when you have those monumental moments, but the further along the path you get, The harder it is to leave.

Kim [00:11:02]:

Right? And then and I don't know if this is, you know, with the last 10 years of your coaching and whatnot, if you've seen a difference because the world is so different today than it was 10 years ago, and I think so many people are yeah. And I think so many people are probably thinking, what am I doing this for at a certain point. You know? There's there's so many beliefs and institutions and structures that are shifting and crumbling or changing in front of our eyes that I I think I don't know. And my guess is, you know, I know up for at this stage in my life, you start going, there's probably left life in front of me than behind me, and I'm gonna make it count now. And so, you know, I

Marko [00:11:41]:

love you.

Kim [00:11:42]:

Well, thank you. I mean, it's all you know, it's especially when you're probably the odd man out with a lot of people. You know? Nobody in my personal life, my real life, you know, my dad, 15 and a half years later, still doesn't understand what I do.

Marko [00:11:58]:

But that's a good thing because you're not trying to change your dad's life. You know? You're really trying to be a beacon, an example for people who really are changing their lives. And what you're saying is absolutely true, Kim. We're in time of, You know, economic, political, social what what part of life is not in turbulence right now? However, there's still this belief That true security is found by working for the man. Wrong. You know, one of the things that I have heard over and over With my clients and my own personal short experience of working for other people because I haven't really done it that much because I really don't like it. But, you know, the truth of the matter is when you work for someone else, you can get fired anytime for any reason. Somebody could just, like, have a bad day on their way into the office and go, you know what? I'm tired of working for with that guy anymore.

Marko [00:12:48]:

He's out of here. And Mhmm. The truth of the matter is There's no real security in any of this because we never know how long we're gonna be here on this precious planet. We don't know how long our life is really going to be here, so why not do work that you love. Why not do what you're called to do, to show up in this life with your gifts and all the things that you're super interested in, all the things you can do for other people? So I love working with people who are good at what they do, but they haven't quite had that experience. They haven't had that, opportunity to develop confidence in what a super cool human being they really are and how they can make it happen on their own for themselves.

Kim [00:13:28]:

Well, let let's talk a little bit about some of your clients or or, you know, how you work with people because

Marko [00:13:33]:

Sure.

Kim [00:13:33]:

You know, I mean, you've been through Plenty. Right? And I think most people by the time they hit our age, I think it's safe to say, like

Marko [00:13:42]:

Uh-huh.

Kim [00:13:42]:

You've had loss. You've had tragedy. You've had triumph. We we've had enough experience Netlife. Right? But

Marko [00:13:47]:

Right.

Kim [00:13:48]:

The the things that were really important to me 20 years ago, like, I don't care anymore. Like, I just Mhmm. Quality of life. I know what I I know how I wanna feel in my life. So, you know, it it's different when you don't have kids under your roof like my kids are out on their own and you know? But Mhmm. What are some of the challenges that maybe are some commonalities you see with your clients when they've hit this sort of precipice. And they're like, there's gotta be something else I can do with my life, or I it's time for a change. You know? What are some of the roadblocks that you run into with people?

Marko [00:14:19]:

Well, the biggest roadblock is mindset. I mean, if if you don't have any experience of having of stepping over the threshold into the adventure of your own life, Then it's really hard to trust that anybody's gonna catch you, that you're that you're not gonna fall apart, that you're not gonna be able to make your mortgage payment or whatever whatever it is. So, truly, that story that we tell ourselves about how competent and how able we are to Deal with whatever is going to come up. I'd say that's like you know, that's a really, really big challenge For all people who have had the safety and structure of working, you know, in a corporate environment. And it's kinda sad because The truth of the matter, that's just another story that we tell ourselves about what we're capable of. And, you know, we could say, oh, you know, but my daughter's only 14 and, you know, College is coming up and, you know, we have a mortgage and, you know, how we're gonna pay for insurance and all this other stuff. Baloney. The truth of the matter is your life is super precious, and you are called to be here.

Marko [00:15:28]:

And it's whether you enter that call or not Or whether you have you know, you've taken the call, but you put the phone on mute or whatever it is. You know? Mhmm. What I love to do is connect with people's superpowers and figure out how can they turn this into a viable business. And it could be a service business, which, You know, most of my clients are, but I've also worked with people who had ideas for a product. And, you know, some of the ways that we validate Customer need. Work whether it's a service business or a product business is some of the tried and true ways of making sure that you don't screw up your business, you know, apply across the boards. But I would say that mindset piece, if you can't develop the courage and and the enthusiasm for this journey, Then you're you're gonna be, like, sort of holding back and, you know, sort of like being pinchy butt about trying to do something cool. And Yeah.

Marko [00:16:21]:

That never really works.

Kim [00:16:24]:

You know, it's it's funny because I was, I was talking I had another interview this morning, and we were talking about how much of it is belief and mindset, and you hear that. And until you are willing to I I'm a big believer in self responsibility. I fully believe that I'm responsible for everything in my life, And, obviously, external circumstances I can't control, but I can control how I respond. I can control how I take it in and how I let that impact me. You know? And I think with when people are stepping into entrepreneurship, whatever that looks like, you know, there there's something about Adult learners, like, as an example, you think about kids. Like, we give them time to fail and learn and and and get things right, and There's, like, this perception that people are that we don't know how to be comfortable with discomfort. Of course, you're gonna be discomfort when you're learning or when you're stepping into something new. But it's like you know, it's kind of that analogy of, like, when you were going to Columbia, it's like, well, okay.

Kim [00:17:21]:

4 4 years are gonna pass whether I get into this school or not. So what do I need to do to make this happen? You know, so the mindset piece, where do you start that with people? Because, again, like, I'm sort of I don't know if you ever knew this, but my first sight before I was ever the word preshik was the self help chick because Uh-huh. I fell in love with Self help and development and stuff when I was, like, 22. You know, I got my 1st set of Tony Robbins personal

Marko [00:17:43]:

power. Yeah.

Kim [00:17:45]:

Which I can't listen to him anymore. But, anyways, To each their own, you know, whatever.

Marko [00:17:51]:

Right.

Kim [00:17:51]:

Like, but the whole point is it's like, I was so blown away that there was another way to think that could change my life. Like, oh, so if I think different things, it'll change my behavior. It blew me away that that was even a possibility. So at 22, I'm a little more malleable than, say, a a a an adult in mid career with the mortgage and the children and stuff. So, you know, what type of a process if you wanna share some of the stuff you do with your clients, and how

View Details

The digital marketing and creator space is one where you can go from feeling excited and inspired to jaded and exhausted in only a few weeks.

I’m going to stay away from the advice we’ve all heard about productivity and routines because I agree with most of it… and that’s not what this is about.

Plus, I don’t subscribe to the idea that there’s “one” right way to do anything.

There’s only a “right way” for you.

In the 15.5 years I’ve had my online business, I’ve had periods of extreme focus and consistency and other periods when life has knocked me on my ass. In those moments, I simply did the best I could.

Albeit not without some self-judgment, which is something I’m always working on.

I now understand, at a deep level, that self-judgment will come up… that’s part of being human. My goal now is not to feed it. As my mentor often says, acknowledge it, bless it, and move on.

In other words, don’t feed it.

The best way not to feed self-judgment is to ensure I’m true to myself.This can be tricky in the digital marketing and creator space.

Here’s what I mean:

I have zero use for regurgitated content from 20-something men who have done listicle posts about the creators, books, or gurus who have inspired them the most on their journey.

Why?

Because they consist of lists made up entirely of the same men.

Over and over and over again. 🥱

HANG ON… don’t leave or roll your eyes thinking this is going to be about bashing young men or the men they follow.

We all have experiences and perspectives that contribute to who we are and how we view the world. Who am I to judge what drives and inspires someone else?

These things don’t resonate because I’m not their target audience.

I know, duh.

At least not in the sense of demographics.

A few key points:

• I was widowed at 32 with a six and a two-year-old (I’m now 53). The last thing I’ve ever needed was anyone telling me to “work harder” – let alone men with no responsibilities to anyone but themselves or a wife at home who took care of everything else (Yes, I know. I’m a bit of a martyr here, but also… #facts.).
• At one point, I subscribed to Western culture’s mantra: “You are what you have and what you do.” As a proud GenXer, the war cry of the 80s (SUCCESS!) wasn’t missed on me. We’re always supposed to be striving. 🤮
• Life experience: I wish there were a better way to say this, but most women I know who are my age (and older), around 50, start caring a whole lot less about what other people think while at the same time having far more compassion and empathy for people in general.
• I’ve accepted that:
• Life is hard
• Life is unfair
• Life is messy
• Most people are genuinely doing the best they can
• It goes by a lot faster than you think
• Life is beautiful
• We’re all worthy of love & belonging (thanks, Brené Brown!)
• There’s always something to be grateful for
• Meditation is magic 😉

So much of my journey has been about trying to do what others were doing.

I don’t mean that I was trying to be someone else, but when I hired a coach, bought a course, or read a book, I would tend to feel like I had to do it exactly like it was being taught.

After all, that’s what worked for them, right?

For example:

Last year, I invested five figures in a coaching and training offer. It was a combination of courses, one monthly call with the instructor, and weekly calls with her coaches.

Fair enough. The content was great, and her coaches were well-trained and very knowledgeable.

One of the strategies they taught was to require an application for a free webinar.

This didn’t resonate with me, but I did it anyway because I had committed to doing exactly what she said.

Needless to say, it fell flat.

Other things needed tweaking and adjusting, but because the front-end of my offer was this application and it didn’t feel right, it created an energy in me that was just off.

Which translated into zero sales.

This brings me to what Dan Koe said, which felt like a massive “HALLELUJAH” moment.

You are the niche.More specifically, “The Most Profitable Niche Is You (Create Your Niche of One).”

I’ll share more about Dan’s video and my takeaways in a minute, but first, I want to share where I’ve struggled in owning this (until now, because ya’ girl is done with what doesn’t work).

The first coach I ever had was when I was starting my business in 2008.

It was a 5k investment, and his advice was to make a list of ideas (this was before I had my website or had become “The WP Chick”), and then we would talk about the best path.

TL;DR

He suggested I work with my brother, who has expertise in salt-water aquariums and fish, make videos of him doing his thing, and sell DVDs.

Um… what?

Mind you, two other guys did something similar and got their DVDs into Walmart, but that’s not the point.

It wasn’t that it was a bad idea or wouldn’t work, but I couldn’t care less about saltwater aquariums or fish (although I did admire my brother’s tanks; they were super impressive, but that’s about it).

Basically, this coach advised me to create a business I had zero interest in because there was a market, and it would sell.

Are you effing kidding me?

Needless to say, I didn’t take his advice.

I discovered WordPress, fell in love with it, and The WPChick was born. And by the way, when I went to this coach’s in-person training, he told me WordPress wasn’t really a good ‘niche’…

Where I’ve StruggledI talk a lot about doing things in a way that works for you, but in many ways, I’ve played it safe when it comes to ‘what works for me.’

Following that mantra when I started was much easier because ignorance truly was bliss. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, so I created content about what I was learning.

I was “building in public” before it was called “build in public” (although this was more about the building of a brand vs. building a product).

Fast forward a few years, and I knew enough to be dangerous.

This is when I really started comparing myself to other people.

I had a lot of doubts. I dealt with some trolls but kept going.

Enough people were finding what I was doing helpful, and I was having fun.

The game changer for me was launching my podcast, The WPChick Podcast.

In 2013, there were only a handful of WordPress podcasts, so it was easy to get some traction. And because I started my podcast to have fun, i.e., I wasn’t focused on how to monetize it, it came through. I also know that my personality comes through, and people felt they could relate to me.

I alternated between solo shows and interviews, found my voice, and created great relationships in the WordPress space.

I pivoted to my personal brand in 2018 because I didn’t really want to talk about WordPress anymore. I was shifting into content marketing (I had shifted a few years prior but was still doing everything under The WPChick) and knew it was time to make a move.

However…

I was still playing it safe.

Let’s go back a few years. I don’t remember when I had this site mockup done, but I’m going to guess it was somewhere between 2013 and 2017.

Take a look at the content and messaging… (ignore how busy it looks…the value of white space wasn’t quite what it is today) 👇:

Why I’m sharing this:

• The messaging & language:
• I worked with a woman who helped me come up with the messaging & naming of things. Things like “Voice + Vision, and Visioneers.” I also loved the tagline: “Do Business. As Only You Can Do,” which I’ve used at different times but never stuck with it.
• This is where I really started to pull in more of what lights me up, but I held back. It really wasn’t until #FtheHUSTLE and then the SPARK that I started pulling in language that felt more like me.

I’ve held myself back out of fear.

Fear of judgment, others’ opinions, and a fear of blowing up what I’ve spent years creating.

Here’s the rub, though…

If what I’ve created isn’t exactly what I want… why not blow it all up?

I’m being a little dramatic here, but you get my point.

After all, it’s not like I will turn my personal brand into a gardening site. But it’s time.

It’s time to do what I’ve been talking about for years:

JustShowUP

Before I explain what that looks like, I want to circle back to Dan Koe and his video that felt like massive relief because it validated something I’ve been thinking and feeling for years.

The Most Profitable Niche Is YouWhen I listened to this video, I felt a huge weight off my shoulders and massive validation.

When I was The WPChick, WordPress was my niche, and before I pivoted, I had found my sweet spot in marketing and WordPress. The content I created was around the business side of WordPress.

At the time, not many people were doing this. WordPress was free, and there was almost an anti-marketing attitude. God forbid you make money with WordPress because it was open source.

It was also a very male-dominated space.

Because I wasn’t a developer and had zero coding skills (still have zero coding skills and zero desire to gain any), I talked to the everyday user who just wanted to use WordPress for their business.

When I moved into content marketing under my personal brand, it seemed that that was my niche.

But even then… that wasn’t all I wanted to talk about.

I still talk about content marketing, but I’ve narrowed it down even further to email marketing and newsletters.

BUT…

There is SO much more I want to talk about.

Back to Dan Koe & The Most Profitable Niche Is YouI love this video so much that I downloaded it, transcribed it, and highlighted some key points. I will share those key points and why they resonate deeply.

“And the third thing was I was never confident in my niche, and that led to an immense amount of friction and shiny object syndrome.”

– Dan was referring to his Facebook Ad Agency he started. He also shared that he didn’t give a flying f*ck about Facebook ads. This was kind of how I felt about doing WordPress sites, running an outsourcing company, or even doing “done for you podcasting.”

When I started my business, I never desired to have a service agency of any sort. But somehow, I ended up with three… because those business models looked more “legitimate” to the outside world (in my head anyway).

“Choosing a niche is the biggest problem ever in this creator economy.”

– I know this stresses SO many people out. It’s kind of a newer version of picking a college major. The idea that you’re supposed to pick something to study that you’ll do for the rest of your life… at the ripe old age of 18 is a little ridiculous.

“Let’s make this whole one-person business a simple thing. One, build for yourself. Two, write for yourself. Three, sell to yourself.”

– This is kind of the “rule of one” part two. How much easier do you think it will be to create if you’re building, writing, and selling to yourself?!?

Instead of creating an arbitrary idea in your head of your “ideal avatar” and creating for them. I’m not saying there isn’t value in those exercises (creating your avatar), but man… this is definitely a faster path to clarity.

“There are millions of people with the same interests, problems, and desires as you, and you only need to find a fraction of them.”

– AMEN! The problem is we don’t give ourselves permission to explore outside the niche. Most people aren’t going to write/create about every single thing they’re interested in, but there’s probably an intersection where your interests, problems, and desires meet.

That’s the sweet spot.

“But, one thing made me stand out among all the others. That is, I didn’t have a static niche.”

– Think about the people you’re drawn to. No one is one-dimensional. The people I enjoy spending time with the most are those I can talk about anything with.

It might be business, spirituality, books, dumb movie quotes, relationships, travel… it doesn’t matter. What matters is that it’s all of this combined that makes spending time with these people so appealing.

“I talked about whatever I wanted to in a way that was interesting to other people.”

– The only way to find out what is interesting to other people is to try different things. You have to be willing to hit publish on whatever it is you want to talk about.

When people started publishing online, keywords, SEO, niching down, etc. worked great for driving traffic (and no, I’m not saying those things don’t work anymore; it’s just a lot harder to compete) – but getting that traffic isn’t as easy as it used to be.

Especially with the onset of AI.

The biggest differentiator is YOU.

Here are the last three quotes from the transcripts I want to share:

“You need to take a step back, zoom out, and create your brand as something unique as something that is you without attaching to any specific ideology and instead create a holistic philosophy for your own brand.”

“Your story is what separates your personal brand apart because every single person’s story is niche, individual, and unique.”

“But if you don’t have a vision for your future, how are you going to educate and execute in a conducive manner toward that vision? How are you going to take directional action to gain experience in life and pass that experience down?”

These last three quotes kind of sum up the general idea of the video. Dan also shares actionable things you can do once you start creating this type of content to get it out there and see what sticks.

Watch the video here.

Why this struck such a nerve with me

As much as I think I’m combining other subjects and ideas into my content, I know I’m holding myself back.

I’ve talked to my mentor about this a lot.

I differentiate the things I want to discuss in two ways: Tangible and Intangible.

Example: The tangible is all the actionable business content. How to, documenting processes, sharing case studies, courses on doing something specific in email marketing, step-by-step guides, etc.

The intangible is all the content that isn’t a one-size-fits-all all, whereas most tangible content can be applied as is. You implement, you get feedback and/or data as to what worked, and you adjust from there.

The intangible is just that. Intangible.

Here are some of my examples of the intangible (also not a one-size-fits-all):

– Mindset

– How the work you’re doing makes you feel

– Spirituality

– Thoughts and ideas

– Personal experiences that impact our day-to-day lives

– Belief systems (what they are, how to shift them, etc.)

– Energy & Alignment

As much as I love marketing and being a part of this landscape, I love all of this just as much (maybe even a little more?).

That being said, I also bring ALL of that to the tangible work.

After a call with my two friends this week (this is our mini-mastermind we do twice a month), my friend Liz said I was like “an energy bomb.”

Which I loved.

I bring my personality, heart, and knowledge to my work. It’s not something I’ve ever found easy to describe what I do and how I do it.

And I’ve been shit at asking for testimonials and feedback (all of that is changing – so this is my public declaration). But here’s one from a coaching client that I did a 90-minute session with on how to use ChatGPT in her business:

You nailed down more in 90 minutes than I’ve been able to in 90 days.

I’ve been up since 4:30 this morning. That’s actually normal for me but I’ve knocked out more content for myself AND a few clients today than I usually do a week.

ChatGPT is PURE GOLD, but honestly, without your rock star guidance, it was just a “cooler than most” new tool.

I came to the call with high expectations. I knew it would be time and money well spent, but it didn’t take me long to realize this girl didn’t have a CLUE…

I expected to learn some new ways to use ChatGPT to grow my business, but girl… I left with SO much more!

I can’t thank you enough for sharing your wisdom and your energy. I was already stoked about my project, but every time I sat down to pull my ideas together, I would get caught up hopping from one rabbit hole to another, trying to connect the dots between different content pieces. Every step I took seemed to lead to something that had to be done before I moved forward. You nailed down more in 90 minutes than I’ve been able to in 90 days.

If anyone is on the fence about booking a call, let me just say, this is, without a doubt, the best money I’ve invested in the last 5 years!

I showed up with lists and ideas. I left with:

Content for a landing page

Follow-up email series

AT LEAST 10 fresh ideas for additional content and bonus offers. INCOME GENERATING bonus offers. YES!

A PHD in ChatGPT

But the real gold was watching you do your thing. You didn’t feed me for a day.

You taught me to fish.

You didn’t just pop my ideas into ChatGPT and wait to see what it spits out. You connected with me and expanded on my ideas. The results would not have been the same without your marketing genius and creative energy.

Thank you for sharing your “SPARK”! You’ve reignited the fire in my business, and I can’t wait to see how far it spreads. 😉

Rebecca HavardWhew.

Pretty powerful.

Subscribe to the SPARK

A Fresh Starting PointI’m both incredibly excited and a wee bit nervous about stepping into this.

But I’m going to do it anyway.

Dan’s ideas in his video aren’t earth-shattering or necessarily new, but they’re new to me in this space.

I hardly needed permission to step into all of this, but Dan’s video was kind of the swift kick in the ass I needed to say, “What are you waiting for?!”

Not to mention… focusing on the ‘tangible’ hasn’t brought the results I desire. Why not try something different?

And as I’ve preached so many times…

You get clarity “through the doing.”

So here’s to “doing” things differently. Buckle up, buttercup.

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I did it! My First Live Retreat is in the books!It was everything I hoped for and some huge a-ha moments for me personally.

I'm going to share how it came about (Finally! This has been on my list of things I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember), taking imperfect action, the work involved, the event itself, and how I'm feeling a few weeks later.

Even if you don't want to host your own retreat, I'm hoping this will give you some insight and clarity into how your business should support your personality, strengths, and how you want to feel.

I had some huge epiphanies that, in all honesty, really surprised me.

Including, "Do I really want to do in-person events?" 😲

How the event, IGNITE Women's Business Retreat, Came AboutAs I mentioned earlier, hosting a live event has been on my list of things to do for as long as I've been in business (almost 16 years!).

After a couple of months of living in Costa Rica, I knew that's where I wanted to host an event. At the time, I had mentioned this to someone I had connected with in my building (that didn't last; she was just too much for me), and suddenly I found myself planning an overwhelming event.

Fortunately, that friendship ended, and I stepped back and knew that what we had started planning was nothing like any event I'd want to host.

Fast forward to June 2023 (five months after moving back to California from Costa Rica), and I was planning a visit back for October with a friend. I connected with this online years ago, and we have stayed in touch on & off throughout the years.

I wanted to rent my friend's beachfront house that I had stayed at a few times, but the discounted price for me had gone up (rightfully so; the house is impressive, and she's actively renting it), and my friend said it wasn't in her budget.

I wasn't interested in pivoting plans and going somewhere else because my initial goal to return to Costa Rica was to visit friends, which feels like home to me. Plus, it became apparent through our conversations that we had different ideas about what we wanted.

That's when the idea hit me.

Why don't I see if I can host a retreat instead?

I called my friend and asked if she could give me a week (she gave me two); I reached out to a couple of people and got a yes immediately.

So... my first-ever live retreat in Costa Rica was born.

One of the 'yes's' came from a dear friend, Liz Weaver, who jumped in to co-host with me (best decision ever!).

What started as a vacation back to the place I called home for almost two years quickly became a Women's Business retreat, and it was to happen in 3.5 months. Not a lot of time in the bigger picture of retreat planning, but that brings me to my next point.

Imperfect ActionYou've probably heard the statement, "Imperfect action beats no action," which is 100% true. It can also bring a little bit of chaos into the mix.

That said, sometimes I think this is the best way to make things happen.

Because you don't have time to overthink, you jump in, say yes, and make it work.

The house we were renting is an incredible beachfront property in Play Potrero, Guanacaste (available for rent. You can go through Airbnb here or through me and get a discount. Wink wink, nudge nudge) and sleeps 10.

We figured us, plus eight guests, would be plenty for our first retreat.

However, after we sold the first 4 spots, we decided not to keep selling it so we could all have our own rooms (each room comes with its own bathroom).

Because we had such a short sales cycle, this also removed a little pressure from this first event. Our goal was to cover our costs (which we did, I think. We still have to tally everything up. I have a pile of receipts), figure out what worked and what didn't, and plan accordingly if we were going to continue doing this.

You can check out the event website here, but here's the TL;DR version of the event.

• Guests arrive Tuesday evening
• The workshop would be Wednesday, Thursday, and half of Friday.
• The second half of Friday would be the Catamaran cruise.
• Guests leave on Saturday morning.

Best laid plans...

Because of the time of year (the end of the rainy season in Costa Rica), there weren't as many flights as during the dry season. There are two major airports in Costa Rica - San Jose (which is big), and Liberia (smaller of the two, but much closer). Our attendees flew into Liberia, and three of them had to take the overnight flight from LAX I took (never again).

So, our first three attendees were at the house by 8:30 Tuesday morning.

Which threw a little bit of a monkey wrench in our plans because it took almost a full day out of our prep time.

Side note:

I arrived a week before the event started, on Tuesday, October 17th. I drove down to LA on Monday the 16th, had dinner with my daughter, and then she drove me to the airport Monday night.

My friend & co-host, Liz Weaver, arrived on Friday the 20th.

I wanted a few days to myself and see friends, but that flight was a doozy, and I was wiped for a few days.

Except for a movie night on Friday and a little time on Saturday, it was pretty much non-stop for Liz and me from the time she got there.

The Event ItselfThis probably feels a bit like I'm reading an itinerary, but we're almost done with the overview, so hang tight. 😉

In addition to their stay at the house, the retreat also included all their food. Which meant Liz and I had to shop for, prepare, order, or arrange all the food. Which we did (well, Liz did. haha... she cooked some incredible meals, we went out for one, had one on the Catamaran, and breakfast was self-serve).

The cost for the event was $1850.

Which, like I said, might have covered hard costs, but this was way too low.

The nice thing about a smaller group is that it's much easier to build in some flexibility. Our first day was sort of "heavy" in that we did the personal and mindset stuff, we had a couple of exercises the attendees did, and then we did our first hot seat.

We started at 9:00 am, and by 4:30 pm, people were fried.

It was a fantastic day with lots of personal "a-ha's," some vulnerability, and even some tears (good tears; I promise we didn't make anyone cry).

On the second day, we did two hot seats, plus a photographer came to the house, and everyone got photos done (sending those off this week). We flipped Friday, did the Catamaran cruise in the morning because of the rainy afternoons, and had our fourth and final hot seat early Friday evening.

Obviously, there's a lot more to the event, but we'll be here all day if I go into more detail.

I want to share my reflections and thoughts (to the degree I can without sharing about anyone else) and how I feel a couple of weeks later.

Reflections and Future EventsFirst and foremost, I'm incredibly proud that I did this.

I also want to make it crystal clear that there's no way I could have done this without Liz Weaver. I was fortunate enough to have her as a dear friend prior, but I will forever be grateful for having her embark on this with me.

I'm also happy to say her husband came down after the retreat, and they stayed for two more weeks and both fell in love with Costa Rica, which makes me incredibly happy.

In May of this year, I did the exercise by Dr. Benjamin Hardy and wrote a letter from my future self. In that letter, I stated I was planning my first live retreat in Costa Rica for February 2024.

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined achieving that four months early when I wrote that letter (this is the power of writing things down!).

One of my biggest epiphanies was the moment I had when I thought to myself, "Do I really want to host in-person events?"

Having lived alone most of the last few years (sans this time with my Dad right now), I've grown incredibly accustomed to a lot of white space and quiet in my life.

At the risk of sounding like a stick in the mud, I quickly get overstimulated when I need to be "on" for too long.

This last year has also been a lot.

I don't feel like I've had much downtime at all.

A year ago, at this time, I was recovering from back surgery in Costa Rica, went back to California at Christmas, and then turned around in February to move back permanently.

The first few months back were a big adjustment. It was super cold (lots of snow here); I ended up sick within a month, then Shingles two months later, followed by a bit of travel, lots of family events, and then the retreat.

I hadn't realized it until writing this episode, but there's a general weariness from the last year.

I wasn't aware of it because I've been super focused for the last six months, feeling good emotionally, and have a deep trust in how everything unfolds (new chapter). I also became acutely aware that it was time to rebuild my strength.

As trite as the saying is, it really is true that "health is wealth."

I think what would be hugely helpful (and something I remember from having participated in mastermind events as an attendee) is to build in more downtime for everyone.

It might mean adding a day to the retreat, but the benefits of creating that white space for everyone will be priceless.

Future EventsI'm writing this episode and reflection before Liz and I have had a chance to do a recap together (her husband got into town a day early because of snow storms in Colorado, so we'll catch up in a few days). Still, we've discussed enough to know how we're shifting things for the future.

And yes, after we dropped everyone at the airport Saturday morning, we had a quick stop in Pricesmart to feed my addiction to the most delicious snack ever (it's labeled as trail mix, but really, it's a lot of chocolate with some nuts and pretzels), and got the car washed...

We stopped at the local bar & restaurant, Las Brisas, for lunch and margaritas to celebrate having pulled this off. 🥳

And yes, those margaritas are big and a wee bit dangerous.

Here's what we've decided...

Our next event will be stateside, likely in late Spring of 2024 (probably on the West Coast). It will have a very different feel than the Costa Rica Mastermind and operate more like a traditional event (at a hotel with a small conference room, and attendees will pay for their lodging).

We'll have a couple of other speakers, mix up the workshop activities and content, and host a slightly larger group (probably a maximum of 20 - 30 people as we both prefer smaller events). We have another friend who will also co-host with us (we wanted her for Costa Rica, but it wasn't right timing for her).

From there, we'll offer the Mastermind in Costa Rica, which will be by application.

The second event in Costa Rica will be in October again (maybe a week later, weather permitting).

The most significant difference in the Costa Rica event next year is that we'll rent two houses (technically three). I have other friends who own two homes that mirror each other (they call it a 'compound') - right next to each other in the same area.

These homes are less than 10 minutes from the beach house we rented and are up high with a beautiful view of Potrero Bay and an Infiniti pool.

This is where the attendees will stay.

The hosts & any other speakers will stay at the beach house. The workshop portion of the event will still be at the beach house, and we'll have a driver pick up the attendees and take them back each night.

We were super fortunate that the attendees were all fabulous, but to be able to turn off outside of the planned events would have been helpful.

This also gives the attendees more time to connect without us being around.

Lastly, and probably most important...

We're going to bring some help. 😉

Liz has a friend who volunteered as tribute... I mean to be a runner, haha...

In other words, someone else will be our point person for logistics, food, schedule, and everything else that comes up right before, during, and after the event.

We've also decided we need a whole weekend a few months before the event to iron everything out. We had several calls and emails back and forth, but we also spent the weekend right before the event dialing everything in.

So we're planning a long weekend with our other friend after the first of the year to start planning the Spring event.

We get clarity through the doing.

I've been saying that for years... and this event was no exception.

Clearly, my answer to "Do I really want to host in-person events?" is yes, but I have a list of criteria for myself to make this feel right:

• Charge more
• Have help (one, possibly two people)
• More white space/downtime
• Separate accommodations for attendees
• Get as much rest before the event as possible.
• More time with co-hosts to plan and prepare (together, in person)

I shared this via email with my newsletter subscribers, but I actually cut my trip short by a week.

I was scheduled to fly home from Costa Rica on the 11th of November (I was staying with friends) but decided to fly home on Monday the 6th.

I knew I'd end up socializing with friends a lot the last week, and I just didn't have it in me (I did get together with friends a few times).

At this stage in my life, I'm pretty clear about what I need (even if it's sometimes after the fact).

Reflecting on this trip (three weeks total), some of my favorite times were when I got to spend one-on-one with people I love (outside of the event).

All in all, this was an incredible experience.

I'm so very proud of Liz and me for having done this. It means the world to us that these women chose to invest in themselves by flying to Costa Rica to attend this event.

We're honored and look forward to the next event and supporting and connecting with even more incredible women.

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Kim [00:00:00]:

Hey there. It's Kim Doyal, and welcome to my show where digital marketing meets real stories, experiences, and strategies. You'll get a behind the scenes look at what's working and not working in my business as well as other experts who show up and share their stories. As much as I love talking about tangible marketing principles and tactics, we'll dig a little deeper with mindset and explore what's required to create a business you love on your terms that also supports your life. I wanna help you understand the why behind the how. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just dipping your toes in, remember, marketing a journey, and the goal is to enjoy it. My desire is to guide you on your journey and remind you that no matter what life throws at you, you've got this. Hey.

Kim [00:00:44]:

What's going on, everybody? Welcome to another episode of The Kim Doyle Show. Really excited about the conversation with my guest today. Adore her, but also the topic of conversation. And, of course, we are going to talk about online marketing and her business. But, my guest, Lynn Jericho, is in a spiritual space, which is very near and dear to my heart. So first of all, Lynn, thank you so much for being here today.

Lynn [00:01:08]:

It's great. I'm really looking forward to it, Kim.

Kim [00:01:12]:

Thank you. So I love doing this. And so before we get into questions and business and and everything, I wanna hear your story. Like, what brought you To creating your business, which is imagineself.com. And we're gonna get into that. Of course, everybody, all the links will be in the show note. But, You know, let's you don't have to do the life story, but, you know, the trajectory that brought you here to what you're doing today.

Lynn [00:01:37]:

Alright. Well, I've where I'll begin is, looking for a school for my kids, And I discovered a school called Waldorf, which a lot of people know us around the world. It's the The hottest education program in China right now, which is interesting, but this is back in the eighties. And I found this wonderful school and loved what it did for my children, got very involved with what was behind it In terms of this picture of how the human being develops and I was off and running. It just made such sense to me. I got it so quickly, And I started sharing it with people. So in the early nineties, I started giving talks and workshops And advertising in the local newspaper, that sort of thing. And, And I was working and I was working on writing a book.

Lynn [00:02:38]:

And then, 2004, I was in front of, the big tree at Rockefeller Center in New York City, And it was so electric, and This is an electric

Kim [00:02:54]:

So you're talking about the Christmas tree?

Lynn [00:02:56]:

Yeah. The environment. Alright. Man I mean, Manhattan Christmas is just a wonderland, but it's all electric. There's nothing real, unless you have a couple of good credit cards. So, anyway, I went home and I I sent out an email to my list on Gmail, which was about 260 people. And I talked about the holy nights, which is a a path of going inward between December 25th and January 6 between Christmas evening and, epiphany. And so that was my first Digital gesture.

Lynn [00:03:41]:

I I just thought I was a spammer. I mean, I I was terrified. Preston, because I said I'm gonna send you a message every day with an inspiration for what you can think Or work with or contemplate or meditate. And instead, I started getting all these emails, please put me on your list. I want these messages. So the 250 people were sending it out to friends, and it really grew. And then 2 years later, I decided, to do a video on what is this inner Christmas all about. And I was working on a book called 6 celebrations of Christmas.

Lynn [00:04:24]:

So I did this little video, just slides with texts and and music, Carol of the Bells. And I sent it out on December 18th. And by January 1st, 36,000 people had seen it from around the world. And this was long before YouTube. So I was I I should have been off and running, but I was just a deer in headlights. You know? I just

Kim [00:04:53]:

Well, I can't what year was this? What year was around 1 1? Was this early 2000? Yes.

Lynn [00:05:00]:

That was 2006. Mhmm.

Kim [00:05:03]:

You know, and it's as easy as it is today.

Lynn [00:05:06]:

I know. Oh my god. And it took, you know, I had people in Russia, people in, Brazil, in the Philippines, all everybody signing up. Like, just the other day, I had somebody sign up on my list from Malaysia. Oh my god. It's so cool. I love it.

Kim [00:05:26]:

It's really neat when you realize what a global I mean, it's a huge world, but it's small. Like, we are all connected. Yeah.

Lynn [00:05:35]:

Yeah. And nowadays, we we are used to just being energetically connected, but now the the global communication, It's unbelievable. I'm making an impact on people all around the world because of technology.

Kim [00:05:51]:

Because of technology. Yeah. Okay. So the video went wild. And then Yes. What happened after that?

Lynn [00:06:00]:

And then I just, kept sending out these messages. I kept offering alright. So, Starting in 2008, I started doing teleseminars. And

Kim [00:06:17]:

Where were those?

Lynn [00:06:19]:

Right. You know, so I'd have and I was doing everything for free, of course. Of course.

Kim [00:06:25]:

God

Lynn [00:06:26]:

forbid charge spiritual things.

Kim [00:06:28]:

Yeah. And, Or women charge.

Lynn [00:06:31]:

Yeah. So, and that was awesome doing the teleseminars working. Do you remember Audio

Kim [00:06:39]:

acrobat? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Trying to get those widgets into websites for people. Yeah. I was like, Yeah. And you just

Lynn [00:06:48]:

instant

Kim [00:06:51]:

teleseminar was the big one. Right? Instant teleseminar.

Lynn [00:06:54]:

And yeah. Mhmm. Yeah. And so, you know, it kept building because people kept asking me for more courses. Yeah. And I didn't have to market anything. Yeah. Because people kept coming to me.

Lynn [00:07:12]:

And that was a problem.

Kim [00:07:12]:

So that was a problem. Yeah. That was a problem because why?

Lynn [00:07:18]:

Because I didn't learn how to build a business. Yeah. Alright. I was totally fulfilling my mission, what I'm here to do, but I was not building a business. Yeah. I was squeaking by, and I continue to feel that way. I am a creator and, You know? And I have enough sanguine in me or if it's diagnosed maybe a little ADHD So that technology, I fall madly in love with it, but then I don't stay with it because there's something else to fall in love with, Which your emails drive me

Kim [00:08:01]:

crazy because

Lynn [00:08:02]:

you you just drive me crazy, Kim.

Kim [00:08:04]:

Why? Why? Because I say I say to stay focused? Or what do you mean? Why do they drive you crazy? Now I'm curious.

Lynn [00:08:11]:

Because, you are always telling us about the latest tech shining up.

Kim [00:08:20]:

You know, and the crazy thing with that, Lynn, is I'm like, I don't wanna do the tech anymore. I keep saying this. Right? And so the tools people like them and they click through with it, but I'm like, I've I've got someone doing my high level for me. I'm like, I don't wanna touch it. I'm a creator too. I love tech also. But so that there is a Yeah. So sorry about that.

Kim [00:08:38]:

But it is, you know. And sometimes for me I'm like, I will keep looking for the right tool to do the right thing until I'm super happy with it. And then I and then I marry it and I'm good with it, you know? But Yeah. There's too many to choose from every day, so sorry about that.

Lynn [00:08:54]:

But, but I think you have such will forces. I mean, you're such a doer. You you just, You know, go out there and let everybody know that you're in this world and you're worth paying attention to. And I sort of kind of Fade away.

Kim [00:09:12]:

You know. Well, thank you for that, Lynn. But I'll tell you it's not I'm I literally had a I saw a mentor on Monday And I was telling her about all these things that I have for sale and she's like and she's like, Kim, you've been saying this for years. Why aren't you she said, can you commit to selling 5 out of 7 days? I'm like, I will to her because I hold those commitments. And so sometimes accountability is what I what I need because it's the same thing where it's like, you know, I want to connect and engage and create. And I actually like even creating marketing stuff. I just I don't want to be on I don't want to be the one doing the social. You know, there's all these things and then this idea of selling is so like, Oh, God.

Kim [00:09:50]:

So there's a lot of reframing work that I'm working on. So thank you for that, Bob.

Lynn [00:09:54]:

About booking and offering, I love the idea of, inviting. I love the idea the distinction between persuasion, which is helping people do what they already wanna do.

Kim [00:10:08]:

Mhmm.

Lynn [00:10:10]:

Versus trying to

Kim [00:10:13]:

convince. Totally. Totally. Mhmm. I don't know if you've seen this and I will circle back, but I feel that there's a lot of backlash coming at in like And I don't maybe backlash is not the right word, but I think the, consumer in this space and the anybody that's online and Is purchasing courses let's look at it that way. Right? Not necessarily a digital marketing space, but the consumer has become more savvy. They're smarter now. And so They're they're seeing through things, people are tired of like the big names that are, Well, I made $40,000,000 last year And I'm not negating.

Kim [00:10:51]:

Earn what you want. Have at it. Like, more power to you. But it's becoming so it's just an old message now. And I think We're craving, and I think you'll touch on this, is collectively, universally, there's there's a craving for connection and depth and, You know, we're tired. Like the world my podcast that I just published is staying the course when the world is a dumpster fire. You know, when everything feels like a and there's plenty of amazing things happening too but that's not what, you know, the media gives us. But anyways, we'll get into that stuff.

Kim [00:11:24]:

So what from

Lynn [00:11:27]:

Ability to discern to discern What's real and what will work for you rather than being seduced? Mhmm. You know, we get so seduced in the this Incredible landscape, that we find on the Internet. You know

Kim [00:11:46]:

Well, it is. There's promises of riches and this is gonna happen and all these different things. And and I keep saying this, you know, I'm 53 and There's something magical that happens. You hit 50 and it's like, oh, I'm done with the bullshit, you know. But, you know, there is this Self responsibility that comes into play and so when I this podcast, Staying the Course, it's like I'm responsible for What keeps me focused and what keeps me in alignment? I'm responsible for curating my life, the external stuff and not paying attention to it or or tuning it out or unsubscribing, you know. And it's it's taking the time to do that, which we live in this space of massive demand for our attention all the time. And, you know, I think that's what's so appealing to me about Costa Rica is like, 1, you can't get I mean, you the Internet's there and all that, but There's just, there's no big box retailers. There's no, nobody cares about any of that stuff.

Kim [00:12:41]:

And it's just, I don't know. You're in this environment. It's like, Life's good, you know. But anyway, so let's let's keep going. You're doing teleseminars. I wanna hear then what Stepped into and what was this under imagined self at the time or, to that a little bit later?

Lynn [00:13:00]:

At Foursquare. It was Foursquare conversations I was doing because I work with a fourfold picture on almost everything. You know, we we live in 4 realms. We live in space. We live in time. We live in relativity, and we live in the absolute. That's amazing. To curate your life, to know what you're doing in those 4 realms, You know, there there's just so much.

Lynn [00:13:30]:

So I just suddenly, I realized what I was about was what is the archetype of being human, And how do I support people in being uniquely self? So you and I have all the same parts, But we're so different, Kim. What is it that makes us different? When you say I, you're talking about something completely different from what I say I. Wow. And that's magical. I mean, you're we each have about, what, 40,000,000,000,000 cells that are our Own and then another 40,000,000,000,000 microbiome. It it's in each of us.

Kim [00:14:10]:

It is it's a little quantum physic y, like, oh my God, can I wrap my brain around this? But Yes. But the nice thing about that, Lynne, is I I think for me, I I know that what I tapped into I mean, I was like 22 the 1st time I kinda got into, like, self help and mindset, and that stuff. And that's very, I don't wanna say surface level, but it's not the depth that we're talking about. And it blew my mind that wait a minute. There's other ways to think And feel and behave because, you know and again, I don't wanna use a ton of generalizations, but how many people are not living a self actualized life or, you know, they go through the motions. I mean, I was on a trajectory until I lost my husband in 2003. I'm like, we had the house, the 2 kids, the jobs, the cars, we had a boat. Like we were doing all the things and I'm not anti things.

Kim [00:14:58]:

Right? But and and I was at the time, I had still been pursuing sort of self help and stuff. And it's like that, That situation, like, brought me to my knees and it was like, there has to be another way to move through my life. There has to be another way. And it's been consistent work and conscious choice, But we get caught up in the day to day, right, and and not realizing that there's so much more from an internal perspective that will completely reshape how we feel and move through the world. Right?

Lynn [00:15:28]:

That's right. And have you seen Barbie?

Kim [00:15:34]:

Loved it. I mean, mind you, I went with my 70 year old 79 year old father who fell asleep through it, and I'm like, just cause he's has FOMO and doesn't wanna miss going to a movie, but I was like, anyway, yes. I love Barbie. It was fantastic.

Lynn [00:15:46]:

Alright. So A second time, I thought I went to see it 3 times. But after seeing it the 2nd time, I wanna buy it so I can watch it about 10 times Because there is wisdom there. So, my my work serves the barbie that Starts thinking about death that wakes up and suddenly her feet are flat.

Kim [00:16:09]:

Mhmm.

Lynn [00:16:10]:

And She needs to go into the hell of reality to figure out what that's all about. And I am weird Barbie. I I am with Barbie. I just

Kim [00:16:23]:

wanna say a little note. They they couldn't have picked a better actress to play weird Barbie too. I freaking love her, but go ahead.

Lynn [00:16:29]:

Alright. So it's it's really important. Do we want the perfect life? I mean, I say to my my followers, you know, we don't incarnate for a day at the beach. I'm a firm believer that wisdom is crystallized suffering. And and so I work

Kim [00:16:48]:

with yeah. Because you know, it just hit me because it's funny. It's like, I mean, you hear things that sound trite, right? That you can't have light without darkness and all of that. And I always say, you get clarity through doing and I'm always referring to business, right? Like you're not So many people are like, I don't know what I wanna create with a business or I don't know what my passion is. I'm like, start writing, start making stuff. Like, It's not gonna it would be great if it was a lightning bolt that just struck us with this brilliant idea and we could just blow it up. Right? But everyone who's followed me for 15 years I mean, I've been in the same space, but there's a trajectory. Right? But, you know, it it truly is the the things, The tragedies and the heartache and that shift and I am a much softer person today than I was, say 15 years ago, you know, and with each challenge and heartache, I I lean more into it, and it makes Me a more compassionate, empathetic, understanding person, and so much clearer on boundaries and what I want my life to look like.

Lynn [00:17:50]:

Yeah. Yeah. It's you used the word earlier, curation, to find the wisdom to curate your unique life, Not based on perfecting anything or proving anything or pleasing anyone or pretending. The moment you go into perfection pleasing, proving, or pretending you're not you.

Kim [00:18:15]:

Which, there was a Brene Brown quote and I don't remember what it was, but it's like the idea it was about Yeah. Pardon me?

Lynn [00:18:24]:

I was just saying I the 4 p's, I call them the 4 p's. And and let me tell you about the 3 p's in a bit. But The 4 piece, was from a book by Brene Brown, and she was quoting a sociologist or psychologist from Chicago When it came out, but it's to understand you're not you when you're doing any of those 4 things.

Kim [00:18:51]:

Yes. Well, and it was this idea of belonging that it's if you're doing something to belong, you're not you. And and it's a horrible quote I'm gonna find the quote and put it in here. And I always I think of her in freaking love her. I got to see her. I I've probably seen more authors than I've Seen concerts. Just a nerd. But I got to see her in the North Bay, you know, it's across a bridge from San Francisco in in This little bookstore in Novato and, girl, it was like I got there like an hour early.

Kim [00:19:19]:

I'm like, I'm sitting in front, I got a selfie with her. She's she is just anyways. But I think about how she blew up and the fact that a TED talk on vulnerability resonated with so so many people across the planet. I mean, to me, that was testament that work we, you know, are are...

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It seems I’ve been having a lot of these moments lately.

If you haven’t seen Jerry Maguire, it came out in 1996. Long story short, Jerry Maguire is a successful sports agent who has his own “Come-to-Jesus” moment, writes a manifesto, distributes it to the agency he works for, and all hell breaks loose in his life.

Ideally, these moments don’t cause everything in our lives to unfold.

But they’re pivotal moments.

Turning points, if you will.

The first moment I had that was really more of a “Come-to-Jesus” moment was when I decided to focus my business on serving women.

I’ve wanted to do this for a long time but haven’t really had the courage.

Until now.

Before I get into this recent epiphany (that’s a hell of a lot shorter than writing out “My Jerry Maguire, Come-to-Jesus Moment”), I know exactly what has contributed to arriving here.

Focus.

Without a doubt, the focus I’ve applied over the last four months has created space for me to get clearer on what I truly want.

What I want my life to look like, the work I want to do, and who I want to do it with.

Choosing to focus on serving women felt like a huge fork in the road for me. I have a lot of men on my list and in my audience, and I was incredibly nervous that I would be cutting my audience in half.

Here’s the kicker, though… even though men have purchased my products, most of my customers are women.

This is also why I’m investing in paid traffic.

I’ll always do organic content (which is where my Jerry Maguire moment came from), but being able to target exactly who I want to target?

That’s gold.

OK, let’s get into my “Jerry Maguire, Come-to-Jesus Moment.”I love the phrase, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

The beauty of this is that the teacher doesn’t necessarily have to appear as a person. It can be an article, a video, or a specific message you start to see repeatedly.

I subscribe to a lot of email lists, and YouTube channels and read a lot of articles in the digital marketing space, and it’s easy to pick up on trends.

Sometimes, I get an inkling of a shift happening, and other times, it takes a little longer.

The first inkling I had of a shift happening was from the YouTuber creator Jessica Stansberry. She has a YouTube channel called “Hey Jessica!” and decided to launch a second channel just under her name.

She’s been online for about 12 years (I think) and started out doing a ton of “how-to” videos. Months before she decided to launch her second channel, she did a video where she was telling viewers to STOP doing so much how-to or creating content based on keywords.

(This is where she hooked me; I hate creating content based on keywords or doing anything based on keyword research).

Then, she launched her new channel because she wanted a place to do different content. Lifestyle, vlogging, and sharing her journey. That channel has almost 2k subscribers in less than a few months (and yes, she has her previous channel and existing audience where she can promote the new channel, but it wouldn’t be growing if there wasn’t valuable content).

Then I saw this FB post from Adam Linkenauger.

It’s a long post, so I’ve copied and pasted it here, along with the image he included showing he knows a thing or two about YouTube:

Post:

“YouTube isn’t about keywords or SEO.

Forget that crap.

I could care less about the “search engine”, as ranking for keywords is small potatoes on the platform today.

The first step is JOINTLY pleasing your subscriber base AND the algorithm.

Understanding the traffic sources and the depth of strategy that comes with increasing clicks and keeping viewers watching longer.

Where viewers come from drastically can change your thumbnail strategy, your headline strategy, and the content strategy depending on whether search, browse or suggested is your main feeder.

Think of it much like how, in advertising, you’d market to someone who isn’t solution-aware and doesn’t know about the cure to the problem they have…

Versus someone who KNOWS there’s a solution and actively is searching for that specific cure.

OR the engagement of someone who is at the mall and walks by a window sees a piece of clothing they want, and goes in to look at it…

Versus someone who visited your website, called the store to verify the clothing was in stock, and then drove down to the store.

The examples get farther and wider when it comes to engagement levels/interests/knowledge and more across social media.

And how you better learn your CORE subscriber base and “feeder system” of views will allow you to far more easily generate traffic, subscribers, leads, and sales.

So here’s what I’d recommend:

Stop worrying about keywords and ranking.

Sure, you can rank for keywords and get good traffic, but that should be SECONDARY in your stragey.

Here’s why:

You’re competing for 1-2 spots across a dozen keywords that control 80% of all search traffic. (top of ranking gets the clicks)

That’s like fishing in a lake with 1000 fishermen all trying to catch the same 12 fish.

Instead, why not go to the OCEAN that’s JAM-PACKED with 1000s of fish but less than 12 fishermen?

A sea of HUNGRY, STARVING, ready to bite fish that haven’t seen a meal in weeks.

This is the opportunity when you change the inferior and “old strategy” of “SEO” I was teaching a decade ago for WINNING strategies that aren’t being taught yet.

If you want to build a YT channel.

There’s never been a better time.

If you want us to build your channel for you.

There’s an opportunity for that as well.

But if this post caught your attention.

Then the next few sentences should PUMP YOU UP!

I’m thinking about doing my first training program in 7-8 years on YouTube.

The entire foundation of the platform has changed dramatically over the last few years,

… and there’s never been a more necessary time to teach what we’ve learned via testing across a ton of channels and our direct conversations with YouTube.

A program unlike any other that has built multiple industry-leading YouTube Channels (and 7+ figure businesses) and is incorporating AI, unbreakable and battle-tested systems, and SOPs, an organic lead siphoning system that’s generated over 2 million leads for my businesses alone.

… in an easy-to-manage to manage system that works for a solopreneur up to 8-9 figure businesses successfully.

Not only will we cover YT Shorts, Long-form videos, content creation, lead generation, team building, analytics, and all of that “fun” (in a system that all works in UNISON to build your channel and scale your business)

BUT our “Video Launch Formula” that adds 30-200% more leads/sales to your product launch than your internal list produces will be taught for the first at scale ever.

And so much more.

If interest is there, we’ll put a beta group together.

Personally, I think the strategies we’re testing with YT shorts, bridging long-form subscriber/lead generation, and generating traffic, leads, and sales are some of the best.

But I only want to do this if there’s enough interest.

Interested in hearing more?

If so, I can follow up and start creating the program soon!”

He received 53 comments from people saying they were interested.

My point in sharing both of these YouTube creators’ stories isn’t about needing to be on YouTube.

It’s about creating content that connects with human beings.

This is what #EverythingIsContent was all about when I first came up with the hashtag (that people now use on social… and I’m going to go ahead and take credit for it because I started using that probably seven years ago?).

My primary goal with my content is that people feel better for having engaged with it. This is what I call my ‘core content value.’

I want people to:

• learn something
• connect at a deep level
• or be entertained

That is always my intention when it comes to the content I create.

Let’s look at “creating” from a completely different perspective.

I know I’m dating myself here, but I want you to think back to “creating” pre-internet.

Think back to all the people who have created art (any type of art), put themselves out there, and succeeded before there were algorithms, masterclasses, checklists, and keywords.

They simply created.

There may have been formal education that helped shape an interest, but most people who felt compelled to create did so because there was something inside of them that called them to make their art.

Take the “classics.”

Think Shakespeare did anything to “research” what his audience wanted? Or did he write because he had to? There was something in him that pulled him to write.

Look at how many female authors had to write under male pseudonyms because publishers wouldn’t publish books written by women.

Obviously, as time progresses, we learn new skills, so there are opportunities for more people to have access to learning how to create.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t invest our time and energy into learning (I’m very interested to see what Adam Linkenauger offers when he does launch something); why wouldn’t we?

It’s never been easier to learn something new.

We should take advantage of these opportunities – whether they’re free or paid (if you have the discipline, start with free and move on to paid).

All that being said…

More often than not, because we have access to all this information and people to model, we try too hard to “get it right” instead of creating from a deeper place.

Before the internet, people figured it out.

Understanding fundamentals and strategies is one thing. The idea of “modeling,” however, gets in people’s way.

For example:

Let’s say you decide you’re going to start writing on Substack.

Instead of understanding the platform’s fundamentals, you start modeling what someone else has created and try to write like them.

You’re studying their headlines, their content, and how they engage with their readers.

You’re writing every day, and three months later, you feel like you have zero traction. You have some subscribers, and people share and comment, but you don’t feel like you’re growing at the rate you should based on how much you’re creating.

Ask yourself: do you sound like YOU, or do you sound like the writer you’re trying to “model?”

I could go on and on with examples like this, but you get my point.

This is why buying templates from writers (think social templates) whose voice sounds nothing like yours will never work.

For months, I subscribed to Justin Welsh’s social templates. Justin has built an incredible business, and I love his work, but I would never write how he writes.

None of it sounds like me.

So, I canceled my subscription.

I own both of his courses (Content OS & Linkedin OS), but I haven’t done much with them. Because instead of trying to take his frameworks and craft a strategy that worked for me, I felt like I had to do it exactly as he did it.

Which, of course, I don’t.

Here’s how I’m using this epiphany moving forward.

This truly has been a light-bulb moment for me. 💡

And my goal is to craft my own version of a “build in public” experiment.

I’m going to create whatever I want to create.

No keywords and no templates.

I’m not going to wait until I’ve bought an in-depth course on how to master anything. I have the skills and knowledge I need to utilize any platform and figure things out as I go.

I’m also not going to waste months creating a plan.

There will be a couple of days dedicated to planning out what this looks like, but that’s it. Then, it’s all about being consistent and doing the work.

And, of course, sharing the journey as I go.

Here’s a rough idea of what this will look like.

• Podcast: As you can tell, the podcast is back on a regular schedule. WOOHOO! I’m having a ton of fun with it. The videos will be going up on YouTube, more consistent sharing and repurposing, and soon enough, I’ll be running ads to promote the podcast.
• Writing: I really do love writing. Even though I’ve been writing online for a long time, this still kind of blows me away. I will stick with learning from Ann Handley (Everybody Writes) and implement what I learn from her.
• Email, newsletters, and Substack: Unsurprisingly, I love email marketing and newsletters. Substack is the new channel in this mix. And I’m excited about seeing what that brings. I’ll share that in public as well.
• Social: As much as I have a love/hate relationship with social media, for now, it’s part of what needs to be done. I’m going to flip this and treat it like an experiment. I’ll think of each platform as a lab, and I’m the mad scientist experimenting with what works.
• Paid traffic: I’m launching both brands’ Facebook and Instagram ads today. For my upcoming workshop (Beyond the Male Model) and for Create It – The Content Planner. I’ll share how that’s going along the way.

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Staying the Course in your business can be challenging on any given day, let alone when the world feels like a dumpster fire.

I won’t go sideways with this episode about all of the challenges people are facing in the world right now. We’re all aware that things are not what they used to be, and there’s a lot of uncertainty.

This is why it’s vital that we tune out the noise and find ways to ground ourselves.

I stopped watching the news about 15 years ago (when it felt like actual news, not entertainment or propaganda).

Even back then, though, it felt like the focus was on the negative.

I remember years ago, I would go straight to the gym after taking the kids to school, and if I were on the treadmill or elliptical, I’d pop on Good Morning America.

Harmless enough, right?

Most of that was lifestyle and entertainment, but there were news segments or teasers about the news, and even if I weren’t aware of it, some of that would still sink in.

Once I got my first iPad and realized I could actually read while working out, I stopped watching the news.

Fast forward to today, and the only bits of news I get are from social media (not intentionally, but maybe TikTok because they show you content based on what you watch).

I don’t go too far down that rabbit hole because before I know it, I start feeling either angry or depressed.

There was a time when I took a very neutral stance on what was happening politically because of this. All it did was make me miserable (and again, I promise this isn’t a political post; this is all for context).

My intention was, and still is, to be the best human being I can be, to be kind, do good work, and love with my whole heart. All while creating a life that fills my soul to the very depth of my being.

With all of the upheaval over the last few years, something in me has woken up.

And you can’t “unring a bell,” so to speak.

My sense of responsibility to the world I live in feels deeper.

I’m sure this is a combination of my age, my children are grown and on their own (so I have more bandwidth), and some of the loss I’ve experienced.

You hit a point in life where you realize, “If not now, when?”

We’re living through some amazing and challenging times right now.

The first and most important place to start is with ourselves.

So, I’ve been contemplating this question a lot.

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“How do I stay the course when everything around me feels like a dumpster fire?”Now, to be honest, I’m not actually using the phrase “when everything around me feels like a dumpster fire” when I’m thinking about the question of how to stay the course.

That was strictly for the sake of the title of this episode.

Words have power, and I try to choose them carefully.

The question of staying the course, though, is 100% accurate. I’m asking from a place of curiosity and a true desire to keep myself in alignment.

To answer this question, let’s approach it from two angles: the internal and external side of things.

The Internal Side of Staying the Course.In some ways, the internal side of this is easier because it’s something we actually control.

In other ways, it’s harder because it takes conscious decisions, effort, and massive boundaries to anchor in behaviors and beliefs that support staying the course.

And any time we set boundaries, we’ll probably upset someone else simply because we’re taking care of ourselves first.

It’s kind of funny when you realize that the only reason people get upset when you take care of yourself first is because you’re not taking care of what they want. In other words, “do what I want, not what you want.”

It’s super simplistic, I know, but it’s on point.

The other hard part about working on the internal side of things is that you must be willing to stop for a moment.

Get away from the computer, the noise, people, social… all of it.

It’s hard to get clear on what you want and what’s important to you with a zillion other things vying for your attention.

I remember Wayne Dyer once saying, “It’s the silence between the notes that makes the music.” Which, by the way, was originally said by the composer Claude Debussy.

The older I get, the more I crave quiet.

It’s how I get clear; it refuels me and keeps the world’s chaos at bay.

Let’s get a little more specific with what you can actually do with the internal side of things to stay the course.

Start by creating a little structure in your life.

When I was a young mother, my Mom used to say over and over again that children relied on and needed structure. Not from a place of being super strict, but simple routines and structure help children feel safe.

And she was right.

The same is true for you.

Regardless of where I’ve lived, from the time I started my business, I have always, always, always worked from my desk as though I were working for someone else.

My start and end time varies, and there are days off and time away, but this commitment in myself has instilled a level of trust that has carried me through the last 15 years.

I use the term “gentle structure” because I go into massive resistance when I feel like “have” to do something.

This is why I’ve kept up with my journaling routine (the three things I do every day) for the last four months. I didn’t want a routine that felt like a part-time job and took half my day.

I also make sure to take as much time for myself as I can.

I’m in an “in-between” phase in my life right now while I’m at my Dad’s, trying to figure out where I want to be (besides going back and forth between Costa Rica and the States), so it’s crucial that I create the space I need while I figure that out.

I truly relish my time alone.

Other things I do to stay the course:

• See my therapist/mentor regularly
• Calls with friends for accountability and support
• Meditate
• Read
• Get outside (especially before it gets too cold)
• Write
• Take baths/get massages
• Time with people I love

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The benefit of the time for myself is that it’s much easier for me to show up for the people I love when I’m not over-extended. And yes, this means disappointing others sometimes and missing out on things. But I always think of something my therapist said: “I find when I take care of myself, it’s usually in the best interest of the other person as well.

This past weekend, I felt a little angst about life in general. There was no particular reason. Nothing happened, but I could feel those old thoughts kicking up, and I knew I needed to change things up.

The best thing I do for myself when I’m feeling this is to do something physically.

So that’s exactly what I did.

I got in the pool for a bit and did a little cleaning of it (I don’t think there will be too many pool days left this year, and I knew that pretty soon it would probably be too cold to get in). Then, I did a few more “chores” inside.

When everything was done, I took a bath, cooked a pizza, and watched a movie (in my freshly made bed because I washed all my bedding, too).

As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to get caught up in feeling like “doing the work” is the only thing that will move the needle.

But that’s not true.

We must allow ourselves time for thinking, reflecting, turning the business brain off, and being present.

Now, let’s talk about the External Side of Staying the Course.You need to curate everything.

• Your social feeds
• Your inbox
• What you listen to, watch, and read
• Where and how you spend your time
• Who you talk to/share things with
• Where you invest your time & money (courses, webinars, etc.)

Curating social feeds isn’t a new concept, but more often than not, we blow it off and don’t do anything about it.

For example, my Facebook feed is pretty much marketing content, friends, animals, and like-minded people.

Choosing to mute, unfollow, and unfriend people who display things that ruffle my feathers is being responsible to myself.

I wish we lived in a world with civil discourse, where people listened to opposing views with a desire to learn (instead of just waiting to shout back at why someone is wrong), but that’s rarely the case with social media.

You don’t owe anyone anything, especially on social media.

I don’t care if it’s your next-door neighbor or a family member. It’s your feed.

Occasionally, I post things on my personal profile that are political.

Inevitably, I’ll have someone who disagrees with me post a negative comment because it’s ruffled their feathers.

My response? I delete their comment. There is no explanation, no counterargument. A simple “buh-bye” works wonders.

I don’t need to defend my opinion to anyone.

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Moving on…

Unsubscribe to anything and everything that doesn’t support you feeling the way you want to feel.

When it comes to your business if you subscribe to a newsletter, person, or company that only makes you feel like you’re not doing enough or you’re not doing things right… cut the chord. Click unsubscribe.

I don’t care how big the person or company is.

Make how you feel most important (i.e., more important than FOMO, which is BS anyway).

When I read things, and the first thing I think to myself is, “Kim, you know this. You don’t need this. Focus on what you’re creating, what you’re building, and who you serve. You don’t need “more information” about what you already know.

If it’s not going to help me get better at what I’m doing and isn’t simply for entertainment or a soul purpose (i.e., it makes me feel something), why on earth would I give my time to it?

This has been a very recent realization.

And I completely attribute this to the level of focus I’ve had and my commitment to myself.

What you listen to, watch, and read

I am very conscious of what I put into my head. I only listen to things that fuel me or make me feel good. It doesn’t matter if it’s a podcast, music, or background noise. The same is true with what I read.

I used to think I was pretty good with what I watched until I realized that even though something I’m watching aligns with my beliefs (TikTok) if all it does is piss me off, it’s not helping.

I haven’t quite figured out the balance between staying informed and aware and not getting angry… so until I do, I need to practice what I preach here.

TV & movies are easy for me. I don’t watch things that cause me angst (reality TV, horror movies, or sad stories). My inner Pollyanna would rather re-watch one of the first few Harry Potter movies over watching true crime any day of the week (I love all the movies, but the second half of the films are darker and sadder. So I limit those, haha).

All of this applies to business and marketing content, too.

Even if the content is valuable… if you find it makes you feel bad about yourself, that you’re not doing enough, or you should be further along… turn it OFF.

Where and How You Spend Your Time

Your environment matters.

I had a great apartment in Costa Rica, but it needed a little help when I arrived.

I had an incredible view (the beach was less than a 10-minute walk from my place), vaulted ceilings, and lots of windows. However, the colors were off, the furniture was arranged in a strange way, and it didn’t “feel like me.”

I had it painted, rearranged the furniture, had some things made (curtains, cushions for the kitchen table benches), and decorated it so it felt like my space.

How I felt was more important than the money I spent on these things (which, fortunately, I was able to sell everything when I moved, but would have been fine if I couldn’t).

I’m a pretty neat person, don’t do well with clutter, and always make sure my space feels good.

I also apply this to places I go.

I don’t like huge crowds or super loud noise (I could probably handle a football game, but concerts? Pass), so I’ve let go of feeling like I “should” want to do those things.

This is also why you’ll probably never see me at a huge business or marketing event. The last big event I went to was Funnel Hacking Live in 2018 (I think it was around 3k people), and that was it for me. It was so draining.

Be incredibly protective of the impact of this on your sense of well-being.

It’s hard to show up, create, and serve your audience when you’re over-stimulated, your energy is drained, or you don’t feel good in your own space.

Who You Talk to/Share things with

This probably feels obvious, but it’s too important not to talk about.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with” (I believe this was Jim Rohn).

I don’t know if there’s any data to support this, but you can tell pretty quickly whether or not someone drains you or fuels you.

It’s also easy to feel stagnant if the people you spend the most time with/engage with aren’t moving the needle in their own lives.

We all know people who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t have them in your life; make sure you’re in a good place before you spend time with them. Otherwise, it’s easy to get pulled down.

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Where You Invest Your Time and Money

It’s never been easier to learn something new or improve on a skill set.

However, before you spend your time and money on a new strategy or tactic, evaluate if what you’re already doing is working and whether or not there’s room to improve on a fundamental skill that will truly make a difference.

For example, if you’re not consistent at sharing and showing up on the social channels you are active on, what makes you think that investing in a course about a specific platform you’re not using is going to be any different?

If you decide you want to go all in with ONE channel and want to learn how to make the most of that effort, that’s a different story.

However (and I’m talking to myself here), if you have assets, content, and connections already (i.e., you’re not just starting out), how can you ensure that you’re doing the best with what you’ve got?

I’m no stranger to jumping in and wanting to try something new, but man… where I tend to get the best ROI with my time and money is when I work on going deeper.

Getting better at something specific and focusing.

JustSayin.

Most of this stuff seems so obvious, doesn’t it?

Of course, we should only engage in things that make us feel good and support our goals…

But we’re human.

All of this is simply life.

External things happen (on a big scale and in our day-to-day lives) that impact us and throw a monkey wrench in things.

But that’s when having some of this stuff in place gives us the grace to move through life more gently.

The more you practice this, the easier it gets, and the stronger the trust in yourself becomes.

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Loyalty to platforms and tools is crushing your growth.This was a huge epiphany I had while listening to a podcast recently (I was listening to Jenny Blake’s “Free Time” podcast, which, by the way, is one of my favorites).

The podcast episode I was listening to was “Why I Migrated My Three Email Lists to Substack (BFF Bonus Replay),” episode 222 (highly recommend).

Many of you who have been with me for a long time (thank you) know that I love finding cool tools to check out and share.

You’ve also probably noticed that over the last year, I’ve also talked much about streamlining my business.

In fact, I’m tired of doing the tech.

All I want to do is create and serve my audience – whether that’s coaching, courses, a community, or creating and sharing valuable content.

In late 2022, I contemplated moving from WordPress and going all in with ClickFunnels 2.0. Well… that was a bust. ClickFunnels 2.0, after a year-long delay in their launch, didn’t have all the features I wanted to use, and it seemed silly to go to the trouble to move when I’d still need WordPress.

The primary reason for wanting to make that move was simplicity.

But it was also because I hate WooCommerce, which is what we used to launch Create It – The Content Planner.

ClickFunnels 2.0 had promised their version of Shopify (for lack of a better explanation), and I thought, ‘Great! That solves everything!’

So, stick with WordPress I did.

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This is where the phrase, “better the devil you know,” comes into play.

As much as I don’t like WooCommerce, I know how to use it and have developers who know how to use it.

I love WordPress for the primary feature it was created for, which is blogging.

The reason people end up looking for other platforms is that they don’t want to piece a bunch of different things together (or Frankenstein, as some people say).

As someone who can do a lot of this (although the less I do it, the less I remember how to, not to mention the less I want to do it) and has a developer who can do it, it all comes down to what I WANT to do.

And screwing around with tech isn’t something I want to do anymore.

Circling back to the episode of Free Time I listened to that gave me my “a-ha” moment.

Jenny Blake is a well-known author, has a large audience, and also has a very public dislike of social media. Her whole stance on social is that it isn’t good for her. And that’s the point, isn’t it?

I was intrigued to listen to this episode because I’ve been thinking of moving the newsletter for Create It (which is called “Creator’s Weekly” and is fabulous – I don’t write it, my daughter does) over to Substack.

Now, before you think I’ve lost my marbles, you might be wondering about my very public love of

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Reframing Content Marketing and social media is something I have to do occasionally.Otherwise, I’d probably lose my mind a bit.

My challenge is that I enjoy doing it, but it can also feel like a chore.

Before we get into that, let’s do a quick catch-up.

This is the first episode of September, and I can’t believe we’re down to only four months left in 2023. I’ve been back in California for eight months now, but it still feels a bit like I just got here.

This past weekend was Labor Day weekend in the States, and it actually felt like fall! Since I spent the last two fall seasons in Costa Rica, I’m going to soak up every bit of the “fall feels” that I can.

And that’s with a trip to Costa Rica for almost a month (and I’ve got another one planned for January… woohoo!).

It was a rainy, cool weekend; I enjoyed some pumpkin spice coffee and scents (candles & plugins, what can I say) and made sure to take some downtime to simply enjoy the moment.

That was a little fall teaser as the sun is back (which I also love), and it will progressively be getting warmer again, but it doesn’t look like we have any heat waves in the near future (working back up to the low 80s).

One thing I did for myself this weekend was spend a good chunk of time going through some training I’ve invested in.

It was Laurel Portié’s $7 FB Ad Strategy program (I literally cannot believe the value of this…), and then I picked up Joel Erway’s “Power Offer Workshop” (which is only $27)- which was recommended by Laurel in her program.

I probably spent five hours on Sunday going through the training and taking notes (I retain things much better when I write them down). I had a couple of major takeaways from the training I’ve gone through that inspired this episode.

First, Laurel Portié is a breath of fresh air.

The woman is incredibly smart; she’s extremely generous with her time and knowledge, and she’s made me think of advertising in a whole new light.

Not many ad people talk about driving traffic to content for validation (Amanda Bond does as well), so when she started referring to Power Content, I was super intrigued.

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Let’s look at Reframing Content Marketing first

I have always been a huge fan of content marketing.

It took me a while to find my groove (the podcast really shifted everything for me), but once I did, I fell in love with the process and mastery.

It’s changed a lot over the years and will continue to with AI, but I’m here for all of it.

In a conversation with my friend, Jason Resnick, last week, I told him how frustrated I get with SEO and keyword research. I understand it, but searching for keywords to rank in Google and then creating content around those words feels ass-backward to me.

If I want to do an in-depth post specifically for search, that’s one thing, but as a general concept, it feels incredibly forced for me.

I write relevant content that I want to create, first and foremost.

I live by my “Core Content Value,” which is that “I want people to feel better for having consumed my content.”

More specifically, the three elements of my Core Content Value are:

• People will learn something
• People will feel inspired
• I’ll connect with them on a deeper level

This is always my intention when creating content.

The thing with creating content based on keywords for a personal brand is that you may solve one specific problem (how-to content) for someone who is searching for the solution you’ve provided, but that doesn’t mean they’re interested in the content you create that isn’t quite as tangible.

So when Jason shared a recent video and post by Rand Fishkin of SparkToro, which validates all of this for me, I was thrilled.

It’s a 5-minute Whiteboard video with transcripts. Watch or read “Why the Worst Search Marketers Start Content Strategy with “SEO Keywords” 5-Minute Whiteboard” here.

I won’t go into more detail with this here, but basically, he’s telling you that your content should be created based on business-centric goals.

Which was the entire purpose behind Content Creators Planner and now Create It – The Content Planner.”

Can I get an Amen?

I also follow Jessica Stansberry on YouTube and am on her list. She has two channels, and the second channel, under her name, is brand new. She’s been talking on her Hey Jessica channel for a while about not creating video content based on SEO or keywords because that doesn’t necessarily create a “sticky experience” (my words, not hers).

Her Hey Jessica channel has 200k subscribers, but she launched the new channel so she had more freedom with what she created.

My take on all of this is what I’ve always believed.

YOU are the differentiator with your content.

It’s not because you know how to follow formulas and frameworks or have great SEO. Your personality, perspective, and unique take on things are NEEDED.

For some people, that might be a little fear-inducing… do it anyway.

That’s the first piece of my Content Marketing reframe.

The second piece was completely and totally inspired by the training I watched this weekend.

Think of it this way: 👇

Your business goals ==> Your Content ==> Sales

I know that’s incredibly simplified, but that’s the point.

We over-complicate things.

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In the training with Laurel, she starts with a Power Offer, which is what you’re selling. Your Power Content should support that.

I won’t go into any specifics with this because it’s paid content, and c’mon… It’s SEVEN dollars a month… sign up.

Once you have your Power Offer created, it’s much easier to create your Power Content. Which you then use to validate your offer.

Jason and I recently learned this the hard way when we offered a Black Friday Cyber Monday workshop. We didn’t validate the offer ahead of time, didn’t get enough sign-ups, and canceled the two-part live workshop.

Side note: I was kind of relieved (I think he was too). We both have enough on our plates right now. I feel like this was the Universe telling me to stay focused. 😉

However, had we followed the formula for Power Content and used our audiences to validate this ahead of time, it would have been a no-brainer (I’m floored at how many people opt out of Black Friday Cyber Monday. No judgment, but it’s a missed opportunity).

This reframe has probably been more of a reminder than anything else.

I think I bought into the hype and concern about search, AI, and SEO in general instead of trusting my gut. I’m not a newbie, and I know the value of the type of content I enjoy creating.

So that’s what I’m focusing on.

That also means I need to improve social promotion (which will tie in directly with paid traffic to content).

Reframing Social Media

I am definitely one of those people that has a love/hate relationship with social media.

I love it because I can connect with new people, share ideas, be entertained, and learn things.

I hate it because I just don’t enjoy posting – or repurposing my own content. Scheduling things is fine, but I do believe the platforms reward you more when you post natively.

Not to mention, if you schedule everything ahead of time, you need to make sure you’re also scheduling time to connect and engage.

Which feels a bit like a rabbit hole for me (I know, I need to take my own advice and do some entrepreneurial adulting here).

The roadblock for me has always been that I get way too in my head with short-form content.

I hate platitudes and absolutes.

I’ve also spent money on templates for social and then never used them.

Why?

Because they don’t sound like me.

I keep thinking these “formulas” that have worked for other people are how I “should” do things, but when I look at the formulas and templates I’ve invested in?

Men write the majority of them.

And I think I’ll die on this sword, but men & women connect differently. We’re hard-wired differently, and every single freaking time I’ve tried to force a formula onto my creativity, it flops.

Frameworks, on the other hand, allow a lot more flexibility.

I think the Formula vs. Framework will be an entirely separate episode, but think of it this way.

A framework gives you the blueprint, but you get to select the materials, the process, the timeframe… all of it.

A formula tells you exactly what to do.

“Do this,” and then.

This is where I see so many people struggle and give up.

They buy the formula, the templates, the exact process someone else used, implement it, and it falls flat.

Creating a long-term sustainable business isn’t just about copying, er, modeling what someone else has done.

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You must be willing to take a risk and show up as yourself.

Remember my #JustShowUP?

That’s where you start.

You start by testing things and doing what feels right for YOU.

But you have to be willing to do it… a LOT. Just because you try something and stick with it for a month doesn’t mean it won’t work or isn’t working if you haven’t gotten the results you’re hoping for.

OK, let’s get back to reframing Social Media. I got off on a bit of a tangent there.

I’m going to do exactly what Laurel says and create Power Content.

This is 15 pieces of content that I use to validate and test an offer. I’ll start with 15, but once I have the process down, I’m going to create as much Power Content as I can.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that will be the primary social content I’m going to create (Power Content is specific to organic social content that you use to validate your Power Offers).

I’ll continue repurposing my podcast, any videos and writing new content on my site that supports my business goals (and desire to get in front of my ideal customers) – but as far as original content for social media, this has completely changed the game for me.

All of a sudden, I see a social strategy that makes sense.

FINALLY.

As opposed to just posting as much content, as often as possible, and in as many places as possible.

Obviously, you can do the “as much as you can everywhere” strategy if that works for you, but I want less time on social media and more time creating, selling, and engaging with my customers as possible.

I truly require a lot of white space, and this is going to support that.

In a much more profitable way, I might add.

I haven’t dug into Laurel’s $ 5-a-day strategy yet (I’m still working through the “Get Ready Protocol” part of the training), but I haven’t been this excited about content, social, and advertising in probably EVER.

The difference between where I’m at today versus, say, five years ago is not only do I have an even stronger skillset to bring to the table, but my level of focus and discipline has increased exponentially.

Not to mention the stage I’m at in my life, which is all about unapologetically being myself.

Gone are the days of worrying about how I come across, whether what I’m doing pleases everyone, and being nervous about ruffling a few feathers.

I know who I am, my intentions, and who I’m here to serve.

Playing small serves no one.

As a reminder of that, here’s “Our Deepest Fear’ by Marianne Williamson:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the World.

There is nothing enlightening about shrinking

so that other people won’t feel unsure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

As we let our own Light shine,

we consciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,

our presence automatically liberates others.”

It’s time to be powerful beyond measure.

Lastly, here are a few thoughts to help you think about how to end 2023 on a high note.

First and foremost, you have to get clear on what that looks like for you.

If you haven’t done the exercise of writing a letter from your future self, do it. Date the letter December 31st, 2023, and describe how you spent the last four months.

Don’t be “practical.”

Dream. Best case scenario.

Make sure to include whatever it is that matters to you:

• Time off
• Trip/travel
• Time with loved ones
• Projects
• Income
• Health

Pay attention to how you feel as you write this. Really get into the feeling state of having accomplished what you write.

When it hit me the last week of August that we were almost in September, I went through my calendar and blocked off all the times I’ll be “unavailable.”

I might be working, but I won’t have any scheduled calls and may set some out-of-office autoresponders.

With a trip to Costa Rica for almost a month (I’ll be working), time off over Thanksgiving, and the plan to be off December 18th – January 5th… I realized I had less time than four months.

So, I better make it count.

I started by mapping out two pages for each month (I’ve only done September so far). I listed three priorities and what my primary focus for each priority will be each week (in addition to the weekly tasks like the podcast and newsletter).

Getting this out of my head and onto paper made it feel much more manageable, not to mention being a reminder to stay focused.

Do whatever supports you, enjoying what’s left of this year.

It’s vitally important to me that I enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

Happy planning!

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Internet marketing has always been a male-dominated space.I was super hopeful when I shifted more to the ‘Creator Space’ – but I don’t think it’s much better.

I spent ten years in the WordPress space, and for the majority of that time, it was a male-dominated space as well (it seems to be getting better).

Before you think this will be an anti-man or ranty episode, let me assure you that it’s not.

Much like Mother Teresa’s quote about not attending a march against war but instead attending a rally for peace, that’s what I want to do here.

Let’s take a little stroll down memory lane first, shall we?

When I started my business in 2008, I was very aware that internet marketing was predominantly male.

I was also very new, so, to be fair, I didn’t really know where to look for the women when I was getting started.

Once I did, I started a Facebook Group called “The Women of Internet Marketing” and even made a movie called “Women in Business, 2.0” (the movie was in 2010 – and no, you can’t find it. It was a unique experience, to say the least).

So, this desire to support and highlight women isn’t something new for me.

I’ve always wanted to, but I think somewhere along the way, I got a little disheartened and sort of fell into the “if you can’t beat em, join em” mentality.

I was also super nervous about alienating some of my audience, which has always been pretty split 50/50 between women and men.

However, when I realized that the majority of my customers (i.e., people who actually BUY from me) are women, I let go of that.

There’s also something that happens to women when you turn 50…

And I know, I can’t speak for all women, but the women I know and from a LOT of things I’ve read, when women turn 50, they stop caring so much about what other people think.

We’ve raised our kids, are established in our careers (or starting new ones), and finally feel like “YES! Now it’s MY turn.”

I also think a big turning point for me was when Roe v. Wade was overturned. I never in a million years thought I’d see that in my lifetime. I’m not going to get political here, but let’s say it lit a fire in me.

And let me be crystal clear… this isn’t just for women over 50.

This is for any woman who feels a strong pull to create a business and life that works for HER. It might be using your voice (like I’m doing here), maybe it’s writing a book, creating an e-commerce store, becoming a course creator, ad manager, social media manager… You get the point.

This episode is specifically for the entrepreneurial woman who is in this for the long haul.

You Can’t Unring a Bell

Once you start noticing things, you can’t “unnotice” them.

Here’s a little exercise for you.

Next time you see a round-up post or listicle that highlights a list of people, count the number of men to women.

It’s usually about 20-30% tops… if they’re even included.

This is why I feel SO strongly that it is up to us… as women, to support and amplify each other.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t read, recommend, follow, or support good men doing good work. What I am saying is to start “choosing awareness” and see if this resonates with you.

The flip side of that is true as well…

You don’t need to support a woman simply because she’s a woman.

Let’s move on.

How to Amplify Women in BusinessThe first thing I’m going to do here is target women.

Both organically (with episodes like this) and with paid traffic.

Let’s talk about organic marketing first.

I subscribe to a lot of different newsletters and email lists (don’t we all, eh?). I’ve started a Google sheet where I’m listing the women I subscribe to, what they do, and their website.

From there, I’ll be doing the following:

• Social media posts
• Creating content
• Highlighting...

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Trusting yourself in business feels like it should be easy.After all, you’ve started your business because you wanted to do something different outside the norm.

You knew there was something else you were supposed to do with your life.

Or, maybe you started your business because you needed to.

Maybe you were let go from a job, could not find a job that justified the cost of daycare/commute, etc., or knew that if you didn’t start something for yourself, your mental health and quality of life would continue to decline.

My reasons for starting my business were sort of a combination of all of the above.

I had been working full-time in retail management most of my adult life, and after losing my husband in a car accident at 32, with a six-year-old and a two-year-old at home, I knew something needed to change.

Prior to that job, I had tried a handful of entrepreneurial things, but it wasn’t until I discovered what people were starting to do online (first discovered this space in 2006) that I knew “this was it!”

I had no idea what that looked like, but something lit up in me and grabbed hold of me.

I lost my husband in 2003 and started my business in 2008.

The five years in between were some of the hardest years of my life. It’s too long to go into here (we’ll save that for another podcast episode), but if I could go back and tell myself anything during that time, it would be to be gentle with myself.

On top of grieving, I was in massive judgment of myself all the damn time.

My therapist used to say I would “get myself coming and going.” No matter what I did, it wasn’t enough.

Learning to listen to our own intuition and trusting ourselves are incredible gifts you give to yourself if you’re willing to do the work.

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Intuition in ActionUntil probably 12 years ago, I don’t think I ever would have considered myself “intuitive.” In fact, I was probably a little judgmental about that word and associated it with people who were a little “out there.”

Regardless of how you define intuition or your perception of it, we’re all intuitive.

We just haven’t learned to tap into our intuition or trust ourselves with it.

A simpler, maybe more acceptable way to talk about intuition is learning to trust your gut.

I’m going to try to mesh the tangible with the intangible here if you will – because in order to grow and scale a successful business, you need both.

And I’m on a mission to bring more of this language and discussion into the marketing space.

Here’s a great example from the first year I was in business.

There was an internet marketing who I had discovered prior to starting my business. I had been listening to a CD set by Mark Victor Hansen (co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books) about becoming a speaker.

This internet marketer was talking about how he was making money with the internet with niche sites, affiliate marketing, and teaching.

I didn’t understand half of what he was saying, but I was fascinated.

So when I finally made the leap into starting my business in 2008, I sought out this marketer and signed up for his coaching (which was 5k and the most I had ever spent on something like that).

Part of his coaching was coming to his house for a private retreat with a few other coaching clients.

By the time I went to this retreat, I had been in business...

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Creating A Black Friday Cyber Monday Offer can be exciting, intimidating, and a little cringe-inducing.It all depends on how you approach it.

I’ve been on both sides of the coin and somewhere in between when it comes to creating a Black Friday Cyber Monday Offer.

As someone who spent way too many years working in retail management, I had a pretty negative feeling about Black Friday for many reasons, mainly because I usually worked that weekend. I would have rather been enjoying time with family or kicking off my own holiday season.

Once I was out of retail, though, I promised myself I’d never go into a store that weekend… and for the most part, I haven’t.

I may have gone once or twice with my Mom and sister, but that was more about doing something with them as opposed to shopping.

For the sake of all of our sanity, I’m going to stay away from the argument that addresses the ‘for or against’ Black Friday Cyber Monday.

It is what it is, I don’t see it going anywhere, and there’s no point getting worked up about it.

What we’ll focus on is how to create a Black Friday Cyber Monday offer that aligns with who you are, how your support your audience, and what you can create that feels good for everyone.

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Should you Create a Black Friday Cyber Monday Offer?This question might seem a little contrary to the topic of this episode (because obviously, I think you should), but there are a handful of things you should consider before deciding whether you should create a Black Friday Cyber Monday Offer.

First question: Do you want to?

Before you call me Captain Obvious, what’s really important about this question is getting clear on your “why” behind the answer.

Many people say they don’t want to because they’re “anti” the whole concept. I’m sure you can come up with many reasons why you or someone else might be “anti” running offers over this weekend. Fair enough.

Just make sure you’re being completely honest with yourself.

Putting together the right offer for the right reasons and for the right people takes work.

You also need to go into it with the right expectations.

If you’ve never run one of these offers or created any type of similar marketing campaign, there’s going to be a learning curve, but more on that in a minute.

Second question: Do you have an email list?

Unless you sell on social media ONLY (and have data that supports how well your social audience responds to offers), you have to have an email list.

I don’t care if it’s 500 or 5000.

Every single business needs an email list. This is the one source of traffic you control. And yes, if you don’t have one, it’s not too late to build one so you can send an offer over the Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend.

Last question: Are you willing to do the work?

I might sound a little like a stern parent here, but if you’re not willing to put the time and energy into this, then don’t bother.

Can you half-ass it and make some sales?

Sure, but with enough lead time and effort, why not go all in and do it correctly? There are no guarantees of how it will go, but keep in mind that regardless of how well your offer does, you’re most likely going to make some sales and will gather massive data.

And more than likely, you’ll end up with an offer you can use later with another campaign (different season, sale, special, etc.).

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The ONE question you can ask yourself is a game changer.This was one of those questions that brought massive clarity in the span of about 1 minute. We’re going to get into that in a minute, but let’s do a quick catch-up and recap from last week.

First, if you missed last week’s episode, I officially announced my first-ever Women’s Business Retreat in Costa Rica!

The IGNITE Mastermind is happening this October 24th – the 28th. My dear friend and amazing branding expert, Liz Weaver, is co-hosting this with me.

We’re just now getting around to promoting the event, but we only have four spots left, so if you’re interested, be sure to head over to IgniteMastermindCR.com for all the details. This is the lowest price this event will ever be. We’ve set this up as an all-inclusive event (food, lodging, airport transportation, retreat workshop, and a catamaran sunset cruise). All you need to do is get yourself there!

We’ve even hired a professional photographer so you can get some gorgeous headshots in this amazing location (a luxury beachfront home).

Click here to learn more about the IGNITE Costa Rica retreat.

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Is it me, or does it feel like this summer has completely flown by?

Maybe it’s because it was so cold when I moved back in February that winter felt like it was never-ending. Now that we have warm weather and longer nights, it feels like it’s going to be time for all the pumpkin spice everything.

Mind you, I’ve missed fall the last couple of years in Costa Rica, and I am one of those nutty pumpkin people, so I’m looking forward to enjoying all the coziness that fall brings.

Halloween decorations and candy are showing up in stores already.

When I was younger, I loved seeing this (I mean as a young adult, not a child). Maybe it was because it was forced on me by being in retail for so long.

By mid-August, I was already getting pumpkin-spiced candles for the house.

The older I get, the faster time seems to be moving, so I’m not in a rush to have seasons come and go too quickly anymore (although I’ll probably be ready for summer by the end of January, haha).

Every month of the summer feels like it’s been a little busier than I’m used to (or at least what I remember). Being back in California with family has been wonderful, but it also means my calendar is a little fuller.

When I start feeling a little squeezed, I remind myself that I always get everything done.

My goal is always to stay present and focused.

When I keep things simple (my three things), I always complete them, do better work, and enjoy my day more. Novel idea, isn’t it?

Sometimes this is harder than others, but oddly enough, I find that slowing down helps me do this. The more I try to squeeze into a day, the faster the day goes.

My challenge to you as we wind down the rest of 2023 is to choose to be present.

To quote Maya Angelou:

If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you must look forward, do so prayerfully. However, the wisest thing you can do is be present in the present. Gratefully.

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Moving on.

The ONE Question to Ask YourselfI heard this in a video I was watching...

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The Cost You Pay isn’t necessarily in dollars…It’s much greater.

But before we get into that, let’s do a little recap of the last week.

In last week’s episode, I talked about ‘burning the boats’ and simplifying everything in my business. Sharing that and getting the podcast published was the fuel I needed.

There is something about putting stuff out there that lights a fire in me.

I love setting up some sort of accountability that keeps me on track.

Whether it’s to a mentor, a friend or publicly putting it out there – it works. I used to judge myself because I always felt like it was weak to need that (this was many years ago), but now it feels like a superpower.

I know what works for me, and I’m running with it.

I also did something last week I’ve been putting off for far too long – I got back in front of the camera! Go me!

And here’s the truth… which I’m guessing most women will be able to relate to: I was having a really good hair day and basically told myself, “Girl, your hair is on point today. You need to record a video.”

Whatever it takes, right?

So, I raised my desk, decided on the topic, and hit record. I posted the video to both my Facebook business page and personal page. Then I posted it to the biz page first and then to my personal page. On the personal page, I asked people to tell me where they saw it first.

I got more comments on my personal page than on my business page, but it’s all a process.

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Here’s the crazy thing…

After having a conversation with my friend, Emma Hersh, and my experiment posting the same question on Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook – I’ve decided I’m going to focus on Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.

Emma was great and sent over some data she found, and let me tell you, Facebook is NOT dead. Gen Z may not be there, but my audience is.

Then the next day, I came across a Gary V video (and I haven’t watched or listened to him in a long time), and he said the three platforms people should be focusing on are: Facebook pages, YouTube shorts, and TikTok.

So that felt a little confirming.

That being said, I say show up where you feel most comfortable, create what you enjoy creating, and go all in.

Because I’ve made the commitment to do more video, it’s easy to repurpose what I’m doing across all three platforms.

So, that being said, here’s where you can follow me on all three. And bear with me as I start reworking my profiles on these platforms:

• Facebook business page
• YouTube
• TikTok

Here we go, friends.

The Cost You Pay

I get super giddy when I come across someone new who inspires me.

You’ve heard me talk almost non-stop about Dr. Benjamin Hardy and the books he’s written with Dan Sullivan. I had come across Ben Hardy last year, but for whatever reason, I wasn’t quite ready for that work.

Clearly, that’s changed.

Well, last week, I came across someone I had never heard of, who is killing it, and I have been bingeing her content. What I love about this woman is that she’s not in the BS guru internet marketing/creator space.

I won’t go sideways ranting or throwing shade at anyone here, but I think you get my point.

The people who are unrelatable, keeping themselves at arm’s length from their audience, and whose message feels tired (or is this just me?)

Anyway…

I’m referring to Tiffany Carter of

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Well, it might seem like my best-laid plans for the podcast have gone sideways, but I assure you it’s anything but.

I won’t go into much detail about life with this episode, but the last couple of months have been super busy with family stuff, and I’ve been quietly working behind the scenes and, for lack of a better description, have been “burning the boats.”

This episode is for anyone who has or has had that niggly feeling in their gut for far too long about making a change in their business. It could be niching down, a pivot to something entirely different, focusing on a different audience, or adding something brand new.

Whatever it is, my goal with this episode is to both inspire you and give you a few things you can do to get the ball rolling.

One thing to remember: this is going to look completely different for each individual. Don’t compare your pivot to anyone else’s.

On one hand, the burning of the boats feels like it’s been years in the making. On the other hand, I made this decision fairly quickly because of the level of focus and structure I’ve implemented.

Burning the BoatsThe first time I burned the boats in my business was when I pivoted from “The WPChick” to my personal brand. This was back in 2018, and I knew it was time.

In fact, it was probably time a few years prior, but I didn’t have the clarity or the courage until 2018.

During the last few years as The WPChick, I felt very limited.

I didn’t want to:

• Create any more how-to WordPress tutorials
• Do anymore client work, no more websites
• Continue creating content about plugins or themes

I changed my tagline on my site to “A Place Where WordPress and Marketing Collide,”… which I loved, but at the time, the WordPress space was so anti-marketing (God forbid you made a living in that space outside of service work), and I didn’t feel like dealing with the trolls (I had my fair share in that space).

What I loved doing was creating content and marketing.

The more I learned about marketing, the more I enjoyed it.

In many ways, I held myself back when I was The WPChick. Because there was such a self-righteous anti-marketing stance, I avoided trying things or going deeper with marketing strategies. I’d do the surface work and get some results, but not the results I truly wanted.

I tried to please everyone but myself.

If I could go back and tell myself anything, it would be to only pay attention to people who were already where I wanted to be.

Here’s another way to look at his:

Never take advice from someone you wouldn’t trade places with.

– Darren Hardy

I’ve spent far too much of my life worrying about what other people think.

This might come as a surprise to people who don’t know me very well or to those who I haven’t allowed myself to be vulnerable with, but I’m over it.

This is probably one of my favorite things about getting older… as you start to realize that your time on this earth is actually finite and you may have less in front of you than behind you, you realize it’s time to stop playing small.

Or, as Brené Brown shares in her article, ” The Midlife Unraveling,”…

I’m not screwing around. All of this pretending and performing—these coping mechanisms that you’ve developed to protect yourself from feeling inadequate and getting hurt—has to go. Your armor is preventing you from growing into your gifts. I understand that you needed these protections when you were small. I understand that you believed your...

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Women Over 40, it’s your turn.Recently I was at my niece’s high school graduation party.

A handful of my sister’s dearest friends came to celebrate my niece as well, and it was wonderful to see all these women. All were friends she’s known since childhood, so I’ve also known them all for 35+ years.

In a conversation with one of her friends, we started talking about my sister’s birthday this year (she’ll be 50, and I’m just about to turn 53 as I write this). As we were talking about this, her friend (who is 48) was saying that she’s “not looking forward to turning 50 at all.”

My response was so immediate and natural that I didn’t think about it before I said it.

“I absolutely love being over 50! I am so happy with who I am at this stage in my life. It just gets better.”

She looked at me, a little surprised, and said, “Really?”

It wasn’t coming from a place of judgment at all… it was genuine curiosity.

Anyone over 40 can probably think back to when you were in your 20s, and 40 seemed so far away. And old. 😅

Ha!

There’s a lot of truth to the body aging and things changing, but we have access to so much more information and understanding… I truly believe that you can be in better shape in your 50s than you were in your 30s if you want it.

It’s all up to you.

The magic starts happening when you realize this is your life, and you get to choose what it looks like.I started my business back in 2008 at the ripe old age of 38.

Which, at the time, didn’t feel old unless I was looking around at all the 20-something bros who were “killing it” (more on that in a minute).

I started my business for a few reasons:

• I was widowed in 2003 with two small children (6 & 2). I wanted to be home for them.
• I have always felt in the deepest part of my being that I was meant to do something different with my life (entrepreneurial, not a job).
• I wanted more freedom.

The years between 2003 and 2008 were some of the most challenging years of my life (up to that point, because let’s face it, none of us get out of this life without heartache and challenge. I’ve had more since then, but we learn to hold it differently as we age).

Fortunately, I found an amazing therapist who has since become more of a mentor, and I still speak with her/see her today. She’s also an incredible model for creating whatever you want in your life. I have nothing but massive appreciation, gratitude, and deep love for her.

She also challenges me.

Which is what I’m hoping I can do for you.

There have been three distinct “spaces” I’ve been in since I started my online journey. I’m calling these spaces because they’re way too broad to be a niche.

1. WordPress
2. Internet Marketing
3. Creator Economy

The common thread among all three is that they’re all dominated by men.

WordPress

For the first ten years online, I was “The WordPress Chick.

I discovered WordPress, grabbed the domain name (which, btw, someone wants to buy… hmm..), and went about sharing what I was doing with WordPress.

I wasn’t a developer or a coder, but I was figuring out how to use it and thought I’d share what I was...

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Well, I’ve officially been back in California for four months.

Let me just say it’s been an adventure.

I won’t bore you with all the details, but here’s a little gist of how the first few months went:

• I returned to some crazy cold weather and snow like we hadn’t seen here before. I officially don’t like the cold anymore and was pretty miserable (I know, #firstworldproblems).
• I got sick a couple of weeks in, and with the weather, that seemed to stick around for a few weeks.
• I was still healing from my back surgery last October
• I had to adjust to living with someone else… who is pretty chatty. Once my Dad got it in his head that I was working and not to come in and chat with me throughout the day, things seemed to flow
• A few weeks ago, I ended up with Shingles… my first time getting them, and fortunately, it wasn’t a bad case. The pain is still there but lessening every day.

Those are just the niggly things that came up all while trying to adjust to life back in the States.

I’ve had a few a-ha moments as well, which is what I’d like to focus on with this episode as I share the future of the podcast (I never intended to take four months off!), what’s been born out of this unplanned little sabbatical of mine, and why I’m incredibly excited about the rest of this year.

My original thought in moving back to the States was that since I was moving back, I might as well stay in Northern California, where all my family & many of my friends are. Then I wasn’t so sure.

I’m staying at my Dad’s right now (he’s got a pretty big house and has loved the company since my Mom passed away) and had thought I’d be here 3-4 months tops. My Dad is about an hour southeast of Lake Tahoe and about an hour from Sacramento, in a cute little remote town. It kind of feels like Tahoe up here, and he has an acre of property with plenty of pine trees.

While it’s beautiful, one of the things I was looking forward to in coming back was the conveniences, which isn’t necessarily the case being this far out. Mind you; everything is much more convenient than it was in Costa Rica.

Then I went to Costco on a busy Saturday afternoon with my Dad and realized that, holy hell…this was not for me either.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Costco, but having worked for myself for the last 15 years, I haven’t really needed to go on a weekend in a long time, and I always wear AirPods and listen to something while I shop.

I was so overstimulated by the time we left (and then went to a huge nursery, which was also incredibly busy) that I could have skipped dinner and just gone home.

It was definitely a case of “been there, done that’ – meaning suburbia and the big box retailers. I have zero judgment about it for anyone else, but I’ve realized it’s not for me.

I keep joking that “Costa Rica broke me.” 🤣

What’s more accurate is that I think it helped me find a more natural rhythm for myself.

I miss the ease, the energy, and the way of life.

I’m planning a trip back in October, and my new goal is to be able to go back and forth between California and Costa Rica. I don’t know what that looks like yet, but that’s the plan.

I’m also at an age where my health is a huge priority – and the truth is I physically felt better in Costa Rica. However, I do appreciate having healthcare in the States again. Even though it’s cheaper in Costa Rica, there’s something to be said for what we have here (and for the sake of all our sanity, we won’t talk about the cost of healthcare here).

This is why I think going back and forth would be ideal.

Who knows, maybe I’ll just put a tiny house on my Dad’s property.

For now, though, I’m content where I’m at.

Plus, the thought of moving again makes me cringe. The nice thing about being here and figuring things out is that my Dad loves the dogs, and they can stay here with him when I travel (they’re never getting on a plane again, I think that was too traumatizing for all of us).

It’s been nice to be here for the family, and my Dad’s health is much better (that was a big part of why I came back). I’ve been able to see everyone and be there for special moments (my niece’s prom and high school graduation), and I am looking forward to seeing more friends this summer.

All with the ultimate goal to go back and forth, ideally following the warmer weather (it’s been lovely having the longer sunlight at night – it gets dark in Costa Rica by about 6 pm every night, all year long).

Now that you’re caught up, let’s jump into the business and where things are heading.

My FocusI’ve been working on a site revamp with the amazing KadenceWP, which I love (theme and block builder for WP using only Gutenberg, this thing is FIRE 🔥), and while doing that decided I wanted to revamp the copy and messaging on my website as well.

My four areas of focus are:

• Email
• Newsletters
• AI & Marketing
• Coaching

I’ve been talking about email marketing for a while now, newsletters for the last couple of years, and yes, I’ve completely gone down the rabbit hole with AI & ChatGPT.

Love it or hate it (AI), it’s here to stay.

With this revamp of my website and messaging, I decided to use ChatGPT to help me craft the copy and dial in my offers. Because of this, I figured I might as well do this as a “build in public” and share the journey. I started a new newsletter called “The AI Marketing Chronicles,” where I’m sharing how I’m crafting this.

I share the purpose behind that week’s lesson as well as the entire ChatGPT conversation thread so you can see how everything progressed. This has kept me motivated to keep the project moving and continue with my own AI and ChatGPT education (which can be hard because it’s all moving so fast).

The AI haters seem to be getting quieter (or I’m just curating my feed better). The thing I think a lot of people are missing is that you don’t have to pivot your entire business or business model to use AI in a way that serves you (I recently spent two days writing a 4500-word blog post with ChatGPT).

Even with writing a newsletter and including AI tools and resources in “the SPARK,” – I can’t keep up with it. I pretty much stick with ChatGPT right now because it does everything I need. My goal isn’t to become an AI or ChatGPT expert; it’s to use these tools in a way that supports what I’m doing.

That being said, I’ve done a bunch of 1:1 ChatGPT coaching sessions (Chat Powered Strategy Sessions), have a workshop called “Conversations with ChatGPT: A Beginner’s Guide to AI Success,” and am about to launch a course teaching people how to create and launch a course in 30 days with ChatGPT.

Email & NewslettersI’m getting back to more frequent emailing, and I’m having a ball.

Between my personal brand and Create It (the content planner), there are three newsletters that get sent out every week. Tues, Wed., and Thursday.

I know there are overlaps with people being on all three lists, and there may be days when people get more than one email from me, but I’m trying to avoid that.

I was using Klaviyo for Create It, but with a little shift in plans for that brand, I don’t think we need something that is as tailored to e-commerce, so I canceled that and am moving that list to ConvertKit. We have our newsletter on beehiiv (which I LOVE).

I figure it’s better to use what I’m familiar with and will actually use than spend time trying to get Klaviyo where it needs to be.

The biggest priority now for both email and newsletters is to make sure we have a consistent process in place (and when I say “we,” I mean me & my tiny effective team).

The other piece of this is making sure we have the right distribution and promotion schedule in place for all three newsletters.

That’s a lot of content that can and should be driving traffic to both brands.

I’ve also started focusing more on newsletter growth (novel idea, I know) with ConvertKit’s Creator Network and doing some newsletter swaps. So far, so good.

I’ll share some numbers when I have more data (probably after three months or so).

It’s also been a few months since changing the name of my newsletter from #FtheHUSTLE to the SPARK – and it’s been fantastic. That was such an organic process (the name change), and it’s led to so much more. It all stemmed from asking my subscribers a question.

Never underestimate the power of asking questions, surveying your audience, and getting feedback.

Podcast & Content MarketingAs much as I’ve missed doing the podcast, I was also feeling a little burnt out.

I knew I needed some sort of pivot or change to the podcast, but I wasn’t sure what that looked like.

Now that I’m finally feeling settled, the weather has gotten warmer, and I’m physically feeling better (my back is SO much better, not to mention I’ve had my fair share of regular medical checkups, and all is well) – I feel a renewed sense of excitement and clarity in my business.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll continue saying it as long as I’m alive…

Clarity in business (and life) comes through the doing.

Clarity in business (and life) comes through the doing.

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Can we get clearer on what we want by thinking? Sure, but it’s hard to define that without actually putting some skin in the game and taking action.

Because the first few months back in the States were more challenging than I had expected, I knew my only priority was taking care of myself.

Which I did (and am doing).

With this new sense of enthusiasm, I’m 100% ready to breathe some new life into the podcast.

I’m going to continue with the same format (solo shows and interviews) but will be bringing on some new voices. I’ve connected with a lot of new people this past year and would like to use my platform to help them get their message out.

I’ll also include some shorter episodes (both the solo show and interviews are between 45 – an hour) that focus on one specific idea, concept, or strategy. I haven’t come up with a name for those shorter episodes, but they’ll definitely be named something unique.

I’m also testing a couple of new AI tools for podcasting (primarily for show format, time stamps, and social content), so I’ll share an update once I’ve spent some more time with those. I don’t know how much I’ll use them for the solo shows since I write these full episodes out first (who knows where this conversation would go otherwise), but they’ve got some amazing features for interviews.

I’m also planning to publish the video episodes on YouTube.

But more on that later.

I have a couple of interviews I recorded before I left Costa Rica, so I plan on getting those out first. I’m also going to run a giveaway to celebrate the relaunch of the podcast. The goal is to get that launched in July and run it for at least a month.

Business in GeneralThe past nine months have been a lot.

It was last August when I was diagnosed with a herniated disc. A month later, I had surgery in a foreign country, no less ( I have no doubt the surgery was done great, but the hospital felt a bit like it was stuck in the 1950s), and then there was the move back.

My income has definitely taken a hit, but that’s life.

I’ve been in this space long enough to know that we all have ups and downs, AND… you can also turn things around very quickly.

When you have a brand, an audience, and an email list, it doesn’t take much to get back on track (yes, that’s my not-so-subtle hint to make email marketing a priority).

I have some pretty ambitious goals that I’d like to attain by the end of 2023.

I know that with focus (which I have) and consistent action, these goals are achievable. Plus, I’ve thrown in a couple of exciting personal goals that have me more excited than I’ve been in years.

This is exactly what goals should do…

If you’re not excited about your goals, they might be too small.

Speaking of ambitious goals…

I want to recommend a book I recently listened to that lit something up within me – and was the catapult to this excitement, energy, and action.

“Be Your Future Self NOW” by Dr. Benjamn Hardy.

The funny thing about this book is that I got it last year and started listening to it on and off when I was in Costa Rica.

I don’t remember why I didn’t finish it (I spent way less time in the car there, which is where I tend to listen most to audiobooks), but I picked it up again on a recent road trip back from Lincoln City, Oregon (it was about a 10-hour drive, so fortunately, I was able to listen to the entire book in one day.

One of the exercises he has you do (which you should totally do) is writing a letter from your future self.

About a week after I got home, I sat down and wrote this letter to myself, dated Dec. 31st, 2023.

The letter started off with, “GIRL! You are not going to believe what we have achieved this year!”

That should give you an idea of the tone of the letter.

I hand-wrote the letter in a journal, and it just poured out of me (I typed it up later and am going to record it in my own voice so I can listen to it in the morning and at night).

And like anything else, one thing led to another, and now I’m listening to the book he co-wrote with Dan Sullivan (this is their 3rd book together), titled “10X is Easier Than 2X.”

Which isn’t about hustling and doing more. It’s doing more of the right thing and less of the same thing.

Pretty powerful stuff.

There’s a lot more I want to share with you that I’m working on behind-the-scenes, but it will have to wait until next time.

If you’ve been a long-time listener and are still here, thank you if you’re new to the podcast, Welcome.

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Kim Doyal 0:01

Welcome to F the hustle. I'm your host, Kim Doyal. You want a life that is meaningful and exciting. In this podcast, we're going to talk about launching and growing an online business that fits your lifestyle. After the hustle is all about doing good work, building real relationships, and most importantly, creating a business that supports where you want to live your life. You don't have to sacrifice the quality of your life today to create something that sets your soul on fire. And yes, that includes making a lot of money. So we'll be talking about selling, charging, what you're worth, and help earning more means helping more people. My goal is to help you find freedom and create a business on your turn. Hey, what up what up? I am super excited today. My guest needs no introduction, but I will introduce him. We're not going to do the typical rewind of tell us about your backstory, because he's been on the show a few times. My guess is my good friend Jason Resnick. Jason, thanks for being here today.

Jason Resnick 0:58

Yeah, thanks for having me, Kim. Um, I can talk nerdy about email all day long. So I'm happy to be here.

Kim Doyal 1:06

Yeah, and I always feel a little guilty when I'm like picking your brain on our other calls. I'm like, like, I should be paying for this. But I'm grateful for everything. So I have to explain to the listeners, viewers, why I asked you to do this, because it was kind of funny how this whole thing started. So for those of you who are not familiar, Jason and I ran an experiment last year, we have, we had a newsletter called Get deliberate, where every single issue of the newsletter was an experiment on growing your email list and adding subscribers and we did it from scratch with that brand. And so we kind of hit a point where it was like, I don't know, have we covered a lot, I think 40 Something issues of that. And so we put it on pause the contents amazing, we're going to repurpose that repackage it somehow at some point this year, but this is what happened. So we have we Jason and I both use ConvertKit. And by the way, Jason has nurture kit.com where he's, he is a ConvertKit, expert, duck, duck nurture. kit.co Sorry about that. And of course, res.com but and I'll have all the links in the show notes. So just stay focused on the show. So here's the story behind the evolution of this experiment and conversation that we're gonna have today is that so Jason and I both use ConvertKit. And then we use ConvertKit. For deliver it? Well, because of that we know ConvertKit sends you a weekly summary of sales and conversions that you've had with with your email marketing, once every week, because deliver it was linked to Jason's account and my app and my personal account, we each had it linked. So I was getting these emails, it's like, here your ConvertKit sales, and every week it was I don't know, do you mind me giving numbers through automations? Okay, all right, you know, 1200 $1,500 every single week, and I'm like, well, this isn't my shit. Excuse the language, but it was just like, What is he doing? Because, honestly, Jason, so I have a follow up sequence. And I offer something at the end of it through one, one lead magnet at the same time. There's so many other things that can happen. And it took me way too long, if I'm being brutally honest, to implement that. Because, you know, I just, there's always so much to do is how it feels. And I've had my account, I don't know how long at this point. I'm like, I need to go in and clean up and do this and whatnot. And then I get into everything is liquid, and then I want to do coats. Right? But you've totally simplified that. So for everybody. I just wanted to explain, like Jason lives, breathes, implements, just does all the things. He's not just talking to talk. And I witnessed it firsthand. So I'm like, Alright, this is a priority for me this year with with my personal brand. And of course with create it the content planner, and I use clay VO. So I've already committed to Jason to taking what he teaches me and implement it because it's really platform agnostic, correct. I hope I'm using agnostic correctly.

Jason Resnick 4:18

Yeah, no, I mean, it's 100%. I mean, because like I like I am a developer. And there was like, that's what I grew up with. And that's what I started my career as. And I learned a long time ago that it's just syntax, right? Like if you understand the methods, the theories, the process behind something, then it's just a matter of applying a language on top. So whether you're using ConvertKit, whether you're using Klaviyo, whether it's active campaign, as long as the functionality on that platform is there, the methods and the teachings that I talk about all the time and work just fine. You just have to figure out what buttons to push. That's all.

Kim Doyal 5:05

Well, and at this point, most of the email service providers use the same language, right tags, segments lists. I mean, there's, there's, for the most part of

Jason Resnick 5:16

maps, yes, or no matter of speaking this, I feel like there's like a 2.0. So, like, there, there's the A Weber's and the constant contacts. And, you know, those kinds of folks that are still very much there. They have a lot of customers, they do well, because it just serves that audience. Then there's MailChimp, which I guess maybe even a Weber a tiny bit with, they're kind of bridging the gap, but they're trying to like turn the Titanic, right. Like they just they were part of that first version, right?

Kim Doyal 5:54

Turn.

Jason Resnick 5:57

Yeah, I mean, that's, I mean, they, they start implementing tags, they start implementing audiences, but they're still very much on list based platform. And that's what version one is, it's any email subscriber is subscribed to a list that you have. And that list is tied to a form. So if you have three forms, you essentially have three lists, even if the same person exists on all of those three lists. So that's kind of how they segmented or bucketed people then version 2.0 came out with the active campaigns and drip and Infusionsoft later you know, I guess I should say confusion self as the first one. Yeah. Now, I mean, which is why they changed the name to keep I think

Kim Doyal 6:44

I'm pretty sure I probably well, yeah, I think Russell Brunson had way too much fun with that one, go ahead.

Jason Resnick 6:51

And they started the new trend where it was tags and they were very much tag driven. So it was no matter how many forms you have, you have 100 forms the same person opts into that full, all 100 forms. They only exist once in your platform so Infusionsoft has it. Active Campaign has it drip ConvertKit Klaviyo they're all carp part of that new new breed, I would say. And then there's, I call them the youngins, which are like the beehives and the sub stacks and so on and so forth who are are serving a need out there. They're just not as advanced as that, you know, like Infusionsoft Active Campaign and so on. So, you know, for me, there's definitely different buckets, but for the most part, you can throw a rock and hit an email marketing platform that has a tag based management system and that's really what you're looking for, especially with what you know, we're trying to do for our businesses as well as who I help my clients with. Yeah,

Kim Doyal 7:57

I have to tell you so you're using clay VO and for I think it's clay vo I don't know if it's clay vo or Clavijo. I'm going to keep saying clay vo only because I heard one of their people say it on the webinar. So you know it No, but it's kind of like a Zapier. Zapier, like with whatever wrap your

Jason Resnick 8:16

head they had to come out with like a post right? They will exactly like zappy

Kim Doyal 8:20

happier. Yeah, Zapier. That was it. So but it was interesting with Klaviyo. So I integrated it using WooCommerce. And you and I had talked about it, right? I thought about show us active campaigns, I did want something that was really targeted towards EECOM. And that would be easier to use. And so with clay vo it was interesting. So I integrated it. And then it was, I felt like it was even a step above Active Campaign in terms of look, I only have to do this integration, once everything else then happens with flows. So like I didn't have to integrate it with specific lists or forms or tags even it's like it's integrated, then it's all up to you. Based on that initial, opt in, purchase whatever happens, like just create the flow, just create the flow and the conditions. And that felt. And maybe that's exactly what we did with that campaign. I don't remember that. But I felt like every time we were doing something new, we'd go in and create a new starting point versus one starting point of a purchase or opt in. And then everything else magic happens after that point. Does that make sense?

Jason Resnick 9:32

Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah. It's a tool, right? And like, especially, like you meet, I am solo. I mean, your daughter helps. Right? Like, there's not enough time. Right? And did you everything, so things have to be easy, and if they're not, and they're complicated or seem complicated, then we're not going to use it. Right. And for me, email has always been that like, it took me a long Time, I mean, a long time to say, Yeah, you know what, I'm gonna start writing emails, I'm gonna do it once a week or whatever, right like way longer than it ever should have right now. But even then I didn't learn my lesson because I was working with clients at that point in time, like 2016 2017 is when I transitioned my business straight to fully email marketing and automation. And I had clients that email daily, like I saw the numbers, revenue numbers, subscriber numbers, the lack of unsubscribes, because a lot of people worry about that. And I didn't do that until October of 2020. Right? I went six times a week, you know, like, I don't know what it is, even though I'm in it every single day. There's still like, a mindset with it. Like, I don't want to upset the applecart Right. Like if I don't have an email list, so I can't do this, or whatever it is, right? Like, I don't want to make people upset in some way. Right. And so there's definitely a mindset with it. But what a phrase that I love is, Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. And this is a Leonardo da Vinci quote. And for me, that's, that's been a common thread throughout my career programming, email automation, and so on. Because it's the simple things that when you do them, well, you can easily scale and not have to worry about it. Right, like you said, just now I have the entry point. And I'm just going to kind of bucket people into the paths that they need to go. Yeah, right. And so, you know, that's, that's what I talk about all the time. Like, I've direct everybody to the same landing page, like for my newsletter go there. You know, it is what it is. I have lead magnets on my site and things like that, but still even a lead magnet, people still find them in the same same tunnel, so to speak. Yeah, yeah. But it's critical that I start to segment people based off of where they are, to know, like, Hey, this is what I can do to help. These are the kinds of emails that I'm gonna send them, and so on, and so forth. Right. And so, for me, I mean, that's why ConvertKit can do a lot of these things yet, what I've found is, the ConvertKit customer doesn't want to be an email, they don't want to, they don't mind writing the email, they don't mind putting the content out there. But they don't want to one mess things up, too, they don't want multiple emails showing up in somebody's inbox at the same time. They want a system that just works, and they don't have to think about it. And it drives results from and, you know, whether it's a one person show a small team, all of the same philosophies and methods apply. It's just really the content, the content, the segmentation pieces, and how you're going to put, you know, your marketing resources behind that to grow the list. So, you know, for me, it's fun, because I get to learn a lot about different businesses. And I've worked with everybody from like TV talent coaches, that, you know, help athletes transition from the field, to the broadcast booth, to healthcare providers, to, you know, course creators, professional creators, people that sell, you know, communities, things like that. All of it is the same 75% of it is the same that works. And it's just fun to, to, it's fun to watch it happen, right? Like

Kim Doyal 13:53

it is,

Jason Resnick 13:55

and how like, it's just, it's just, it's funny, when, specifically it's funny, when we write out email sequences, I'm like, This email is designed to do this and get this response from people. And clients give me a little pushback, they like they want to hedge their bet I'm like, just let it go out. Like that's what it's supposed to do. Like if it's supposed to anticipate and create replies in your inbox and things like that and get people to say a certain thing. Just let it go out and then it goes out and then within six hours a client comes back like that was amazing. How do you know that down the road a few times and know what it's supposed to do you know? It's just fun to watch that all unfold because it's all human behavior and for me that you know, that's that's the fun part of it.

Kim Doyal 14:42

That's what I got excited about it and I've said that so many times like this shit works like I did the daily emails. I started doing it because same thing where I just said this, I've been in this too long. I'm gonna figure out email marketing, right and I was very much of the mindset of I want to bug people. I don't want to this, I don't want to that. And nobody likes them subscribes. Now I will look at who wants subscribed based on when they got on my list. So I'm very curious now to look at the data. So I'll go in, here's an example, I had recently done a summit, which I'm going to publicly declare that I'm not going to participate ENEOS the rest of the year, like it's a poll for my time and energy, you know, and this was, I've done some and they've delivered great results. I'm also though thinking I'd much rather just run ads to be honest with some of this, or do it strictly through content when you look at your time, right, anyways, needless to say, so But I started looking at who was coming in, out in recent unsubscribes. And, you know, I had an import from Active Campaign like in 2017. So a lot of people will unsubscribe from that. And that was still WordPress check stuff back then. For it's been very recent, through, like a recent Summit. So they've literally only received like, a little bit of a welcome sequence, maybe a newsletter I'm like, so it's, it's that to me is valuable data, right. But the point being the daily emails, I needed to find my voice and figure out how to write right? And I feel like in many ways, I've gotten stuck at the very basic stuff with I feel super comfortable writing an email, I don't mind. And I actually expect replies. Now I get like, Why didn't anybody answer me? Like I usually get, and they tend to be the same people. But that's fine, whatever, you know, but it's also making sure to your point of thinking more from a psychological perspective. And I think that's where people can shift the mindset, right is when you when you look at it. So here's an example I was thinking is, so before we started recording, Jason, I were talking about price points of courses and whatnot. And, you know, in the internet marketing space, it's the sevens, right? 4790 cent, whatever. And like to us, it's like, oh, gosh, you know, but you know what I was thinking about Jason, and it popped in my head after we were saying that was, we don't question the fact that everything in the other the real world in real life is 90 fives. It's been like that forever, who said that 95 is any better, right? But there are these psychological things. And it's just that we're conditioned. Like, I love looking at how do I take a real life example, and then apply it. So this one I've used so many times, but it's kind of like checking out at the grocery store. You don't get mad that there's gum and candy and batteries. And sometimes it's like, oh, shit, I forgot. I need batteries. I don't know why I'm swearing so much today. But anyways, so Jason's like, what else is new? But yeah, that's it. But you know, so it's kind of, but anything that we don't know, is going to feel uncomfortable. So I think with email marketing, there is a certain level of you have to learn to be comfortable with the discomfort while you're learning how to do this, right? Because I think it's like, a huge piece of it is mindset. The rest of it is learnable.

Jason Resnick 18:06

Right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, what I've found is super helpful, is like you said, like, it is mindset, that if you know the path that you want the subscriber to take, and you draw that out, visually, especially within like, the first 30 days? What is the path? What is the message? What is the beliefs that they have that I know are wrong, but how do I make it such that they see it? Right? All of these things, if you know, the key points that which you want to get across to the subscriber within the first 30 days, it's super helpful to kind of just draw it out on a whiteboard or iPad, whatever the case is, if somebody comes in through this form, over the next five days, I want them to get these five emails talking about, you know, this, that and the other. Right, and you craft that out, then you start to see key conversion points, right, like, okay, the end of the welcome sequence, they got my first pitch sequence, they started to get my weekly broadcast emails, right, the ones that, you know, you talk about every week, hey, I'm launching this, I'm doing that right. There is a jarring point at which when somebody comes onto your list if you just drop them into that, and then hey, last week, I talked about this, how does that person feel? Well, I didn't see last week because I just joined yesterday, right? And so how do you transition in a way right? So but if you understand all the the stepping stones, so to speak at of that initial subscriber, you can make that super engaged for them, that it just builds the trust, right? And so and I know we're gonna get into it, but one of the things that I'm building right now is is an email course because it's that initial journey is where people really stumble upon, like, you get those talked about the beliefs, right? That, like, Hey, I can't sell too early, right, but then they stress out every quarter because they have this big launch that they want to do that list. Well, if you're launching every day, that big launch, you don't have to worry about right? Like, I too, was at fault of this, right? I fell victim to it. But once I put this initial pitch in place, and it makes sense for them to get the pitch, it's as good as, hey, here's my podcast, season eight, or here's my latest blog post on the right. Just because it's paid doesn't mean it's any less valuable or more valuable to them. It's just packaged differently, and let them decide whether or not it's it fits for them. Right. So that's, that, for me was a big eye opening change. Because I mean, even if you don't have a product, you can pitch in an affiliate product, right, a small sequence around that. I did that for a long time. Because well, I you know, I know my ideal client for...

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Goodbye, Costa Rica.For now.

I’ve been pondering this decision for a while now, even though I said I would stay for two more years at the end of my 1-year lease last year.

Many factors have contributed to my decision to move back to the states, but the biggest one is family.

My Dad is 78, and while he’s already had some health issues, they seem to be compounding or worsening. Most people who know him would probably look at him and not think twice. Still, after spending so much time with him over the holidays (I hadn’t seen him for a year in person – he was going to come to Costa Rica, and I got Covid the day he was to fly down), I’ve been reminded that time is precious.

I never saw my Mom age since her passing at 71 was unexpected. Even though I watched all four grandparents age, it’s an entirely different feeling when it’s your parent.

Maybe because, secretly, it means I’m aging too.

I noticed a significant slowing down with my Dad, which I’m sure is partly due to age and health concerns. My aunt also had some health challenges this year (my Mom’s younger sister, who I’m incredibly close to), and I want to be closer.

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Other factors that contributed to saying Goodbye, Costa RicaI’ve had my own fair share of challenges this year (don’t we all), and being in a foreign country steps things up a bit.

Having to take my dog in for surgery on both back knees – and then a second time, because something happened to one of the knees, was a little traumatic (I felt like I’d failed her)- then to have surgery on my back?

It was a lot in a short period of time.

I also had visitors every month through August, except for February, and while I wouldn’t trade it for anything (I also had some incredible experiences), it was a little hard to start and stop so much (with work).

Having just launched “Create It,” I’m pretty head down with my business right now (the new content planner). I think it will be easier to manage things in the states than here. This might sound a little strange since it’s a digital business, but here are a few reasons why:

• Shipping: we’re shipping the initial orders and will hopefully switch to a distribution service by the second quarter, but we’ll be the shipping department (my daughter and me).
• Events: with the world opened up. I’d like to get back to networking and traveling to events. I’m looking at joining an e-commerce mastermind to scale the new brand, and there are quarterly events, which are much easier to get to from the states.

Another factor that I kind of can’t believe I’m sharing here (although why not? I share everything else, and knowing me, I’ve probably mentioned it in another podcast) is the dating scene.

It’s pretty non-existent.

I’ve shared before that the area I live in, while amazing, feels more or less like it’s made up of retirees and families (because of the proximity to the international schools).

I’ve had my fair share of younger Tico’s ask me out (when I was getting out and about more, haven’t done a whole lot of that over the last 4+ months with my back), but that’s not my jam (as flattering as it may have been haha).

When I had started thinking about moving back to the states, I had originally been thinking of Oregon or Washington, so I was still close enough to drive to see family.

Then it seemed silly to move back to be closer to family and not actually be close (I know, I’m a genius). So it’s back to Northern California, I go. I’ll land at my Dad’s for a few months while I scout different areas, but I won’t be in the Bay Area proper (I have some friends there still, but all my family has moved out of the Bay Area).

I don’t think I could handle the traffic, the people, the constant activity…

I have definitely acclimated to a slower pace of life in Costa Rica and want to keep it that way.

I’m currently thinking of a little city, Auburn, above Sacramento and below Lake Tahoe. There are a handful of small cities around Auburn as well that I’ll check out. I have a lifelong friend in Auburn, and it’s kind of a mix between the country and the mountains.

After being in a condo, I’m ready for space again (and a yard for the dogs where all I have to do is open the door and let them go!).

I’m going to watch the real estate market so that I will rent for a while, but ultimately, I would like to find a place to buy in the next year.

Does California cost more?

You bet.

But to be near people I love?

Totally worth it (and honestly, anywhere I’d want to live in Oregon or Washington, I wouldn’t be saving that much).

I’ve got one month left (I gave my notice to my landlord on January 1st). Basically, all I need to do is sell everything I can (my car and some other big things I’ve purchased or brought down), pack my clothes, personal belongings, and computer, and get the dogs ready (trip to the vet to see what’s required for entry back into the states) and book my flight.

I have no doubt that the month will go fast.

A friend is coming for a visit on the 13th (the one who lives in Auburn) and offered to take a couple of extra suitcases back with her, so that helps quite a bit.

All I plan to do with my last month here is spend as much time with my friends as possible and make frequent beach trips. I want to savor every moment.

I’ll definitely be back (especially since I have friends to visit and can stay with), so it’s just a “Goodbye for now.”

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What I’ve learned from my time in Costa Rica

More than anything, I’ve learned a lot about myself.

I am incredibly proud of myself for having done this. I literally moved to a country I’d never visited and made the most of it.

At times I questioned whether or not I was seeing enough of the country… and my therapist reminded me that this experience didn’t need to be anything other than what it was for me.

Much of that came from a former friend who constantly told me I needed to get out and do more, but I don’t “need” to do anything other than what I wanted to do.

I’m a grown-ass woman, and I do what I want! (I had a poster that said that – I think I need to buy another one when I’m back).

I’m writing an entire post on my experience in Costa Rica and how it completely changed my life. Who I am, how I move through the world, what I want, and my perspective on so many things.

Stay tuned for that, but now I want to talk about 2023.

Hello 2023Since I shared a bit about what I went through in 2022, I’m not going to repeat much of it here other than how it relates to what I’m doing moving forward.

As much as I love doing year-in-review posts, I’m feeling the pull to focus on moving forward (and it was a great year).

After my two-week trip to California for Christmas, I’m looking forward to being back and settled and then next Christmas being in my own space while also getting to spend the holidays with family.

Since moving to Costa Rica, the only travel I’ve done is back to California for visits – so I’m really looking forward to some other trips and experiences this year.

Planning for 2023

I love planning (since I have a Content Planner business), but I haven’t had much chance to take a minute and do any business planning for 2023.

And that’s O.K.

I’m not behind, and it doesn’t mean anything is wrong, and it will happen as it’s supposed to.

I’ve started a mind map for this brand (using MindNode for Mac, which I’m kind of falling in love with), and have goals for Create It (which I created when I did the content plan for the sample planner), but the planning I’m talking about is the big picture planning, which always starts with how I want my life to feel.

Life Plans for 2023

• Find my new spot within 3-5 months of being back in California. I’ll land at my Dad’s and start checking out different areas. As he calls it, start “shopping” for where to live. Having lived in Northern California all of my life (up until 2020), I’m pretty familiar with the area I’m looking for but haven’t done it from the perspective of living there.
• Start dating! EEEK! I’ll probably wait until I get settled in my own place, but I’m actually looking forward to this.
• Spend more time with family. I want to hang out with my aunt more, go down to visit my daughter in LA, and spend more time with my siblings and my nieces and nephews (since I’m living with my Dad for a bit, we’ll get plenty of quality time together).
• More time with friends! Some of my closest friends are from high school (and even elementary). The older I get, the more I cherish time with my friends. I’ve always prioritized my friendships, but they feel deeper and richer as I get older. I’ll also spend time with dear friends I’ve only connected with online in person… we’re already planning a weekend on the Oregon coast together!
• More time for hobbies! I am SO excited to return to my watercolors, pens, drawing, etc. All of my art supplies are in storage… but not for long!

Interesting that as I look at that list, everything I’ve listed is about time.

And primarily, relationships.

It’s lovely.

I also think this is the first time I’ve put my life plans first!

Usually, I start with business… interesting.

Business Plans for 2023

Here we GOOOOOO!!!!!

As excited as I am, there’s a level of calm confidence I feel as I look at the year ahead.

After 15 years in this online space, there’s a knowing about what needs to be done, and I’m doing it.

Let’s look at both brands (KimDoyal & Create It).

KimDoyal.com

Cleaning, clarity, and consistency are my priorities.

• Cleaning: my site needs a good amount of cleaning up. That means cleaning up content, broken links, shortcodes in posts missing images from older posts, etc.
• This also means a new website. The goal for completion of the new site is the end of the first quarter. I’m also going to move all of my courses into Circle. I’m using Circle for Create It, and it makes more sense to use one platform for all courses on both brands (they’ll be separate accounts).
• Clarity: As someone who has fallen in love with writing, I need to be way clearer about who I am and what I do. Right now, it’s kind of a mystery (a little bit of this, a little bit of that). My focus is on email marketing, newsletters, and #FtheHUSTLE. People love #FtheHUSTLE, but it’s also a bit of “I get it! What a great name. Now, what is it?
• Consistency: I have to hire help—end of story. The only way I can create and produce what I want is to have help with the things I don’t enjoy doing or want to do (podcast editing, video editing, reposting my newsletter as blog posts, and social media). The one thing I’ve been very consistent on is the newsletter, but that’s about it. My poor podcast has been neglected for too long.

Within those themes are additional elements, but I’m not going to get into the weeds with them.

In terms of content for 2023, I want to revamp my YouTube channel and focus on written content that I can repurpose (long-form blog posts, podcasts, and the newsletter).

What that looks like in terms of social content, I’m not exactly sure, but I want the majority of what I share socially to come from organic content I’ve published on my site first.

I’m working on new keywords and a pillar content strategy.

My intention isn’t to produce “tons” of content… it’s to produce quality content that I can get more leverage from. In the Create It Content Planner, I’ve created a strategy focusing on three different types of focus content: Evergreen, Topical, and Connection.

My intention isn’t to produce “tons of content”… it’s to produce quality content that I can creates more leverage. @kimdoyal

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I’ll ensure my content for KimDoyal always falls under those three buckets.

Email list growth: add 10k subscribers to my email list.

I’ll do this organically and with a paid traffic strategy.

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Now let’s look at Create ItWhew! It has been a whirlwind getting that up and launched.

The physical planners are shipping to us, and then we’ll ship them out (and by us, I mean my daughter, who will ship the initial presale planners). After looking at the cost of shipping the planners from Atlanta to California, I think it might just make more sense to go with a distribution center for the next print run.

I have REALLY big plans for this brand!

The first thing I’m going to do is hire a traffic company. I’ve already had a call with the agency I’m going to use (female owned), and they’ve been running ads for another planner brand for THREE years (not a competitor), and she loves this space.

We’ll start with Facebook and Instagram and will add YouTube and Google next.

I learned a lot with the first planner and have already created a higher cart value from what I learned the first time.

I know I can grow this much faster (again, I learned a lot the first time).

I don’t want to divulge too much here regarding additional products, but they’re coming! I have a second planner I’d like to release by the end of Q2, but I won’t do that until we have the paid traffic, funnels, and content running (with my tiny effective team).

I will also join an e-commerce mastermind run by my friend Trey Lewellen. I initially thought I’d sign up in January, but I told him it would be February instead once I was back in California and settled. He’s a master at e-commerce, and I know he can show me how to scale this quickly, source other products, and really grow this.

Build my Tiny Effective Team

I’ve talked about this a bit before, but that term is from Jenny Blake’s book “Free Time.”

I’m willing to do what it takes to get this going (I already have), but I do NOT want to be so “in the weeds” with the day-to-day (creating content, social media, tech mgmt, etc.).

I have a few people in place already.

Next will be a VA/project mgr/right-hand person (does that exist in one person? initially, it might have to), then social media, and more content creators (my daughter is knocking it out of the park with our Creator’s Weekly newsletter!).

Whew.

Right now, the priority is simply getting the main website up. The pages are done. It’s just down to me editing copy and adding product descriptions, images, etc.

Then pulling the trigger.

I mentioned in the episode that I started writing this post a few weeks ago (finally having recorded it in the 4th week of January).

A few things have changed:

• I extended my stay in Costa Rica by nine days
• I’m going to use something else for courses, but I think I might keep Circle for the community piece (i haven’t decided)
• I will start running ads at the end of February or early March (so I’ve had time to settle in California). The same is true with the mastermind I want to join, but both are happening.

I’ve got some interviews I’ve already recorded that I’ll be publishing over the next few weeks and will be back with a solo show and updates after that.

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This isn’t my official year-in-review podcast episode (I’ll record that in January), but I’m starting to look ahead at what I want for 2023.

Both business and life.

We’re about to enter December (or, depending on when you’re listening to this, we’re already there), and I head back to California in a few weeks.

The new planner, Create It, is done and off to the printer, so I can catch my breath for a minute and regroup.

I’ve worked almost every day since the week off after my back surgery. Still, now that I’m starting to feel a lot better physically, my mental energy has shifted as well (nothing like being resistant to what is… although I’ve stopped saying my back is taking longer than I’d like. My only answer now is that my back feels better and better every day).

Not that I could do much else…

It’s been raining almost every day (although, as I write this, there are bright blue skies outside… I’m hoping they stick around so I can take the dogs to the beach this afternoon).

Let’s get into today’s episode…

Launching a New CompanyI went into a lot of detail in the last episode that announced Create It, about the planner itself (as well as my decision to do this).

I want to go a little deeper about my vision for Create It Company, why I decided to start another company separate from my personal brand, and how I see them fitting together.

My first “real” entrepreneurial endeavor was the scrapbook store I opened with a business partner back in 1998. This was at the beginning of the scrapbooking craze, and I had just been laid off from my district manager position.

Even though I didn’t necessarily have the capital to do it, I would have opened another store (and can I say amen that we didn’t). I had BIG visions for that store (and we could have killed it online had I known what I know now

… hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it?).

My business partner didn’t.

It was more of a hobby for her, whereas I needed it to bring in an income.

In many ways creating a physical content planner brings me full circle. Even at the Scrapbook store, I taught classes… so much of what I do today has been a part of my journey long before coming online.

I’d like to see how far I can take Create It.

Not just the planner, but the company.

Which is why I needed to do this on my own.

I’ve been fortunate to partner with amazingly talented people, but any time you bring on a partner, you’re giving up control.

And as crazy as I make myself, I’m much more willing to take risks, even when I have no idea how it will happen.

The idea of giving up on myself feels like a death sentence.

I have zero intentions of “retiring”… in fact, I see myself creating more as I get older.

One of my goals with Create It Company is to scale it to the point where it doesn’t need me. And who knows, maybe even sell it for a nice exit, but that’s getting ahead of myself.

Plans for the Company

In addition to hiring people (again, I went into much more detail about this in the last podcast episode), we have many more products planned for the brand.

I don’t want to give them away too much here, but here are the categories of products we’re looking at:

• More planners (beyond the content planner)
• Stickers (physical & digital)
• Pens
• Card decks
• Lots of training courses (with guest experts)
• Monthly content prompts and template subscription
• Consulting on planner creation and publication (helping other people produce planners)

To do this, I will need a little help and guidance in the e-commerce space, which is where my friend Trey Lewellen comes in.

Trey is a master at e-commerce.

So I’m looking at joining his mastermind in January.

Obviously, organic content and social media will be a big part of our growth strategy, but so will paid...

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Create It – The Content Planner is LIVE!BUT… before we get into that, it’s been a hot minute since I posted a podcast episode, and I want to share some updates with you.

I have a couple of interviews in the can and another solo show to wrap up, but this had to come first.

I had my back surgery on October 1st (in Costa Rica), and my dog, who had a second surgery on one of her legs, came home the week before my surgery (after being at the vet for 5 weeks!).

Having surgery in another country was an interesting experience, to say the least. I’m thinking of writing an article on Medium about the experience, but we’ll see if I get around to that. I trusted the neurosurgeon completely and have no doubt the surgery was done well.

The hospital stay (only one night) was another experience altogether. Not to mention there were more or less zero postop instructions or guidelines unless I asked.

Fortunately, someone on my list, shoutout to Alex Smith of Fluid Junction, who had a similar surgery and became my go-to with questions and postop care. One of my neighbors is also a nurse who worked for a neurosurgeon for years in the states, so she’s been a godsend too.

All that being said, I’m on the road to recovery.

Everything I read said about six weeks. You’d start to feel better (closer to normal), which was also true for me. I still limp a bit later in the day, my back gets sore, and I can feel pretty tired by late afternoon, but I’ll take it. I’m not in any pain, and things are progressing nicely.

The bonus to all of this was that my daughter came down for the week after my surgery to help out, so I got some extra time with her (and didn’t have to wait until Christmas to see her).

I’ve more or less been hanging out in my place, working, resting, and recuperating for the last 6 weeks. I go out to get groceries and a meal with friends here and there, but it’s actually been pretty lovely being able to focus (not to mention it’s been raining most of the last 6 weeks).

Now that that’s out of the way let’s jump into Create it – The Content Planner.If you haven’t heard, Jodi and I shut down the Content Creators Planner a couple of months ago. I shared a podcast episode about our decision to do so. You can listen to “Time for A New Chapter” here.

It was during the closing of that business that I started to feel the pull to give it another go.

We didn’t shut it down because it wasn’t a good business, but we didn’t have the time for it as a team. Jodi has a successful full-time agency and is the primary person responsible for her aging parents. She has a lot on her plate.

Initially, I thought I would move on and focus on #FtheHUSTLE. Not just the newsletter but the business and life framework.

But that niggly feeling of “what if” wouldn’t go away.

What if I did a new planner?

Started a new company?

And did more with than one type of planner?

The wheels started turning, and I knew that this was what I was supposed to do.

Having successfully done this once, albeit, with a business partner, I knew I could do this again, but I had that much more knowledge and understanding of running an e-commerce business.

I could take all the lessons, mistakes, challenges, and wins and do things differently.

The one thing I knew had to be different this time was that I had to have a team.

It can be challenging when you can do just about everything you need in your business. Between the two of us, Jodi and I had everything...

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In this episode, I want to challenge you to start thinking about More Creating, Less Producing.Let me back up a little bit and explain where this came from (and yes, I’ll probably be creating a framework for this). I came up with the term #FtheHUSTLE over six years ago. At the time there were so many people preaching about hustle and grind it started getting on my nerves. It made me feel like no matter what I did, it wasn’t enough. And I’m a doer. I take action, I like being productive and seeing results from my efforts. All that being said, I didn’t need to be bombarded with the message that I needed to do MORE or that I wasn’t serious about my business because I wasn’t working 24/7. And can we just zip it about binge-watching TV already? Do whatever works for you to refuel and recharge. I didn’t do anything with https://kimdoyal.com/fthehustle (#FtheHUSTLE) until almost two years ago when I saw the logo in a dropbox folder and knew instantly that it was going to be the name of the newsletter (I had no idea at the time I would use it for my podcast as well). Fast forward to today, and I’m much clearer on what #FtheHUSTLE is (more on that later…and surprise, I’ve met with a book coach to start outlining an #FtheHUSTLE book! I started doing it with AI last year, and it didn’t feel right. I want to write every word of this book).

FtheHUSTLE is subjective.

Meaning it gets to be whatever it needs to be for YOU. Whether it’s a shorter work week, limiting calls, more vacation time, not selling a product or service the way everyone else is telling you it needs to be done, choosing not to use social media or hiring someone to clean your house. It can be business or personal, or better yet both. It’s about creating a life that allows you to be and do whatever it is you want. This brings me to more creating, less producing. I’m going to back into this because it will be helpful to hear how I’m focused on creating in a way that isn’t necessarily obvious. Align, Design, AssignFirst off, Align, Design, Assign is from an amazing book I’m reading called https://www.amazon.com/Free-Time-Lose-Busywork-Business-ebook/dp/B09LBGDWF6/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1663687577&sr=8-1 (“free time” by Jenny Blake.) HOLY MOLY, I love this book. Recently I shared that I got the updated version of https://www.amazon.com/Clockwork-Revised-Expanded-Design-Business-ebook/dp/B09HFW3NG8/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1663687606&sr=8-1 (Mike Michalowicz’s “Clockwork” )because I want to remove myself from the aspects of my business that aren’t the best use of my time. I’m also launching a new company (you’ll hear about that in the next month, I promise) and want to make sure it’s set up in a way that isn’t reliant on me as the brand’s voice. I will 100% be part of the brand in terms of part of the company (and obviously, using what I’ve created to support the launch), but I will not be the primary content creator. In fact, I’m hoping that within the first 6 months, we have a tiny, effective team (also from free time). Back to Assign, Design, Align. What hit me with both of these books and the work I’m doing behind the scenes for the new company (the naming took a lot of work, now I’ve moved on to the messaging and voice of the brand while having hired a graphic design company to work on the logo) is how I’ve had to slow down to be able to build something phenomenal. I’m going to share a few bullet points from the “Align” part of the book that resonated so deeply within me. Align is all about: Your values, your energy, your strengths Get quite enough to let the ideas bubble up Set purposeful intentions There’s a difference between lower case hard work and upper case HARD WORK (big difference in how you feel just reading that, right?) How you build is as important as what you create

That last one is EVERYTHING. “How you build is as important as what you create.”...

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I am all kinds of excited today. It’s been a challenging few weeks with everything going on with my back (and if you missed that, you can read/listen to what’s going on in the https://kimdoyal.com/whats-coming-my-new-non-negotiables-fth-100/ (last podcast episode)). I did my border run to Nicaragua, which went really smoothly, but man was I exhausted afterward. Fortunately, I was smart and planned to take care of myself the day after. I didn’t have any calls and allowed myself to go with the flow. Which pretty much meant working at my desk as long as possible and then moving to my bed- regardless of the time of day. I brought a cooler with my ice packs for the journey, which made all the difference in the world. Now I’m set for another 90-days. Which is so close to Christmas, but I’ll still have to do one more border run before I go to California in early December. I will apply for Costa Rica’s digital nomad visa after the holidays. The digital nomad visa will allow me to stay in the country for a year without border runs, open a bank account here (bye-bye international fees!), get a driver’s license, and be a part of the national health care system here (called Caja). I’ll pay into Caja, but I’m happy to do so. Now that all that is out of the way, I can focus on business again. I have 3 weeks until my back surgery, and it’s game on! There’s something about knowing you have a ‘sprint’ ahead of you with an end date (even if it’s just for a week) that makes it much more manageable to stay focused. Now that you’re all caught up let’s get into Shutting the Door on Self-Doubt.Shutting the door on self-doubt came up on a https://kimdoyal.com/why-i-still-talk-to-my-therapist-18-years-later-and-the-impact-on-my-business-fth-088/ (call with my therapis)t this morning (I’ve jokingly said that I will have to pay her royalties at some point  ). We were talking about a new project I’m working on, and I was sharing my challenges with naming it. If you’ve ever been stuck on naming something, you know what I mean (and if you haven’t been stuck, can you share your secret with me?). I had picked a name (or so I thought) for my new project, and two of my dear friends in this space whom I completely trust asked me if that name was right. The whole thing came about because I had hired a couple of people to have logos made. Nothing felt right. https://kimdoyal.com/?p=129207&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=129214#cb8f20a078 (It’s time to #FtheHUSTLE! Sign up here!) Instead of trying to figure it out with the existing name, my friends asked if I could use a different name. Holy lightbulb moment!!!  I solved this (and will share the name and what it is) within the next month, but I returned to a book I read years ago when I wanted to name something else. The book is called https://www.amazon.com/Hello-My-Name-Awesome-Create-ebook/dp/B07V6MFHRH/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1663013581&sr=8-1 (“Hello, My Name is Awesome” by Alexandra Watkins.) Side note: Go to her website for some before and after name makeovers her company has done. Her website is “Eat My Words,” and I LOVE the tagline on her site: “Your brand name shouldn’t look like someone got drunk and played Scrabble.”  I highly recommend the book. It’s pretty short (about 128 pages). She gives many examples of companies she’s worked with, brands needing help, and then very specific exercises for coming up with your name. And yes, she “names names.” She has something she calls the ‘Smile & Scratch’ test. I’m going to share those here with you (in hopes that it inspires you to get the book for yourself and do the exercises). Ready? The “Smile & Scratch” test by Alexandra Watkins: Here are the 5 qualities of a super sticky name (this is the smile test): Suggestive: it evokes something about your brand. Memorable: Makes an association with the familiar. Imagery: Aids memory through...

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100 Episodes! Technically, it’s 277 episodes if we count the 177 episodes as The WordPress Chick. I thought it was a lot more, but there have been some times over the year when the podcast went on sabbatical, and that’s O.K. What matters is that I get back to it. So here we are, officially at episode 100, and it’s GAME ON! Before I get into what’s coming and my new non-negotiables, I need to bring you up to speed with the last few weeks. Life was a little bit of a shit showOne of my dogs needed knee surgery (on both back knees), so I had that done the first week in July. She didn’t heal correctly because she pulled something out that they had done, probably just from moving incorrectly or getting off the couch (I was trying to lift her everywhere also). So, after taking her back to the vet twice (they didn’t do x-rays the first time), it was determined that she’d need surgery again on one knee. Fortunately, they didn’t charge me for the second surgery but wanted to keep her at the vet (she’s still there at the time of this writing, which is 2.5 weeks later) so they could do physiotherapy with her to make sure she healed. I’ve messaged them and am waiting for them to get back to me. The day I dropped her off in Liberia (about an hour away), I started feeling like I was getting sick. Sure enough, I had a heavy summer cold, congestion, cough, and fever (tested negative for Covid twice). I had a close friend’s niece come to stay with me a during that time (I said it was fine as long as she did her own thing and didn’t mind being here while I was sick), which turned out to be great because she made a couple of pharmacy runs for me. The day I was taking her back to the airport, I went to get in my car and could barely walk. How I managed to drive her, there is beyond me. I was in excruciating pain (I’ve had two kids and would take childbirth over that pain all day long). I had to stop my car 4 times on the way home to lay down in the back seat to get some reprieve. I got a hold of a great massage therapist and asked if she had any time that day because I thought it was sciatica. In the meantime, a friend brought me a muscle relaxant and some pain meds from the pharmacy during my massage (she knows the massage therapist too). I was sobbing I was in so much pain during the massage. I took the pain meds immediately, which did nothing. I called my friend and said I needed to go to the doctor, so she & another friend’s husband took me directly to the emergency in Liberia. After a CT scan and a couple more rounds of pain meds (it took forever to get some relief), it turns out I have a herniated disc pressing against my spine, compressing the nerves. Last week my same friend (who truly is an angel) took me to San Jose (my first trip there – it’s over 4 hours away) for an MRI. We stayed overnight (which was fun. We found an Outback Steakhouse – an American chain – and even a Starbucks! I got a Starbucks on the way out, but actually prefer Costa Rican coffee!). We left San Jose the next day and went straight to Liberia to consult with the neurosurgeon for the results of the MRI. He said I absolutely need surgery. I had been doing a bit of research and reading before my MRI (which, holy hell, I’m way more claustrophobic than I thought!) and was determined to heal myself naturally. Until I saw the MRI image. I haven’t decided yet, but I am leaning towards having the surgery. The next big decision is whether to have the surgery here or back in the states. I don’t have insurance here (and if I sign up now it won’t be covered because this is a pre-existing condition), or to sign up for medical back in the states and get the surgery later. It really just depends on whether or not I can deal with how I feel right now for a couple more months (insurance in the states won’t go into effect until Nov. if I sign up now. It’s $16k cash if I do it...

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Kim Doyal 0:01 Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome to another episode of F hustle with Kim Doyal. I, of course, I'm your host Doyal. And I'm just doing a little preview clip for today's show because I jumped right into it saying, We haven't you know, we haven't done anything in a long time. And it was specifically referring to today's episode, which was a conversation plan conversation between myself and Joe Hirsch, my co founder of the content creators plan. So I thought I would just do a little preview clip here. So it makes a little bit more sense. When you listen to this. We did record this on video, which will be up on YouTube. And we'll be sharing in the content creators, Facebook group, and anywhere else, that seems like a great place to share it. So that being said, kind of big announcement to make. So enjoy the episode. Welcome to F the hustle. I'm your host, Kim Doyal. You want a life that is meaningful and exciting. In this podcast, we're going to talk about launching and growing an online business that meets your lifestyle. F the hustle is all about doing good work, building real relationships, and most importantly, creating a business that supports how you want to live your life. You don't have to sacrifice the quality of your life today to create something that sets your soul on fire. And yes, that includes making a lot of money. So we'll be talking about selling, charging, what you're worth, and help earning more means helping more people. My goal is to help you find freedom and create a business on your terms. Hey, what's going on? Everybody? Long time, no talk? No, see, we haven't done anything in video in a long time. So we've got a big announcement today. Of course, we are the founders of the content creators planner. I'm Kim Doyal. And of course, my cohort is God earth. Well played not passed off very well. But we're, we're excited we do have a big announcement. And I'm going to kind of pass this over to Jodi to start with the announcement. And we've got a lot to share with you. So stay for the whole video. But we do have an announcement to Jodi Hersh 2:06 make. Yeah, so the big exciting announcement is that, like all good things, CCP is coming to an end CCP being content creators planner. It's a mouthful for us. So we always call it CCP. And while we love the product, and we have loved working with everybody and helping everybody with through content creators planner, we're finding that we're both just way more focused on and excited about other things. And we're really doing a disservice to CCP, and to our audience. So we thought that we'd share a little bit with you about kind of how we got here, some of our favorite moments and highlights and things that we've learned along the way. And a little bit about what we're each going to be doing moving forward and what all of this means for you guys than our customers. Kim Doyal 3:06 And first and foremost, of course, we want to thank you all for being on this journey with us. And just so you guys know, Jodi and I love each other life is good. This is not some weird, like, oh, you know, but we're not breaking up. We're still we're still very good friends. And, you know, confidants and counsel to each other about business. So I want to do that. But a huge thank you. It's been such a fun, amazing journey. No regrets. It's, it's been wild, you know, starting something and launching something here before the world went upside down. But let's go God has prepared some really great kind of questions and take away so we're gonna jump in and say that, but again, thank you so much for being on this journey with us. So let's, let's get into your little structured thing you got to do there. I love it.

Jodi Hersh 3:57 Well, why don't we do like a quick sort of like, timeline of what what brought us to here. So back in the summer of 2018 It's crazy. I was literally on a cruise. I've been on one cruise in my entire life. And I was on the cruise...

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Kim Doyal 0:01 Welcome to F the hustle. I'm your host, Kim Doyal. You want a life that is meaningful and exciting. In this podcast, we're going to talk about launching and growing an online business that fits your lifestyle. F the hustle is all about doing good work, building real relationships, and most importantly, creating a business that supports how you want to live your life. You don't have to sacrifice the quality of your life today to create something that sets your soul on fire. And yes, that includes making a lot of money. So we'll be talking about selling, charging, what you're worth, and how earning more means helping more people. My goal is to help you find freedom and create a business on your terms. Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome back to another episode of EFF the hustle with Kim Doyal. I am your host, Kim Doyal. I'm really excited today because I swear to God, come on. I feel like my good friend come on. And we've known each other like two months or something. But this I feel like it's been a long time coming, but it hasn't we met a few months ago. My guest is C'mon Chung. Did I say your name correctly? Unknown Speaker 1:04 That's correct. Very good.

Kim Doyal 1:06 Okay, I was like, you know, it's funny, I have a tent, I do this. And I'm like, Kim, you need to clarify this before you actually get on the interview. But anyway, Kibana and I connected through Twitter. And I just kind of fell in love with his content and what he was doing. I signed up for his free email course, which he's going to talk about everything he's doing. And one of the best things that I just love this is in his follow up sequence. He said, hit reply, and tell me, he said I reply to every email. And he did. And I just thought, this is friggin brilliant. I shared what he was doing. It was it was just a real fun engagement. And so come on. Thank you for being here today.

Unknown Speaker 1:45 Yeah, thank you, Kim, for having me here. Seriously, I reply to 100% of my email. But sometimes like seven days, late 14 days late, like today, I was replying emails 14 days late. But late is better than never showing up. Right. So that's my, that's my way of doing things.

Kim Doyal 2:04 Oh, absolutely. And you know, it's funny simply, I obviously love email. I do so much with email. I still it's kind of my almost a preferred choice of communication. But I like to get into conversations with people. I think it's, it's fantastic. So all right. We're gonna talk about everything. I love starting with the backstory. And you do this full time now you're a full time creator, and I should we should clarify for people. So our time zones are a little bit off. It's eight o'clock in Costa Rica. Where are you? And what time is it for you right now?

Unknown Speaker 2:33 Well, I am based in Hong Kong is 10pm over here. But if you ask me, I am living in my computer right now. Because most of my friends are actually online, I just feel more connected to people like you, who were doing similar things where we're passionate about what we do, and it's hard to find it locally, honestly.

Kim Doyal 2:56 Oh, you know, it's crazy. I was I'm from Northern California, San Francisco Bay Area, and I was out in the suburbs. So it was very, it felt very difficult for a long time. Like nobody gets what I do. Nobody understands.

Unknown Speaker 3:09 I guess I feel the same way.

Kim Doyal 3:12 Yeah, absolutely. And I'm a big believer online friends are friends. So how long? I'd love to hear your backstory, like I said, what got you into doing this? You know, a lot of people, you know, maybe it's just a desire or quit a job, whatever. But how did you start your online journey? What were you doing before?

Unknown Speaker 3:30 So you know, the kind of life changing point for that is 20 months ago, I felt like a nobody. And I will tell you why. Because I have been in startups all my career for nine

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I first came up with the hashtag #JustShowUP about ten years ago. Learning what https://kimdoyal.com/what-it-means-to-just-show-up-kds053/ (Just ShowUP )means at each stage of your journey will look different.I know mine has. My ego tells me it’s taken too long, my higher self tells me it’s taken exactly as long as it’s supposed to take. Talk about freedom. Years ago, when I was in a mastermind, a woman was just about done writing a book when her computer crashed. She didn’t have a backup of her book. Her response? “It was supposed to happen. How do I know it was supposed to happen? Because it did.” HOLY MOLY. That’s a level of zen I hope to achieve (but I can guarantee you my initial reaction would have been as far from zen as you could imagine… and hopefully, I will always have a backup). I’m a little in awe that after all this time doing this. I’ve stepped into something that has me as nervous and excited as I was the day I started. Don’t get me wrong, plenty of projects over the last 14+ years have kept me excited and motivated, but this is more than a project. It’s a calling. A calling to Just ShowUP in a WHOLE new way.

Creating a Movement

When I first came up with https://kimdoyal.com/fthehustle (FtheHUSTLE), it was out of frustration. Now it’s a passion and an obsession. Hustle and grind were being glorified by every male entrepreneur I was following. At the time, I felt like this was how I was supposed to build a business. Then it hit me… Most of the men preaching this had partners at home taking care of everything else in their life, or they were twenty-somethings with no responsibility to anyone but themselves. Piss off. At the time, I felt super defensive. I was a widowed mother with two young kids at home. I literally could not work harder than I was working. I was constantly feeling like I had to justify what I was or wasn’t doing. It was exhausting. Not to mention, I wanted a quality of life too. I’m all about doing the work. Focusing on mastery, shipping, hitting publish, and showing up. But fuck me if I’m going to do it the way anyone else preaches or expects anymore. In many ways, the toxic mentality of hustle and grind has become a new version of bullshit corporate America expects from you. But guess what? This is worse. Because YOU’VE created it. You set out to create something you love that would give you freedom and quality of life. But instead, you’ve created something that makes you question what you’re doing. At the same time, realizing that you’ve created this is also the moment you gain freedom. Because if you’ve created THIS… you can create something different. Enjoying your life today does NOT mean you don’t want it bad enough. It doesn’t mean you’re not committed or hungry enough. No one gets to decide what matters to you except YOU. As much as #FtheHUSTLE is a clear statement, it’s not really about being ‘against’ the hustle as much as it’s FOR what works for you. What YOU want. How I’m creating my movement At the risk of sounding trite, I’m creating it one step at a time. The first step is showing up fully with this message. I’ve been using #FtheHUSTLE for a while now (the newsletter is almost two years old, woohoo!), but it was more a part of my business than the business model. I’m figuring out the frameworks for using #FtheHUSTLE to create and grow a business you love while enjoying every freaking moment of your life. It’s time to challenge the narrative. I swear I feel like I’ve “woken up” to this idea over this past year. I started looking at all the models in business, society, and government, and it finally hit me that they’ve all been created by one group of people. Men. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not here to bash men (I love men), but it’s a piss poor representation of how things should be. We have data and facts on things that work because that’s what’s been studied. Take Brené Brown as an...

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I’m just back after having my last visitors for a while (my sister & niece were here for 10 days, it was fantastic!) and after a couple of nights of good sleep, I feel ridiculously excited about everything that’s going on in my business. My first official day back to work was yesterday (July 7th), and I didn’t schedule much other than a couple of calls (I did a little work while my family was here but not much). The only reason I kept the calls scheduled was because they fill me up: a mastermind call I have with two dear friends and my call with https://nurturekit.co/ (Jason Resnick )(my partner with https://getdeliverit.com/ (Deliverit)). Jason and I hadn’t talked in a couple of weeks because of my schedule so we had a lot to catch up on. If I hadn’t had a massage scheduled we probably could have talked longer (we schedule an hour but went about 90-minutes). It was my call with Jason that inspired this episode, so thanks, Jason! The idea for this 90-day plan was Jason’s idea based on something he’s doing for himself, and there’s something about setting up accountability for me that just works. SO.. here we go! What inspired this 90-day sprint Planning and doing things in 90-day blocks isn’t something new, I’ve done it plenty of times. The difference with this was instead of deciding to plan for 90-days a specific goal inspired this 90-day sprint. I’ve been anxiously waiting for ClickFunnels 2.0 to come out ever since I saw the preview video from Funnel Hacking Live last fall. It was supposed to be released in March of this year (2022) but didn’t quite make it. They finally announced that it will be available on October 4th (which falls in line with the 90-days quite nicely. thank you Jason  ). Initially, I thought I’d just use it for funnels and products… but right now I think I’m going to move my ENTIRE business to https://kimdoyal.com/clickfunnels (ClickFunnels.) WHAAAAT?!?! I know, I know… I haven’t even used the new platform yet, so let me explain where this is coming from. I moved my brand from The WPChick to Kim Doyal in 2018. Ever since I made that pivot I’ve gone much deeper into everything I do. This includes: Marketing (general) Copywriting Email marketing Newsletters Sales Funnels Content (what I enjoy creating) Traffic

It’s not that I wasn’t doing these things before, but so much of what I did had to have a connection or tie to WordPress that I felt limited. I felt massive freedom when I pivoted to my personal brand. As much as I love tech and tools (I’ll continue to share them in the newsletter), my heart is in entrepreneurship and growing something that makes an impact. The deeper I got into these things (more writing, creating different products, etc.), the less time I had for playing with tech. I’m grateful for everything I’ve learned and feel like I’ve got a very solid foundation when I need to do something (i.e., can’t hire someone), but at the end of the day? I can’t be bothered. I’ve never been a ClickFunnels hater. Ever.In fact, I was an early adopter of https://kimdoyal.com/clickfunnels (ClickFunnels )(and have used it on and off over the last 7+ years) and shared it with a friend (who went on to make millions in e-commerce with the platform). When ClickFunnels came out the only other tool for creating anything similar (that wasn’t WordPress), was LeadPages. And still… they didn’t have the entire ‘funnel’ piece in place. There were a handful of WordPress tools at the time (OptimizePress) and I don’t remember what else, but it all felt like a pain in the ass. There was a time when certain tools triumphed over others and there were clear choices… but not anymore. The best tool to use for anything is the one you’re going to USE! Whichever tool you feel most comfortable using and gets the job done is what’s most important. Then there are all the people who hate on Russell Brunson. Say what you will… I think he’s brilliant...

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Courage shows up in many ways.There is nothing like sharing something publicly that makes it feel that much more REAL. I’ve known for a long time that accountability works for me, but instead of making myself accountable to other people (meaning someone specific), I share things as a way of being accountable to myself. Being accountable to myself means putting it out into the world. Most of the time the things I publicly share get done (although not always in the time frame I hoped), but sometimes they don’t. No one is knocking at my door asking me where the “thing” is that I said I was going to do. I let go of what that looked like a long time ago. The truth is that most people are too busy thinking about themselves to worry about what you said you were going to do. And the https://kimdoyal.com/copywriting-one-skill-that-will-increase-the-bottom-line-in-your-business/ (bottom line) is, it’s your life. This episode is going to be another ‘processing’ episode in that writing and recording this is helping me get clearer on what I’m doing and where I’m going. My intention is that there’s value for you as I share this process. As much as I need it, I know someone else out there needs to hear this too.

This is Who I’ve Always Been I’ve always had an optimistic, and positive disposition. My Mom used to tell me that even as a little kid I treated everything as an adventure. I was naturally drawn to the things that made me feel good and intentionally chose not to engage with things that felt heavy or dark. I didn’t know it at the time, but this is what I was doing (it didn’t take many horror movies for me to realize “why the HELL would I watch something that https://kimdoyal.com/of-course-im-scared-here-we-go-kds-069/ (scares) the bejeezus out of me?”). I know this might sound obvious and I believe that a lot of kids are hard-wired to be optimistic – then the longer we’re in school our optimistic, cheerful, and dreamer attitude is taught “out of” us (and I’m not negating that there are plenty of children that have hard childhoods and deal with trauma, that’s not what I’m talking about here). When I look back I realize how many times I made decisions based on the approval of other people (mainly my parents, who, as much as they https://kimdoyal.com/always-belong-to-and-believe-in-yourself-first/ (always believed) in me and supported me, brought their own “stuff” to the table). The more I stepped into things that made me feel good, the more I was criticized (not at home). The criticism went two ways: it was either “you can’t do that” or “who does she think she is.” I did a great visualization with my therapist last week and I had two very distinct memories show up: both were times when I was feeling really good about myself and someone (an authority figure /adult) felt the need to “put me in my place.” The thought that comes to mind with this is “jealousy is an ugly emotion.” We’ve all had those moments where we get a sideways comment from someone that has nothing to do with us and is completely about their own shit. Here are a couple of examples (and I’m going to bullet list them here but there’s a story attached to each that I will share in more depth in the podcast): Answering the phone too happily at a business I owned (my business partner leaned towards the negative side) Having a boss say “can someone else besides Kim answer”… at a work meeting (my boss wasn’t being negative, but everyone else was sitting there like a bump on a log) Collaborating with a woman online years ago who made a snide comment that “everyone wants to talk to the WP Chick” Internet trolls. #nuffsaid Having a college professor make a snide remark after I gave a motivational speech (it was based on a Zig Ziglar article or phrase) that she was “ready to get her credit card out”

I’m DONE playing small. Someone else’s lack of ability to show up in their own life is not my responsibility Enter the...

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It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this much excitement and nervousness about my business. It’s time to step outside of my comfort zone.This has been a LONG time coming… in fact, I’d go so far as to say this is what I was put on this planet to do. As nervous as I am, I know I’m going to do it. I recently shared in the FtheHUSTLE newsletter that I was going to be sharing more about mindset, psychology, and life in Costa Rica through the newsletter. What this really means is that I’m going to go ALL in with FtheHUSTLE on KimDoyal.com. I’m not going to stop talking about digital marketing, because it’s what I do and is what ‘birthed’ FtheHUSTLE to begin with. But there’s a bigger message with FtheHUSTLE that goes far deeper than being “anti-hustle and doing the work.” It’s about what you want your life to look like. I’ve shared a lot on the podcast throughout the years about my beliefs, mindset, spirituality, self-help, therapy… you name it. But I’ve held back. I’ve held back mainly because I was afraid of how it would be taken and I didn’t know how to merge that side of me with the business side. I see a path now… and I’m freaking THRILLED. I’m going to share this (process this?) with you like this: What led me to this decision What that means for my business How I’m going to do this

I’m also going to share the fears, the doubts, and how I’m working on managing my thoughts in order to achieve what I want. What led me to this decision 

I’ve been very transparent about the transitions in my business. I’ve never really thought twice about it because everything fell under the “digital marketing” umbrella. I went from The WordPress Chick   outsourcing company   coaching   done-for-you podcast services   attempt at a SaaS   pivot to my personal brand   launched the Content Creators Planner   focus on Email & Newsletters (under the personal brand). Whew… Here’s the interesting thing. As I was living this, it all felt like a natural transition. I would get super bored if I had been doing ONE thing for 14 years. I know this about myself. Even when I worked in retail management – I took every opportunity to open a new store, get promoted, or take on a new challenge. In the entrepreneurial space, you’re supposed to niche down. Pick ONE thing and focus on it. Which I did, but nothing grabbed me enough to want to do it long-term. Something about that made me feel stuck. I think this is also why I love this space. Tech and the web move SO fast. As much as it can be challenging (you master one thing and need to learn something else), I find it exciting. I love how new opportunities present themselves ALL the time. The trick is mastering the fundamentals so you can apply them to new opportunities. I don’t feel I’ve mastered the fundamentals, but I am always practicing them (i.e., working on mastery). Those fundamentals for me are writing (specifically for the web), publishing, sales, traffic, and lead generation. The fundamentals of each of those are study and practice. Boring, I know. But hot damn if they don’t work. I shared in the last episode that a recent launch didn’t go the way I wanted (https://kimdoyal.com/when-disappointment-leads-to-clarity-and-ultimately-freedom-fth-093/ (When Disappointment Leads to Clarity and Ultimately Freedom)). That was a little painful to share, but I KNEW that in order to make the transition I’m making I had to get the ball rolling. Let’s back it up a little further… This probably won’t come as much of a surprise, but I was one of those kids that would put on “shows” in the neighborhood. My friends and I would sing and dance and charge a quarter for people to sit on the lawn and watch (I’m cracking up writing this… I love the pure abandonment children have). If I were in California I think I’d try to dig up a picture of my cousin, brother, and me performing a routine

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One of the benefits of being in business so long is that you learn to take the so-called “failures” as part of the process. But that doesn’t mean you don’t get disappointed. That feeling you get when you’ve worked hard and something doesn’t go as planned or the way you hoped it would. This is when the little kid in you who didn’t get picked for the team or get invited somewhere shows up again. The difference now is that you’re not that child… you’re the adult who chose to be an entrepreneur. Knowing full well that things not going as planned is simply part of the process. It’s what you do with those feelings and results (because no matter how something turned out, you’ve got some data to work with. That’s the beauty of an online business). I’m going to share a bit of what I’ve been through this past week, how I’ve handled it and am still handling it, and how it’s leading to the birth of something new.

When Disappointment Leads to ClarityI’m pretty transparent about most things in my life and business. The more I share, the more people connect with me. I also don’t have the energy to be something I’m not or pretend for the sake of appearances or feeding my ego. I recently launched something that didn’t go as I hoped. My initial feeling was a massive disappointment because I’d worked super hard to get to that point (this was a completely revamped version of Email Insiders, which went from a two-month cohort to a 6-month group coaching program). A few months back I shared that I had made a significant investment in my business by signing up for a program and said I’d share more about that later. Well, it’s later. 😉 The program was called “Fearless CEO” with Mariah Coz. I say was because they’ve had a pivot and gone back to the name they were recognized for (High Ticket Hybrid) because there was a disconnect with their audience. I won’t go into a bunch of specifics on that because it’s not my business or place to share what they’ve shared with paying clients, but even know they were successful in terms of sales (high 6 figures in two months), they realized they needed to make some adjustments. I’ve invested a little over 13k in this program (yes, seeing that and saying it out loud makes me cringe a little, but fortunately, the content, training, structure, and program are amazing. No regrets). I changed the name to “Email Insiders Accelerator”, and went about doing exactly what I was supposed to (which was a LOT of work). The launch for this is through a live private training (they call it an LPT). To give you an idea, the Google doc to write out that training ended up being 35 pages long (there was a base template and I wrote out my content). I followed the launch plan (they suggest not doing any paid traffic the first time), which meant I was emailing to about 10k people and posting to social. I don’t have any final numbers yet (the cart isn’t closed), but the numbers have been disappointing. I reminded myself that this is a big investment for people (6k) and when I invested in the Fearless CEO program it took me a few days to make that decision. I held my live private training when I still had friends in town. I could have put it off, but I knew I needed to get it done – because it’s WAY too easy to continually put things off or push the date out further. For myself, I needed to pull the trigger. So naturally, my first thought was that I did this too soon (gotta love the ego and all the BS it throws at us, right?). In many ways, I was massively grateful that I had friends in town because I made a very conscious decision to stay present and NOT feed the stories in my head and ruin the few days I had left (we also rented my therapist’s house on the beach and I wanted to soak up every minute of this location). Let me clarify one thing for you… this was NOT easy. I’ve got a lifetime of practice when it comes to telling myself stories that don’t serve me. I’d already spent almost 9k...

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It’s officially May today (when I’m writing this episode) and at the end of the month, I’m renewing my lease in Costa Rica – for two more years. My plan is to purchase a property down here before the end of those two years and I’m excited to see where this journey takes me. This episode is going to be a look back on the last year, the lessons, and what this all means for my business. I’m about to embark on a new chapter in my business and I honestly feel like I’m about to burst I’m so excited. I’m still a little in awe of the fact that I’ve been living in https://kimdoyal.com/life-in-costa-rica-and-getting-back-to-business-kds-075/ (Costa Rica) for a year already. I knew the year would go quickly which is why I didn’t hesitate to sign a year lease (sight unseen – both my place and the country). What was the worse that could happen? I break the lease and head back to the states. I’ve found a lifestyle and way of life that feeds my soul… but it hasn’t been a slam-dunk from day one. I’ve had my moments of doubt, changed my mind, and then came full circle to loving it again. Some of this might be a little redundant (if you’ve been listening or reading over the last year), but hopefully, I can bring a fresh perspective now that I’m hitting the one-year mark. A little backstory Here’s the TL;DR version of my move to Costa Rica (https://kimdoyal.com/its-official-im-moving-to-costa-rica/ (which you can read more about here).) After my youngest graduated high school, I moved out of the Bay Area. I had been planning this move for a couple of years and was looking at Boise, ID. In July of 2019, my world was turned upside down when my Mom passed away at 71. Instead of going straight to Boise, I stayed with my Dad for a while with a couple of trips to Boise in between to check things out. March 2020, right before the world shut down, I moved to Boise, ID. My year in Boise was quiet, which is exactly what I needed. But I knew it wasn’t for me (too cold). When my lease in Boise was coming due I had originally thought I’d stay a few more months and then break it but realized there was no point. Why not just move to Costa Rica? (I had been considering Portugal, but that was pretty far for a first jaunt out of the U.S.). Within a https://kimdoyal.com/fthehustle-031-my-first-week-in-costa-rica/ (week I found my place in Costa Rica), signed the lease, gave notice, and started packing. I spent two months in California at my Dad’s to get things situated and on May 31st of 2021, I moved to Costa Rica (with the help of my amazing daughter). Adjusting to Life in Costa Rica Since I had never been here I truly had no idea what to expect (which meant I was pretty open to everything). I’ve shared bits and pieces of my life here in other episodes (more in-depth), but my day-to-day is really pretty similar to my life anywhere else, in terms of what I do. That being said, EVERYTHING is different. I recently had friends here for a week (and have more visitors in the coming months) and it was such a gift to see their appreciation for Costa Rica and the life I’ve created here. Before I get into the things that are different and what my life is like here, I want to share some of the less-than-highlight-reel moments. At about 3 months I started feeling a little homesick and kind of wondering if this was the right place for me. I had a trip home at that time (a memorial service for a dear family friend and a border run) so I think that carried me into the fall. I also sold my car in California and purchased a car in Costa Rica when I got back (that’s a whole other conversation). Having a car has made a huge difference down here (I was fortunate to have good friends who took me places or lent me their cars for the first few months, but I’m too independent to not have my own car here). I had friends who wanted to come down but I thought with the rainy season maybe it wasn’t a good time… so I told people to wait (in...

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Kim Doyal 0:00 Before we get into today's episode, I have a quick message for my sponsor cloudways. cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that simplifies your web hosting experience. The platform allows businesses to focus on their growth and have complete peace of mind with 24/7. Support and flexibility to scale. Can we just say support is hugely important when it comes to hosting. And thanks to cloud wise they are offering an exclusive discount for the Kim Doyal show listeners, visit cloudways.com and use a promo code Chem 20 to get 20% off for two months on the hosting plan of your choice. Alright guys, let's get into today's episode. Welcome to F the hustle. I'm your host, Kim Doyal. You want a life that is meaningful and exciting. In this podcast, we're going to talk about launching and growing an online business that fits your lifestyle. F the hustle is all about doing good work, building real relationships, and most importantly, creating a business that supports how you want to live your life. You don't have to sacrifice the quality of your life today to create something that sets your soul on fire. And yes, that includes making a lot of money. So we'll be talking about selling, charging what you're worth, and help earning more means helping more people. My goal is to help you find freedom and create a business on your terms. Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome to another episode of the podcast at the hustle with Kim Doyal. I of course am your host Kim Doyal. And I'm really excited today a because my guests and I have only chatted sort of via online. This is really our first time getting to connect in person, which I'll take in person video any day over just email. But we're going to talk about growing an agency. She's got a great YouTube channel. There's a lot of stuff I'm going to pick Nicole's brain about but let's welcome my guests. Nicole Osborne of Wonder stars. Thank you for being here, Nicole. Nicole Osborne 1:51 Oh, Kim, I'm so excited to be here. I think I told you I'm a total fan girl. So to have you in Costa Rica. And thank you for having me.

Kim Doyal 2:01 You're, you know, it's so funny. You know, you're just like you and like if people say that to me, and it's so funny. I used to tell my kid my family. Like you know, you guys, I'm famous on the internet. And nobody believed me until like, my niece was 12. And she Googled me which it was all like blog posts and links and stuff. And I'm like, well, somebody believes me. But anyways, thank you.

Nicole Osborne 2:19 I'm on my seven year old. I'm speaking to Kim. She's in Costa Rica.

Kim Doyal 2:24 Well, and you're in Germany, like this is what I love about are you in Germany. Oh, no.

Nicole Osborne 2:29 What? German based in London. Oh, even matter. I talked to someone today in Florida and someone in Pakistan. So actually, today's International Day. I'm loving it. It totally

Kim Doyal 2:41 is. It's so funny when when and for people. I'm really curious. And you guys have promised we're gonna get into the interview here. But this is what I love about people in my offline world. Right who it's normal life day to day and it was like I was talking with I'm sure your friends at Pizza Neary this morning. I'm like, No, she's an Italian, who spent a ton of time in London. And now she lives in Spain. Like, this is why I love this. It's like the world is huge and small all at the same time.

Nicole Osborne 3:07 I love I love pizza. I just communicated with her via LinkedIn, chatting about her amazing program. And I think she's absolutely nailing it on LinkedIn. And I just think she's so authentic. And have you seen her artwork? She sometimes publishes that on Facebook. She's oh my gosh, yes. Talented. Wow.

Kim Doyal 3:23 Oh, yeah. No, we literally just talked this morning for like over an hour. And that's part of the goal. Mike, you need to come to Costa Rica, I need to come to Spain....

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Email Marketing really is the holy grail of business.It’s the only thing I regret not putting time and energy into sooner, but as they say, there’s no point crying over spilled milk. Here’s my intention with this episode: Not only will you be fully vested in making email marketing a priority in your business, but you’ll also have a solid understanding of why (this is more important than you think) and exactly what you should do to get started. From the first moment I began in this amazingly crazy, wonderful, and frustrating world of internet marketing (I know you all know what I’m talking about), the message that the “money is in the list” has been as consistent as gravity. The problem with this message is that even though we “get it”… we don’t really “get it” until we dig in (how’s that for an ambiguous statement). There are 3 different phases in the online marketing space: Newbie: People here are just getting started, full of enthusiasm and excitement for all the possibilities in front of them. They’re committed to doing whatever it takes to make their dream a reality. Knows enough: This phase is probably the most dangerous. People here have had some success, some failures, they know enough to do the work, but they tend to keep looking for the ‘ONE’ thing that will get them to the next level. In this phase, you keep working but it feels a bit like spinning your wheels. Mastery: This is where the magic happens (and the best way to get there is through DOING THE WORK). You know that you need to do more than “know enough” to get to where you want to be. There’s nothing wrong with knowing enough but in order to grow and scale you have to go deeper, not learn more.

Everything I’ve done along the way to get to where I am today has been invaluable, but who you become at the mastery level is an entirely different ballgame. And to make sure we’re all on the same page with mastery, the definition and explanation I’m using is: “comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject or accomplishment.” I think of mastery as ongoing learning and a desire to consistently improve. The second phase (knows enough) is the most dangerous because you can end up stuck there. There will always be people who know less than you, and you can serve them with integrity and truly help them at this level. However, there will always be people who know more than you. If you feel like you’re stuck in the “knows enough” phase my challenge to you is to go deeper. Find someone who knows more than you and show up like an excited 5-year-old on the first day of kindergarten. Back to Email Marketing… With so much changing online in terms of privacy and tracking, paid traffic is becoming more challenging (particularly if you’re just getting started with it) and more expensive. It will always work and when you can you should definitely invest in it, but until then, you need a reliable source of traffic. Which is your email list. Think of email as a marketing channel you own where you get to create and control the conversation. Here are a few statistics from Hubspot’s annual https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-stats (“Ultimate List of Email Marketing Statistics for 2022”:) There are 4 billion daily email users. 78% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months. 4 out of 5 marketers said they’d rather give up social media than email. 81% of B2B marketers say their most used form of content marketing is newsletters.

I’ve linked to the full article above and if you’re listening, you can just search for Hubspot’s email marketing statistics and you’ll find the article. Everything I do on social and with my content is to drive people to get on my email list. Period. End of story. Once they’re on my list I can focus on creating a relationship with them. Some people may jump in and want to work with me right away and other people may subscribe and spend years on my list before...

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Before we get into today’s episode, I have a quick message for my sponsor Cloudways. Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that simplifies your web hosting experience. The platform allows businesses to focus on their growth and have complete peace of mind with 24/7. Support and flexibility to scale. Can we just say support is hugely important when it comes to hosting and thanks to Cloudways they are offering an exclusive discount for the Kim Doyal show listeners. Visit cloudways calm and use the promo code KIM20 to get 20% off for two months on the hosting plan of your choice. Alright guys, let’s get into today’s episode. Welcome to F the hustle. I’m your host, Kim Doyal. You want a life that is meaningful and exciting. In this podcast, we’re going to talk about launching and growing an online business that fits your lifestyle. After the hustle is all about doing good work, building real relationships, and most importantly, creating a business that supports how you want to live your life. You don’t have to sacrifice the quality of your life today to create something that sets your soul on fire. And yes, that includes making a lot of money. So we’ll be talking about selling, charging what you’re worth, and how earning more means helping more people. My goal is to help you find freedom and create a business on your terms. Kim Doyal: 0:00 Hey, what’s up, everybody? Welcome to another episode. I’m really excited. Today, my guest is going to talk about something that we all need are probably not doing well and can do a little bit better. So my guest is John Ainsworth of Data-Driven Marketing. Thank you so much for being here today. John Ainsworth 1:36 I’m delighted, what an honor. Kim Doyal 1:40 Yeah, so we connected and we do have to give the listeners a little bit of a backstory because we’re recording this and you’re getting a November and I think it’s kind of fun. We connected through a good friend, Jimmy rose, James rose, depending on where you’re connected with him online. And John is in Mexico, and I’m in Costa Rica. So we’re sort of having this tropical conversation today. Yeah. John Ainsworth 2:03 We’re both just loving the fact that it’s beautifully warm in November, it is a wonderful thing. Kim Doyal 2:11 It is, I think I’m going to be in shock going back to California in December, even though it’s California, it definitely cools off in the winter. So I’m like, What am I gonna wear? Did I bring anything to wear? John Ainsworth 2:23 And I have it on my packing list when I travel. If it’s going to be cold when you go back, pack a jacket, and hat and scarf, and gloves and just like don’t get to the airport and go, Oh God, what am I done? Kim Doyal 2:37 I mean to wear flip-flops and get out and snow this is. John Ainsworth 2:41 Exactly yeah. Kim Doyal 2:43 Anyways. Yeah. So I’m totally excited to talk about this day, John, because, you know, it is there was a time when funnels were not a common marketing language. It’s what you guys do. But before we get into that, how did you get into your funnels? But how did you start your online business what’s a little bit of backstory, I love hearing how people got to where they are. John Ainsworth 3:05 So this is my second business. And my first one was I used to work in sport and physical activity marketing, I used to be campaigns manager for Sport England, who’s like the National Organization for sport in England. And I’d run campaigns for them. And then I set up a business on my own. And I would do that for local government and health charities. And I would get inactive people into physical activity cancer patients, disabled people, people from teenage girls was a really hard one actually harder the toddler to get teenage girls active than it is to get cancer patients. And I’m Kim Doyal 3:42 just gonna let that sink in for a minute. But that’s pretty funny. What you should do is send them on a scavenger hunt to find their phones. Go ahead. Yeah....

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I’ve mentioned on many episodes that I have a therapist and still talk to her regularly (even though technically she’s “retired”). I’m hoping this episode will be helpful in hearing how this relationship has evolved and why I still talk to my therapist – 18 years later (almost 19). For those of you who have been listening to the show for a while (i.e, the days of “The WordPress Chick” podcast), some of this might be a repeat, but I encourage you to listen anyway. The perspective I have today is completely different than the perspective I had when I first started podcasting. The Backstory Why I started therapy I started therapy in 2003, a couple of months after I lost my husband in a car accident (he was 32, our kids were 6 & 2). Prior to this, I didn’t think I was someone who “needed therapy” (now I think everyone does 😉 – if you’re lucky enough to find the right therapist). I initially went to therapy for grief counseling and more or less considered that to be why I was going for the first couple of years. Then my therapist told me she was moving out of the area and closing her practice, but me being me, asked if I could stay in touch. I’d email now and then and then asked if we could do some phone sessions. Fast forward a few more years and I told her I wanted to see her in person (she had moved 3 hours north of me). Fortunately, she said sure and since I was making the trek we could keep the sessions open-ended (in terms of time). Most of these sessions were 3 hours long. I looked at these days as a gift to myself and most people knew not to try and get in touch with me. There was something soothing about the solitude and time in the car before and after my session. In between seeing her in person, I’d have phone sessions but it was more of an ‘as-needed’ basis. I’d have an in-person session usually every two months (unless I was going through something). Fast- forward to 2020 Right after I moved to Boise the pandemic struck and everyone went into lockdown. I was stuck in Boise, she was stuck in https://kimdoyal.com/life-in-costa-rica-and-getting-back-to-business-kds-075/ (Costa Rica) (and yes, her love of Costa Rica is what put it on my radar). A few months into the pandemic I was struck with inspiration and asked her if we could do weekly calls because I “wanted to raise my vibration.” I had no idea what that looked like or meant, but she was game (we have similar spiritual beliefs so I knew she’d get it). Now two years later, unless something comes up, I’m still doing weekly calls with her (or seeing her in person when she’s in Costa Rica). Sharing this in my business When I started my business in 2008 I had a completely different vision for what it was going to be than what it turned into (ignorance truly was bliss). I first started sharing it on my podcast. My intention when I started podcasting was simply to have more fun in my business. At the time I was still doing WP websites, had an outsourcing company, and was just starting to coach clients (with similar businesses). Because I wasn’t stuck on how things had to be I let it grow and evolve (I’ve done this with every iteration of my business). I started podcasting in 2013 and structured the show on two things: what I wanted to do and the types of shows I enjoyed listening to. I needed to get out from “behind the computer” at the time and I’ve always been a huge fan of audio content. I set the show up so I would do a solo show one week and an interview the next (this varies nowadays). When I did the solo shows I started sharing little snippets here and there of things I had talked to my therapist about or a nugget of wisdom from her. Let me be super clear: even though I did this, I was plenty nervous about what people would think when I mentioned my therapist. That being said, the desire to share was stronger than my fear of judgment from anyone else. The more honest I was about my own experiences the stronger the...

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Kim Doyal 0:00 Before we get into today's episode, I have a quick message for my sponsor cloudways. cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that simplifies your web hosting experience. The platform allows businesses to focus on their growth and have complete peace of mind with 24/7 support and flexibility to scale. Can we just say support is hugely important when it comes to hosting and thanks to cloudways they are offering an exclusive discount for the Kim Doyal show listeners. Visit cloudways calm and use a promo code Chem 20 to get 20% off for two months on the hosting plan of your choice. Alright guys, let's get into today's episode. Welcome to F the hustle. I'm your host, Kim Doyal. You want a life that is meaningful and exciting. In this podcast, we're going to talk about launching and growing an online business that fits your lifestyle. After the hustle is all about doing good work, building real relationships, and most importantly, creating a business that supports how you want to live your life. You don't have to sacrifice the quality of your life today to create something that sets your soul on fire. And yes, that includes making a lot of money. So we'll be talking about selling, charging what you're worth, and how earning more means helping more people. My goal is to help you find freedom and create a business on your terms.

Hey, what up what up? Welcome to another episode of EFF the hustle with Kim Doyal because this is now the third iteration of

Kyle has been on with me with the WordPress tech podcast Kim Doyal show. And I think I'm in my sweet spot at least for a few more years with FSL with Kim Doyal. So that being said, my guest is my good friend, Kyle Vandusen. Kyle, thanks so much for being here today. I'm super excited to be here. And I'm just waiting for your next iteration so I can come back again.

Well, you'll I'm sure you'll come back before there is another iteration. At that point. I'm like, Girl, I got like for myself talking to myself girl stick with like, no more rebranding, let's just, we're dialed and we're placing events in the background.

place bets on the the change of the name, or what course platform is gonna jump on next.

Anyway, um, alright, so let me I'm gonna kind of just do a little backstory with. I'm not I'm gonna link to previous episodes with Kyle, you guys can listen to who he is. And what he does, I'll let him do a quick little bio, we've gotten much deeper into his business in previous episodes. But the reason I reached out to Kyle is because he responded to an email about time lotteries. And we're going to talk about that in a minute. So this is going to be much more of a free flow conversation. We're going to talk about thought management mindset, running your business in a way that works for you. And we're gonna just see where it goes. So for those who have not listened to Yo, Kyle, or have had the good fortune of our previous conversations, give a little background.

Kyle Van Deusen 2:55 Yeah, my name is Kyle Van Deusen. As you can probably hear from my accent, I am from Texas. So forgive me for that. But I own a small agency here in Texas that I've had since 2017. About a year after I started that I started an online community called the admin bar for web developers, freelancers, agency owners, and that has grown tremendously over the over time, we're at about 5000 members now. And at this point, my business that's taken over to kind of take up most of my time at this point. So it was before the agency was full time in the community was part time. And now it's the community is full time in the agencies getting a little bit more part time. But yeah, as long as as long as it has to do with web, I'm usually in the middle of it.

Kim Doyal 3:37 Perfect. And he does have Kyle is a believer in email and newsletters as well. He's got the Friday chaser, which is a great newsletter. And I will link to that you guys can opt into...

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Kim Doyal 0:00 Before we get into today's episode, I have a quick message for my sponsor cloudways. cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that simplifies your web hosting experience. The platform allows businesses to focus on their growth and have complete peace of mind with 24/7 support and flexibility to scale. Can we just say support is hugely important when it comes to hosting and thanks to cloudways they are offering an exclusive discount for the Kim Doyal show listeners. Visit cloudways calm and use a promo code Chem 20 to get 20% off for two months on the hosting plan of your choice. Alright guys, let's get into today's episode. Welcome to F the hustle. I'm your host Kim Doyal. You want a life that is meaningful and exciting. In this podcast, we're going to talk about launching and growing an online business that fits your lifestyle. After the hustle is all about doing good work, building real relationships, and most importantly, creating a business that supports how you want to live your life. You don't have to sacrifice the quality of your life today to create something that sets your soul on fire. And yes, that includes making a lot of money. So we'll be talking about selling, charging what you're worth, and how earning more means helping more people. My goal is to help you find freedom and create a business on your terms. Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome to another episode of the hustle with Kim Doyal I am effing the hustle in Costa Rica. As you can see, welcome back. I'm so excited today for a number of reasons. But the to specifically one my guest is a dear friend and coaching client, love her energy, love everything she's doing. And the second reason is we're going to talk about something that I have jumped back into and I'm committed to mastering. So first of all, my guess is Karen Michaels. Karen, thank you so much for being here today.

Karen Michaels 1:52 Yeah, that was super fun. You are having the hustle all day long girl.

Kim Doyal 1:56 I don't know where that came in. You know, I don't always do that. Like, ah, but today was one of those days. And this is a total non sequitur. I bought the shade for this window over here. And I couldn't figure out how to roll it up. Right. Well, I figured out how to roll it up. So I was like, oh, like again.

Karen Michaels 2:13 Oh, you can see the ocean as a current desert dweller. I use the ocean waves as my regular focus sounds.

Kim Doyal 2:24 You know, it's funny to to because I've got all the everything shut with AC on. Yes, yes. From that down a little. Alright. So first of all, Karen, before we get into our topic, Mm hmm. Tell the audience who you are what you do. And you know how you run your business?

Karen Michaels 2:43 How I read my wells, oh, my gosh,

Kim Doyal 2:45 you're all day with that one. But I think really going in the right direction. And so a bit with sort of some off script, which is what I do, which will lead to why we're talking about this specific topic today. So

Karen Michaels 2:58 yeah, sounds fun. Your girl Well, I am. I am a solopreneur here in Las Vegas, Nevada. And I'm also a singer and a pianist who happens to love technology and apple and writing. And I had been dabbling, and it was 100% of side hustle, right? I was dabbling with social media. And I was helping friends or a client would say, oh my gosh, I love what you did. Can you mock that up for me right quick before the gig, you know, hilarious. And I was like, Sure, no problem. And then, of course, when the pandemic struck, and quarantine happened, I'm gonna be honest, my business took off. And thank goodness it did, right. Because there wasn't any live performing or any of that sort of, I'm also a teacher. And so none of that was happening.

Kim Doyal 3:50 Let me just clarify your voice teacher.

Karen Michaels 3:53 A voice teacher? Uh huh. Yes, yes. And so I would, I was like, wow....

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Kim Doyal 0:01 Before we get into today's episode, I have a quick message for my sponsor cloudways. cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that simplifies your web hosting experience. The platform allows businesses to focus on their growth and have complete peace of mind 24/7 support and flexibility to scale. Can we just say support is hugely important when it comes to hosting. And thanks to pod boys who are offering an exclusive discount for the Kim Doyal show listeners, visit cloudways.com and use a promo code Chem 20 to get 20% off for two months on the hosting plan of your choice. Alright guys, let's get into today's episode. Welcome to F the hustle. I'm your host, Kim Doyal. You want a life that is meaningful and exciting. In this podcast, we're going to talk about launching and growing an online business that fits your lifestyle. After the hustle is all about doing good work, building real relationships, and most importantly, creating a business that supports how you want to live your life. You don't have to sacrifice the quality of your life today to create something that sets your soul on fire. And yes, that includes making a lot of money. So we'll be talking about selling, charging what you're worth, and how earning more means helping more people. My goal is to help you find freedom and create a business on your terms. Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome to another episode of the podcast. I am your host, Kim Doyal. And I'm really excited today because not only is our guest amazing, but we're going to talk about something that I have gotten really obsessed with in the last couple of years. And that is newsletters. But first, my guest today is Leslie sim, the founder of newsletter glue. Leslie, thanks so much for joining me today. Unknown Speaker 1:45 Thanks so much for having me, Kim. Super happy to be here.

Kim Doyal 1:48 And we'll just let everybody know, this is fun. You are recording from you're in Singapore.

Unknown Speaker 1:54 That's right.

Kim Doyal 1:55 Okay, so what time is it for you?

Unknown Speaker 1:58 Is 9:34pm

Kim Doyal 2:02 Yeah, and it's 7:34pm. This is why I love what we do, Leslie, it's like we get to connect with people all over the world. It's just, I don't know, it makes the world seem smaller and bigger kind of at the same time.

Unknown Speaker 2:13 Yeah, totally. I feel like I actually benefited from the pandemic, because now nobody's going out and meeting people. And they have to meet people like me online. So that's yeah, that's been like one cool and unexpected side effect. nice side effect of the pandemic.

Kim Doyal 2:31 It is, it's nice to see those benefits. And I mean, it just, I think it forced a lot of growth and opportunity online in general. So I think it's fantastic. Okay, so, enough about that. But I would love to know, you know, we did a live stream talking about newsletter glue, and I'll let you explain what that is. But I don't know much about your backstory, if you wouldn't mind sharing with listeners, kind of, you know, how you got into all this what you're doing prior to creating and launching newsletter glue?

Unknown Speaker 3:01 Yeah, how far would you like me to go back?

Kim Doyal 3:06 Maybe with your entrepreneurial journey, or you know, I mean, whatever you feel like sharing honestly.

Unknown Speaker 3:12 Um, so my very first job, or my very first real job after after university was in the government in the airport. And it turns out that I was very bad at that because I not like Are you familiar with the term iron rice ball? No, explains that there might be a Singaporean or Southeast Asian, but it's just kind of like a stable steady job that you know, like working in the government is known for like the work in the government, you have a stable steady job, and that's an iron rice ball. It's not going to go away. Ah, okay. Yeah, and so I didn't know it at the...

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It's easy to say "Own Your Expertise" to other people, but sometimes it's harder to do that for ourselves. I have a tendency to go to one extreme when I get inspired (or fired up) about something and then the pendulum swings back to the middle and I'm able to move from a more grounded place. I've been thinking about this a lot lately because I'm very clear on what I want this year to look like. This March will be my 14th year in business (I'm beyond grateful that ignorance is bliss). What I'm doing today is not at all what I thought I'd be doing when I started this online journey in 2008. Side note: I remind my kids ALL the time that what I'm doing today didn't even exist when I was their age, so this is my reminder to you too. Don't get attached to what things are supposed to look like. I know I've shared my story a zillion times in terms of what I thought I was going to be doing (I thought I was going to write ebooks and make millions of dollars. #nuffsaid), so even though my business went in a different direction (and pivoted a handful of times), the journey is what has given me the strength to own my skillset. This is what I'm hoping this episode will do for you as well. Step into your own expertise and #JustShowUP - we need new voices and perspectives on things. The "Create vs. Consume" argument You hear this all the time in the creator space. Stop consuming and start creating. It's a completely valid point, but sometimes consuming is what helps you get clear on what you want to create. I read a LOT. Probably more than I need to, but guess what? I LIKE reading and learning. It was through my consumption that I found what resonated most for me. You can also see patterns and behaviors that start emerging when you read and learn about specific topics consistently There is absolutely a danger in consuming more than you create, but it truly depends on where you are in your journey and whether or not you're actually "doing the work." Until about 5 years ago I probably consumed a lot of https://kimdoyal.com/interview-with-brendan-hufford-on-seo-content-marketing-kds-021/ (content on anything relative to digital marketing). Whether it was https://hikeseo.co/ (SEO,) video marketing, email marketing, funnels, content creation, e-commerce, advertising, copywriting, podcasting, etc. The funny thing is that even though some of those topics aren't interesting to me (SEO & advertising are at the top of that list), I still consumed it because I felt like I had to. I had to have an understanding of ALL the things. This is where the old saying "Jack of all trades and https://kimdoyal.com/master-your-thoughts-the-most-important-thing-an-entrepreneur-can-do-kds-079/ (master) of none" comes in. But I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. In fact, here's the full saying that is often left out: Think about traditional education (which in many ways is broken, but we'll leave that discussion for another time. Or never 😉). You go to school and study general education for the first 12 - 14 years of your life (personally I think we could do without the two years of lower-division in college these days, but I digress. Again). Once you've built that foundation, you then go on to a focused area of study. If you're lucky with your business, you're able to find that focused area that becomes your specialty early on, but sometimes the price of admission to getting there is general education. The https://kimdoyal.com/trial-error-and-tenacity-in-life-business-kds-070/ (trial and error) that comes from trying and testing new things are how we learn. If someone had told me 10 years ago that I would have fallen in love with writing, email marketing, newsletters, and dare I say copywriting (that's really more of a love-hate relationship) I would have thought they had lost their mind. Yet here I am. Going all-in with these topics. This block has encountered an error and cannot be previewed. Before we get deeper...

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Kim Doyal 0:01 Welcome to F the hustle. I'm your host, Kim Doyal. You want a life that is meaningful and exciting. In this podcast, we're going to talk about launching and growing an online business that fits your lifestyle. After the hustle is all about doing good work, building real relationships, and most importantly, creating a business that supports and you want to live your life. You don't have to sacrifice the quality of your life today to create something that sets your soul on fire. And yes, that includes making a lot of money. So we'll be talking about selling, charging, what you're worth, and how earning more means helping more people. My goal is to help you find freedom and create a business on your terms. Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Kim Doyal show. I'm excited today because we're gonna dig into something that I don't know a ton about. Obviously, I'm very aware of it. And my guest is going to peel back the curtain, so to speak. So my guest today is Kevin Ramsey. He is one of the co founders of Warren James. And we're gonna dig into that. But first of all, Kevin, thanks so much for being here today. Kevin Ramsey 1:08 Thank you for having me. I'm stoked to be here. Yeah, so

Kim Doyal 1:11 this is great. And this is, I'm just gonna share this. And any of these little tidbits that you can share with your story would be great. But we connected via Twitter. And I've been saying to people recently, you know, having moved to Costa Rica, and like connecting with people here that I'm sure it's similar for you so much of my business has grown because of relationships. So I love that you just reached out to me, we had a little conversation, you're very patient, I'm like circle back in a month, we had a conversation. And so just the point in connecting and having real relationships with people can really shift the trajectory of your business.

Kevin Ramsey 1:48 Yeah, without a doubt, I've been trying to be more proactive personally, when it comes to platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, and those connections are at your fingertips, it's just a matter of like, you know, putting in the time looking around, like for me recently, I've been really focused on the new phrase, you know, called the crater economy and seeing who else is involved in that space. And yeah, it really, really helps with your business and helps with your personal growth, like having those connections, whether it be something now or like, years from now, right? Like having that relationship. Who knows what that can mean for you.

Kim Doyal 2:21 Exactly, exactly. I'm, which I don't want to go sideways with my stuff. But I am doing an event down here next year. And it's crazy. I think I've landed a sponsor a pretty big sponsor already without even having a hotel book because of relationships. So it's it's just one of those things. And I love what you said too. I am obsessed with the quote unquote, crater economy. I love that it's this tangible thing. Now, it's not just what creators call themselves. And just a side note, if you're not following her follow Cody Sanchez, she is amazing. She has. This is a random thing. I don't know her personally. But she has a newsletter and a platform. It's called contrarian thinking. But she's all about diversifying in the crater economy as well. So it's pretty fascinating. Anyways, I want to dive into Warren James, which I'm gonna let you explain what it is. And then before we go too deep into the company, I'd love to know a little bit of your backstory. So feel free to jump in where it suits you best.

Kevin Ramsey 3:20 Yeah, totally. So I guess a quick little synopsis of Warren James. We've been around for a little under three years now. And we really work with the top point oh 1% of content creators out there. And we run their direct to consumer merchandise businesses from start to fitness, finish everything from you know, designing,...

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Looking back on 2021 is going to be interesting! Surprisingly, I’m excited to do this year in review episode and share what’s on the horizon for 2022. In addition to the world just being a little topsy-turvy, I’ve had some major changes in my life this year. I also decided I may start doing something a little “Pinteresty” for 2022. You may have seen this before, but you basically take a mason jar (or vase or whatever floats your boat) and each day you write down something good that happened and drop it into the jar. At the end of the year, you can look back on all the good things that happened. Of course, you can do this in a journal, or digitally, but I love the idea of seeing this jar fill up as my year progresses. Even though there isn’t a huge separation of my personal life and business life, I think it’s a little easier to break this year-in-review post into personal & business, then we’ll look at what’s coming in 2022. My Personal LifeIt honestly feels like a lifetime ago when I was living in Boise, Idaho. Yet a year ago at this time, I wasn’t planning on https://kimdoyal.com/its-official-im-moving-to-costa-rica/ (moving to Costa Rica) (never doubt the power of a clear intention and decision). I went from thinking I was going to stay in Boise for a while longer in February to the decision that now was as good a time as any to pursue a dream of living out of the country. Within a week I had found a place in https://kimdoyal.com/life-in-costa-rica-and-getting-back-to-business-kds-075/ (Costa Rica) and gave notice in Boise. I sold as much as I could, got a U-Haul with a trailer to tow my car and drove down to California for two months to wrap things up there, and made the move to Costa Rica with my dogs on May 31st. Best decision ever. This move has without a doubt changed my life (as did Boise, but in a different way). Moving to Boise was kind of like a test to see if I could move out of California and away from my family. I had already been looking at Idaho before my Mom passed away in July of 2019, but after losing her it really felt like it was time (and truth be told, it was easier because she was gone). Then we all know what happened in 2020 (I literally moved to Boise in March just as Covid was turning our world upside down). My year in Boise was all about healing. My Mom’s death was unbearable at times and to have the space to process that felt like a gift. I did a lot of personal work with my therapist (who happened to be stuck in https://kimdoyal.com/making-the-offer-my-costa-rica-countdown-kds-074/ (Costa Rica) during 2020) and simply took care of myself in the best way I could. I rested. I also “got ready” to make the leap to Costa Rica, even though I didn’t really know that that’s what I was doing at the time. I will forever be grateful for my time in Boise and I’m proud of myself for making the move. With the exception of my daughter, all of my family is in the Bay Area (having my kids out on their own and doing their own thing also made it a lot easier to make that move. Someday when grandkids are a part of the picture that may change). Technology makes it SO much easier to physically be further apart as we can see each other, send quick text messages, etc. Now as we wind the year down I’ve already been in Costa Rica for seven months! Time has flown by. Just a few weeks ago I was pretty certain I wasn’t going to renew my lease when it came up (end of May), but after going back to California for Christmas (which was a great visit with family), that feels too soon to leave Costa Rica. I’m pretty sure my next place is going to be North Carolina. And no, I’ve not been there either. haha… But I figure if I can move to Costa Rica site unseen, I can handle a move to North Carolina. As of now I don’t have a definitive time frame, but I’m thinking by the fall. My ultimate goal is a place in the states and a place in Costa Rica. I really missed the...

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Frustration is a funny word. It means a lot of different things to different people, even though it has one definition. My therapist had a great definition of frustration:

Frustration is simply attempting to control something over which we have no control.For the sake of this episode, we’re going to focus strictly on what frustration can look and feel like in your business. I’m also going to give you 3 ways you can take your frustration to dig a little deeper and get better at what you do. This episode was inspired by a https://kimdoyal.com/focus-session-spring/ (coaching client.) She messaged me about her Black Friday Cyber Monday offer, which she had worked extremely hard on (in other words, she’s doing the work). The campaign was set to go out over 4 days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, & Monday of the holiday weekend). After the first 2 days and no sales, she messaged me that she was having an “insecurity attack” and even though she knew the people on her list weren’t the right people, she was really frustrated. The day prior she was excited that even though no one bought it, she knew she was on the right path. I’m going to give you a little context about where she was when we started working together (not her niche, market, or name, but you’ll have enough to understand). When we started working together she knew she wanted to focus on a different market. Very similar work, but the message and audience needed to be changed. In addition to some website changes, we started https://kimdoyal.com/daily-email-works-period-interview-with-ben-settle-wpcp-138/ (working on a new email) opt-in offer (this is a long sequence based on the ‘Lesson, Bridge, Pitch, Survey’ strategy by https://kimdoyal.com/visual-mapping-onboarding/ (Brennan Dunn)): 9 emails with a very specific purpose, followed by an offer to purchase, followed by a survey to those who didn’t purchase. Then we worked on the BFCM offer. More emails, product images, sales page set up, etc. A lot of work, right? Here’s the thing… She’s JUST getting started! Where she was to where she is today is like night and day. She has been working extremely hard to build a solid foundation for her business. It’s kind of like how working out and eating healthy feels if you’re trying to lose weight. You know your body is feeling better, your energy is better, your sleep is better, and maybe you’ve lost a few pounds. Then you step on the scale a couple of months in and the number hasn’t moved. Maybe even the inches haven’t dropped yet. Does that mean that the two months prior, with everything you’ve accomplished aren’t worth anything? Absolutely not. You’ve created https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break-ebook/dp/B07D23CFGR/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1638215188&sr=8-1 (new habits) and are establishing a level of trust within yourself that no scale can take away (nor does it determine your worth and value). This is the biggest challenge with online businesses. It “seems” like everyone else is having success. But we don’t know how many times the person we’re comparing ourselves to has failed. Nor do we now how much work has been put into the knowledge and skills they have today. Here’s an example: I’ve made a couple of BFCM purchases. All have to do with writing. The first was that I signed up for the https://www.ship30for30.com/ (Ship30for30) training starting in January 2022. The reason I did this is because of my commitment to a daily writing practice. I thoroughly enjoy writing and want to get better at it so it becomes a primary https://kimdoyal.com/the-free-traffic-source-youre-probably-ignoring/ (source for traffic), content, and sales. That training is going to help me create frameworks and practice writing on other platforms (my site and emails come easily now so this will help me write on other platforms. More on that in another episode). Then this morning I...

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The more people I talk to about email marketing, the more excited I become.Email marketing is the holy grail of online business. (Stay tuned for an in-depth post with that title 😉). I’m halfway through my second cohort of Email Insiders VIP and even with only running this twice I see the patterns and similar challenges. As things start shifting to Web 3.0 https://medium.com/fabric-ventures/what-is-web-3-0-why-it-matters-934eb07f3d2b ((you can read more about Web 3.0 and what that means here), it’s never been more important to create an email list.) And here’s the kicker… I’m not sure that it matters where you do it. GASP! Most traffic sources work when you do the work. Meaning, if you put the time and energy into Instagram, consistently post, and engage with people who are engaging with your content, I have no doubt you can https://kimdoyal.com/driving-traffic-gaining-customers-without-spending-a-dime-on-advertising-with-tom-morkes-kds-030/ (drive traffic) and business through Instagram. I would say the same is true with Twitter, Tik Tok (not that I know anything about that), Linkedin, YouTube, Pinterest, and quite possibly Facebook (although my guess is you have to be going live in order to get any traction. I don’t spend much time on my business page anymore so don’t hold me to this). All that being said, your priority on these platforms should be to connect with your ideal audience and drive them to subscribe to your email list. Period. Nothing else. When you have a solid system running that is driving traffic from one platform to an https://kimdoyal.com/why-im-excited-to-double-down-on-email-marketing-and-you-should-too-kds-063/ (email list) you own, then move onto the next platform. I was recently talking with a friend who does social media management (and am considering hiring her to help me with my own, because I’d much rather spend time writing, recording, and creating). She spends a LOT of time on social and said “two platforms are plenty.” Which works for me. Right now my platforms of choice are Twitter and Instagram (I’ll share the strategy and what I’m going to do with that in another episode). My first priority though? Email Marketinghttps://kimdoyal.com/?p=126770&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=126779#cb8f20a078 (Join the movement! Get #FtheHUSTLE in your inbox!) And writing… ALL the writing possible. When I started my business way back in 2008, I thought I could write fairly well. I never would have called myself a writer, but let’s just say at the time “ignorance was bliss.” Because I was able to write papers in high school and college and do well, I didn’t think much beyond that (as I said, ignorance was bliss and maybe I was a little cocky. The older I get the more I realize how much I don’t know). It wasn’t until I started my WPChick Podcast in 2013 that started appreciating and more importantly, enjoying writing. Because of the way I talk I knew that I’d have to write my solo show episodes out first (and you can probably tell I’m not reading them, I simply use them as a guide so I follow somewhat of a cohesive flow). I cringe a bit when I look back at older posts… for both the way it was written and how much needs to be edited and updated, but the bottom line? I DID it. And I kept doing it. When I decided I wanted to put more time and energy into email marketing I had been following Ben Settle for a solid year before I really stepped into it. Ben has a physical paper newsletter (Email Players) that he sends monthly and he https://kimdoyal.com/daily-email-works-period-interview-with-ben-settle-wpcp-138/ (emails daily.) Often times he emails more than once a day. He doesn’t worry about people unsubscribing, not liking him, or not buying. He keeps doing his thing. After watching what he did for a year I jumped in and started doing my own https://kimdoyal.com/category/daily-email/ (daily emails) (although I called them my...

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We’re going to start this episode off with a quote (because it’s SO perfect): “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. -Victor Hugo I am SUPER excited about today’s episode because I think it’s truly the most important thing we can master (as entrepreneurs but more importantly, as human beings). I’m going to tell you what it is, but before I do, I want to ask you to do me a favor. I want you to keep your mind as open and judgment-free as possible. Ready? The most important thing an entrepreneur needs to master is their thoughts. I’ve gone down a huge rabbit hole with this lately for a few reasons (and I’ll go into a little more detail with each): First, I needed to do it with a few things in my personal life because they were sending me sideways Second, this is probably one of the things I’ve been most focused on with my coach as I get ready to launch my community Lastly, my mentor has been helping me with this a LOT lately… we did some amazing work last year which has all led to this

You hear over and over again in the entrepreneurial space that your mindset is everything. And it is… you just need to know how to get there. My goal with this episode is two-fold: to really buy into the https://kimdoyal.com/this-might-be-a-wacky-idea/ (idea) that this is truly the best thing you can do for yourself (in your business and your life) to give you some tangible things you can do to start applying this

One thing to keep in mind: this is a practice. One of the sayings that my mentor has shared with me (that has taken me a while to really grasp), is that it’s “a process, not an event.” Which naturally annoyed me… because I want to learn something and just know it. Even though I may get pissy, I trust it now. And it has made ALL the difference in the world. O.K., let’s get into it! https://kimdoyal.com/?p=126578&preview=true#cb8f20a078 (Get #FtheHUSTLE in Your Inbox) Time to Master your ThoughtsFor the longest time, I really thought I was doing a great job of managing my thoughts. I first got into self-help and listening to things when I was the ripe old age of 22. I purchased Tony Robbins Personal Power and progressed through pretty much anything I could get my hands on at the time (keep in mind these were cassette tapes, all pre-podcast and digital downloads of anything). I was working in a bookstore at the time and we sold audiobooks, so I’d splurge every now and then on a new book on tape. Because I purchased Personal Power I also would get the “Guthy Renker” and “Nightingale-Conant” catalogs (yes, a paper catalog in the mail). At that time I’d say 99% of what I listened to were male authors (something I never really thought about at the time). Most of what I was listening to was about goal setting, motivation, sales, and productivity. All of that was fine, but it always felt like something was missing. https://www.drwaynedyer.com/ (Then I discovered Dr. Wayne Dyer.) If you’re not familiar with him, he’s an NYT best-selling author of over 40 books. He’s been called “The Father of Motivation” and had an academic career and private counseling practice before he wrote his first book. When I first started reading & listening to Wayne Dyer most of his work was in the self-help genre. As his career progressed he moved more and more into spirituality and it felt like “this is what I’ve been missing!” It was like this magic combination of “anything is possible” and “be gentle” at the same time. (On a subconscious https://kimdoyal.com/fthehustle-049-new-level-new-devil-%f0%9f%98%88/ (level this is probably where #FtheHUSTLE) was really born). From here I consumed everything I could of his. I was also fortunate enough to see him live in San Francisco a few times (he loved San Francisco and was a great supporter of public television). One of the times I saw him it was a smaller event and I stood in line to tell him how much his work got me through losing my...

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This has been a LONG time coming. I feel like I have so much to catch you up on with this episode. First, if you’ve stuck with me and wondered where the podcast is, Thank You. Before I get into what’s coming (and yes, the podcast is coming back with a regular schedule), I think I need to update you on a few things. Life in Costa Rica I’ve now been in Costa Rica for 4.5 months! I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. I’ve written a full post on why I moved to a country I’d never visited on Medium here (and would love some claps & comments if it resonates with you). It’s truly starting to feel like “home” here. What’s been so fascinating about this move to Costa Rica are all of the realizations I’ve had. Some are deep and some are pretty superficial (guess I didn’t need to run to Target as often as I thought), but they’ve all made a difference in how I feel and where I’m going. My understanding is that October is the end of the rainy season here. I haven’t minded the rain at all… the thunderstorms here are like nothing I’ve seen before. It can literally be sunny and dry one minute and pouring with thunder and lightning the next (I love it, the dogs, not so much). The rain is probably the only thing that’s made it feel like fall here. It’s kind of a trip getting on Zoom calls with people who are all showing up bundled up in cozy clothes while I’m still here in my tank top and shorts. My goal would be a place somewhere in the states and a place here. I like fall and Christmastime in cooler weather (note I didn’t say cold) and would be happy to have January through September here. We’ll see. I finally bit the bullet and got a car here. FREEDOM! I think I was more excited about buying a 2007 Kia Sorrento than I was about my Audi Q5… it’s all about perspective. I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve made some wonderful friends who have been kind enough to take me places and help me get what I’ve needed, but after 4 months I realized I needed a car. One of the things I love about being in the car for any length of time is listening to podcasts and audiobooks (I can listen when I work sometimes, it just depends on the task at hand). I’m sure I’ll do more listening when the rain stops and I can do more beach walks too. Long story short, life in Costa Rica is really, really good. Time for a Reboot (and what that means) I want to break down this “reboot” into a few different categories: Podcast Email Content Offers Facebook Group

Let’s start with the podcast. When I pivoted the podcast from “The WordPress Chick Podcast” to “The Kim Doyal Show” – I essentially kept the format completely the same, I just changed the name, introduction, and artwork (although I should have kept the episode #’s continuing instead of starting over, but no point in crying over spilled milk, right? And I guess I could go back and edit them). Besides the fact that the last 2.5 years have been challenging (losing my Mom, moving, Covid, moving again), I didn’t feel excited about the podcast the way I once did. The goal has always been to do a solo show and then an interview, which is fun, but I think I’d prefer to do primarily solo shows. Not because I don’t enjoy interviewing and creating new relationships, because they’ve been the foundation of growing my business. Simply because I want to focus in a little different direction. The podcast is going to get a new introduction and an “official reboot” (I’m thinking some sort of giveaway). That will happen in the next month or so after I launch my community (more on that in a minute). I will definitely still have guests on the show, I just want to be more intentional about the conversation. Email… and more Email I miss my doing my “almost daily emails.” So yes, they’re coming back. Like many of you, I’m sure I had been hesitant about email marketing. I knew that it was important (the “money is in the list” mantra of every bro marketer on the planet), but if you don’t fully

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I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as I get closer to launching a community of my own. I think we all have experiences of launching something and it doesn’t do as well as we had hoped. We plan for it, we create the thing, and we get ready to start marketing it. Then when the time comes to release our offer to our audience it falls flat (or at least doesn’t do what we had hoped it would. I want to go deeper into this today because I’ve experienced both sides of the coin. It also fits nicely with my https://kimdoyal.com/fthehustle (#FtheHustle )movement because doing better work should lead to less hustle and greater rewards. What makes me most excited about this is it’s opened my eyes to a completely different (and more deliberate) marketing strategy which, if done intentionally, will always work. Creating the runwayBefore I dig into creating the runway, I want to be clear that what I’m referring to is more like setting the stage and being in alignment. As an example, when Jodi and launched the https://contentcreatorsplanner.com/ (Content Creators Planner) it wasn’t out of left field for me to be creating a physical planner for developing a content strategy. I had started the Content Creators group on Facebook two years prior, had been talking about content and content marketing, and was living by my #EverythingIsContent motto. Creating and selling the Content Creators Planner was completely in alignment with how I had been showing up. The time it took from our initial conversation about creating the planner together and launching it to the world was only four months. It was a pretty crazy four months, but we did it. So even though that window was small, people were already used to hearing me talk about content marketing. As soon as we had a logo and initial pages drafted, we started sharing it. This is why it worked. We went from a failed Kickstarter to a presale on our own website the week after Christmas (and announced the presale on New Year’s Eve) and successfully funded the production. We didn’t have the planner in our hands until March but people had been on the journey with us for months already… They were perfectly happy because they knew we were invested in getting our creation into their hands. This isn’t only about the launch of your product/service/offer. It’s making sure that when you’re ready to market your offer it’s in complete alignment with what you’ve been doing and how you’ve been showing up. This is something I’ve been doing for as long as I can remember, but it wasn’t as intentional as it is today. https://kimdoyal.com/?p=124691&preview=true#cb8f20a078 (Join the #FtheHUSTLE movement!) More runway means more freedomThis is where the magic happens. Because you’re allowing yourself the space and consistency to be in alignment with what you’re doing, you can easily test the market for validation on offers. So as an example: I have a friend who is in my Email Insiders VIP group right now (I’m running another group very soon). She does social media marketing for clients and is very active on these platforms. She doesn’t just create images and accompanying text and then schedule it, she digs deeper into what is working for the different platforms and tests/tweaks engagement. One of the things I asked her about recently was Twitter threads. As I’ve gotten more active on Twitter lately I’ve noticed how popular Twitter threads have become (well, it’s new to me, probably been around a while) so I asked her about them. I was saying that I think Twitter threads would be a great way to share the newsletter every week because I could tag people I was mentioning and referencing in the newsletter on Twitter and that the segments of the newsletter could make for unique tweets. She loved the idea, talked about what she knew about Twitter threads, and encouraged me to test it. My first thought was to ask her if she’d be interested in doing a paid workshop on Twitter

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In this episode I talk with Darby Rollins, founder of the "Writing with Jarvis" book challenge. I connected with Darby in the Jarvis.ai Facebook Group (formerly Conversion.ai) and as soon as I was settled in Costa Rica jumped in to sign up for the latest book challenge. The Writing with Jarvis book challenge is loaded with pre-work so you can do your research, plan the direction of your book (which journey you'll take the reader on), and creating your book outline, and writing your book. All with the help of AI... which in this case, is Jarvis.ai

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I made it! I’m officially in Costa Rica.I’ve been thinking about how I would do this episode in hopes that I could create some structure and not simply ramble at you about the process. I’m sitting here writing the post watching men hang from the trees outside my window to trim branches (they started with machetes and are using chainsaws now). The bonus is my view of the ocean keeps getting better. At the time of this writing/recording, https://kimdoyal.com/its-official-im-moving-to-costa-rica/ (I’ve been in Costa Rica for two weeks). The first 8 were with my daughter and we were really busy trying to see and do as much as possible (which kind of bit us in the ass since we were pretty wiped before we got on the plane). Today is only day 2 of a somewhat normal routine… and that was a little nuts (housekeeper, someone fixing the refrigerator, high speed internet install, and yes, tree trimming outside my windows). My goal for the next few days is to get some rest while getting back on track with work. I need it and my dogs need it (they’ve done amazing considering everything they’ve been through). Fast forward a few days and I’m back to working on this episode Update: I’m sitting out on my patio writing. I’ve got my coffee, there’s a slight breeze, and I’m staring at the ocean listening to birds. I’ve shared my reasons for moving here (and will probably go more in depth in another post on my PuraVidaJourney.com site), so let’s start with the journey here and the last two weeks. https://puravidajourney.com/ (Follow my life in Costa Rica at PuraVidaJourney.com) Getting to Costa RicaBest laid plans, right? The truth is it actually went pretty smoothly. The two months I spent at my Dad’s after leaving Boise was busier than I expected, but really nice. It was great to get to see family a few times as well as my friends in the Bay Area. I had a great night with my girlfriends (these are friends from high school who I’m so grateful for), saw some family friends, and basically worked on getting things (myself), prepared for this move. My daughter drove up from LA on Saturday, May 29th so we could have a graduation party for her with the family. She left her car at my Dad’s because we needed my car to get all my bags, the dogs, and computer in and I’m letting her use my car for a while. We turned around Sunday morning and hit the road back to LA (it’s about a 6 hour drive) and checked into a hotel near the airport (the intention was to do a park & ride… then we found out they weren’t running shuttles because of Covid. They didn’t have the staff to clean them. Tip: make sure you’re talking to the actual hotel and not a reservation line). We decided to stay there anyway (it was only 5 min from the airport) and found a parking garage that would shuttle us over…there was no way we could Uber with all our stuff + the dogs). To enter Costa Rica right now you have to purchase medical travel insurance, which I did. The night before our flight I logged in to fill out our health certificate, which then gives you a QR code so they just scan it at the airport. This was snafu #1. My daughter couldn’t find her passport (and she is super on top of things so we had a moment of freak out). Fortunately, she lives in LA and her place was only about 25 minutes away. We drove to her apartment and she couldn’t find it (where she thought it should be). I had a feeling it was there so went out to the family room to look around and it had fallen on the floor. Hallelujah! Crisis averted. We allowed for plenty of time in the morning to park the car and get to the airport, which is good because we needed it for snafu #2. I had bought the wrong dog kennels for the dogs. Of all the things to NOT check in terms of regulations, it kinda blew my mind that I had forgotten this (and by the way, in terms of transporting the dogs: it was $1000 for their vet visit which included the required health certifications and updated vaccines, then...

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Making the offer doesn’t have to be difficult.I spent way too long making this a much bigger deal than it needs to be. In this episode I want to talk about making the offer, what offers look like, and how to simplify the process. But first… HOLY MOLY! As of the time of this writing, I am literally two weeks away from moving to Costa Rica! 🌴I made this decision three months ago and it’s been go-time ever since. Getting out of Boise was a lot of work, which took me through the end of March. I’ve been down in Northern California for 6 weeks since leaving Boise and the time has flown by. After selling, donating, and dumping as much stuff as possible in Boise (I literally got rid of as much as I possibly could), I’ve still got a storage unit here by my Dad’s house (where I’ve been staying). I’ve got a handful of my daughter’s stuff in my storage unit and am still condensing and getting rid of more of my own things (I’d be content to only hold on to photos and all my scrapbook stuff… eventually I’ll pick that up again). I went down to the Bay Area twice so I could see people and take care of a few things and it’s like all of the sudden here I am. Two weeks from moving out of the country. The closer this gets the more emotions I’m experiencing. The majority of what I’m feeling is pure excitement! I feel like a little kid counting down to Christmas. I’ve been pretty goofy about it… when I check out at a store and someone asks me how I’m doing I respond with “great! I’m moving to Costa Rica in a few weeks!” 🤣 It’s a little bit nutty but I don’t care. Not only is this a huge move for me it signals the beginning of an entirely new chapter in my life. As strange as 2020 was, it was exactly what I needed. I needed a year to myself after losing my Mom, to heal, rest, and have some quiet. I moved to Idaho as a first step to seeing if I could live out of California (born and raised and all my family are here, not to mention lifelong friends). I was open to Idaho being “home”, but it was only meant to be a temporary move. Realizing I wasn’t cut out for the cold and was craving a new experience (it felt a little like “different city, same story”), I made kind of a last minute decision to move to Costa Rica. My lease was set to renew in 5 weeks and I knew Idaho wasn’t where I’d be putting down roots and it just felt like “why NOT?” Within a week I had given notice and found my place in Costa Rica. 😊 Fast forward to today (May 17th), and I’m finalizing all the details for my move (there are a lot of moving parts). All I have left to do is: Get the dog’s health certificates (they have appt.s on the 28th) Buy my medical travel insurance (required because of Covid) Transfer my car registration back to California after getting a smog check Buy my return flight the day before I leave (and will refund within 24 hours… you have to show you’re going to leave the country at 90 days. I’ll be doing a border run to Nicaragua… at least until they pass the Digital Nomad visa – fingers crossed!)

Probably not that exciting to hear about, but it helps me to repeat it, so thanks for that. I will be sharing my journey living and working in Costa Rica on a new site, called “PuraVidaJourney.com” (if you’re not familiar with that saying, Pura Vida in Costa Rica means pure life or simple life). I’ll have a newsletter that sends updates and am thinking about doing a podcast where I interview other digital nomads/entrepreneurs living in Costa Rica (this sounds fun as well as being a great way to meet like-minded people, although I don’t want to only connect with other entrepreneurs). Making OffersMan… if only I had understood this sooner. Most people don’t fail online because they don’t have the skillset or something valuable to offer (i.e, having a solution to someone’s problem)… they fail because they’re not making enough offers AND/OR they’re not making the right offers. This seems like a bit of a catch-22. You have to...

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Piccia Neri joined me on the podcast to talk about Designing for Conversions... how simple little things like the language on a button or the color of something can create a better experience for your visitors and increase conversions. She has an upcoming live summit where you can learn from top experts in this industry.

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It's been a while since I had Trey Lewellen on the podcast. Trey and I met 7 years ago in a mastermind that started off teaching Facebook ads and eventually pivoted to a more general mastermind with an emphasis on FB ads. The first time we hung out together was in Maui at one of the in-person events and I felt like I'd known him forever. Trey's energy is infectious. He's fun, super smart, and simply "goes for it", which is one of the things I admire most about him. Trey's business has evolved quite a bit over the years (you can read or listen to the first few years of his business in the first https://kimdoyal.com/growing-business-t-shirts-interview-trey-lewellen-wpcp-035/ (podcast episode) I did with him here). Once he found his sweet spot with e-commerce, he started coaching and mentoring other e-commerce owners as well as keeping his own e-commerce businesses running (he left his first niche.... which you'll have to listen to the podcast to find out what that was). With everything that has gone on in the world in the last year+ it's clear that e-commerce is only going to get stronger and stronger. And you don't have to be Amazon to do well with an e-commerce business. Trey's superpower is importing products from China (can you imagine how much easier that would be if you had someone in the U.S. who already knew how to do that?)/ I knew that Trey was using a lot of different traffic methods (beyond Facebook), because his Facebook account had gotten shut down. Naturally, I was curious as to how he was driving traffic and what he was teaching, so I asked him to hop on and do another podcast with me. You'll also hear about his latest endeavor, a documentary series called "The Death of Brick & Mortar", where he highlights e-commerce entrepreneurs and shares their stories.

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I’ve officially been back in California for about a week and a half now. And I have to admit, it’s lovely to be back. There are a lot of things that need attention in this state, but it’s hard to beat the weather and the beauty. No matter where I am in the world, it will always be home. The first 4-5 days here were pretty busy with unloading things into storage, taking more to the dumps, and getting set up in my temporary space at my Dad’s. Needless to say, it was a pretty exhausting couple of weeks leading up to the move and then the week of the move itself (the dogs did awesome on the long journey down… it was an 11-hour drive towing my car). Since California opened the vaccine shots to everyone 50+ on April 1st (think it will be open to all ages by the time this comes out), I jumped in and got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot (which was great since I wouldn’t be able to get it in Costa Rica). The shot was no big deal, but a little less than 24-hours later I had flu-like symptoms and was down for the count for the day. Even though the side effects were common, I almost think it was my body’s way of saying “STOP! You need a day girl!” So that’s exactly what I did. I took a bath (I couldn’t tell you the last time I had a fever and chills) and climbed in bed. I alternated between sleep and watching HOUSE (never watched it before… it’s a nice escape and Hugh Laurie is brilliant). You might be wondering what my point is… and why am I sharing my oh-so-dull to-do list with you? During this entire time (we’re talking a solid 3 weeks here), I managed to keep things going in my business and made money in a few different ways. This is what this episode is ALL about. And before I start into the whole “focus and discipline thing”… I want to clarify a few things because it might sound like I’m contradicting myself here (I also appreciate the simple approach or essentialist approach). One thing I haven’t wavered on, EVER… no matter what I’m talking about, is “doing the work.” Even if you have 3 things you’re doing, love them all, and are excited about each… at some point you have to hit publish, ship it, sell it, tell the world about it. Being multi-passionate only becomes a problem when you use it as a distraction or way of life as opposed to diversification. You Decide Where You FocusThis sounds so freaking obvious, but with so much information and opportunity available these days it’s easy to go sideways or get distracted. You’re focused on one thing, let’s say email marketing, then you see everyone talking about Clubhouse and why you should or shouldn’t jump in (I notice the hype and excitement has really decreased). I had a few people tell me I should get on Clubhouse and have been invited to join rooms to speak. I knew I didn’t have the time or energy to jump in, so stayed focused. It wasn’t about whether or not Clubhouse was worth my time or had any value. I simply didn’t want to do it. Might I try another audio platform later? Possibly. But for now, the only audio content I’m doing is my podcast. I have a few things that I do consistently so I make sure I have a certain level of attention and focus there, but then I also know what excites me and keeps me moving forward. I LOVE learning new things… I just don’t love learning ALL the new things. In the last year we’ve seen the world turn upside down. We’ve seen systems and ways of doing things break down before our eyes… most of which is good. Just because something has been done one way for years and years doesn’t mean it’s the way things should always be, right? The same thing is happening with the internet and online business, which, in many ways, is still in its infancy. It just doesn’t feel like it because technology moves so quickly. How to decide where to focus Let’s go back to childhood for a moment, shall we? Where do you enjoy spending most of your time? Now add the most important business question to that answer. Where do you get...

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I had a friend reach out to me on Facebook yesterday with a question that prompted this podcast episode. And bear with me here… I think with this transition and move some of the upcoming podcast episodes are going to have more of a ‘life theme’ to them, but I’ll do my best to share how it relates to my business and where I’m taking things, and more importantly, how that can help you. Here was the question I received: “Hey Kim! Hope you’re doing well! I just read your email about the clean slate and it honestly got me thinking about my future on a lot of things. Things aren’t going well with my current job and I haven’t been happy in a while. My boss offered to pay me for one more month so I can find something else if my heart isn’t completely in it, and I don’t think that it is anymore. I know you have a lot going on and I’m sorry to bombard you with that, but after your email it seemed like maybe you had some insight that I don’t on things! Hope you’re well.” I’m going to give you my response, and then we’ll dig deeper into what I mean by it and how you might be able to implement this in your own life and business. My response: “Hey (his name)! You’re not bombarding me. My insight comes from lots of trial, error, and tenacity (hence the podcast title). From my understanding, you want to have your own business. If you’re not sure exactly what that looks like, that’s perfectly fine. And I get needing a job while you figure that out. However, if you’re enjoying the job, I’d start looking ASAP for something else that feels better in terms of a means to an end. When you focus on where you want to be as opposed to where you are, you’d be surprised at what shows up!” We went back and forth a bit more, I sent him a link to a Dr. Joe Dispenza video on YouTube, and it really got me thinking. I don’t know about you, but I used to put so much pressure on myself to be somewhere else, do more, have more, accomplish more, etc., that I’ve robbed myself of much of the journey and the joy that can only come from being present in the moment. Obviously, with my decision to move to Costa Rica, I’m not doing that anymore (or at least if I do I can tell you that it’s a conscious decision), but it’s been through life experiences that I’ve figured that out. I talk to both of my kids about this stuff a lot. I’ve told them both that they are so far ahead of the game if they can “get” this stuff now… the world is their oyster. One thing I want to share that I originally shared with my son and also with my friend on FB yesterday (he’s about 20 yrs younger than me) is this: “What I do for a living didn’t exist when I was his age.” My son is only 20, and my daughter is 24. I want them both to follow their hearts, do what they love, and make the most of their lives, whatever that looks like to them. I think it’s safe to say that my life is nothing like I thought it would be (when I said that to my therapist one time she was like “ya think?” Meaning… that’s the case for most people). When I was 24 I was dating my husband, we knew we’d get married, have kids, and thought we’d live the typical, traditional, suburban life. When all that was taken from me I did a lot of soul-searching. It’s taken years (and a lot of courage & conscious work), to really own that I want something different. The same can be said for running an online business. When we’re starting an online business (and/or growing it), we all do the same thing (which makes sense). We do some research, we dig in, we study, we find some sort of mentor/guru/guide that helps us get started. That could be in the form of finding someone you resonate with via a podcast or hiring an actual coach. For the sake of this podcast episode, let’s focus on an online business in terms of being a coach, author, course creator, or e-commerce store owner. When I first started back in 2008 I hired a coach and signed up for a social media course (which was pretty much in its infancy)....

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It's been a while since I've started a post or podcast with a quote (and I guess technically I'm not since I'm explaining it before I share it... 🤣), but this feels appropriate for this episode. Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.- Victor HugoHopefully, you're not tired of hearing this (yet), but I shared last week that I am officially moving to Costa Rica! Of course, I'm scared... but I'm doing it anyway (and much more excited than I am scared).This has been something I've been thinking about for probably close to 10 years (not necessarily Costa Rica, but moving out of the country). It started from a place of curiosity and wonder, pivoted to other reasons over the years (let's face it, the United States has had some serious challenges), and now my reasons have shifted again. Of course, the curiosity and wonder are still there, but now it's because I have a massive desire to experience something different. I've never really been someone who wanted to live in a city (I do appreciate visiting a city from time to time), and have spent my entire life in suburbia. I honestly never wanted anything else until 2002. In 2002 I was a best friend's wedding in Italy (her husband is Italian, my daughter was the flower girl and I was a bridesmaid). That trip changed everything for me. I hadn't even been that interested in traveling, to be honest. Once you get outside of your comfort zone and realize how much more there is to experience in the world you see things differently. Even if you don't want to live out of the country or travel much, having those experiences are invaluable. Once I went to Italy I craved those experiences and I knew I wanted that for my kids. I took them to Scotland in 2013, then my daughter and I went to the South of France in 2015 (she's since traveled with friends to Paris and London). They have plenty of time for travel and both have a desire to see and experience things outside of their day-to-day (my job here is done). Back to Costa Rica... Costa Rica wasn't really on my radar until my therapist told me she had property there. Every now and then I would ask her a little bit about her experiences there, why she liked it so much, etc., which then made me look a little deeper into the country itself. When I first started thinking about it I wasn't sure if I really could do it... but over the years, like anything else in life, you start to realize what you really want. I started my business because I wanted FREEDOM. Freedom to be home for my kids, not have to commute, and create the quality of life I wanted. I have always felt like there was something else I was supposed to do with my life (outside of having a job and work for someone else), I never really knew what that was, I simply kept pursuing it. And side note: I say this to my son all the time (he's 20). What I do for a living didn't even exist when I was his age! There is something to be said for having the tenacity and simply continuing to move forward. I've decided I'm going to do a separate site for my journey to and in Costa Rica. I've got the domain name and will be sharing that soonish. I'll do some updates here as well, but if you want to follow that journey in more depth I'll let you know where to subscribe. I'm even toying with the idea of doing a podcast so I can interview other entrepreneurs and business owners in the local area... which feels like it would be a great way to connect with people (so yea, it's a little self-serving). Being scared and doing it anyway You might be wondering what all this has to do with my business. Or better yet, YOUR business. It has everything to do with it. So often I see people waiting to have everything perfect or they have a preconceived idea of what they need in place before they launch something, make an offer, or publish. With instant access to compare ourselves, it's hard not to feel like we should be doing more, be more, have more... the "more" never...

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Kyle Van Deusen joined me on the podcast again (it's been a long while) and we went deep into Facebook groups, newsletters, and email marketing. Kyle is the founder of OGAL Web Design, The Admin Bar Facebook group, and the new WordPress plugin, Docket WP.

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Inspiration can come from so many places if you keep your mind open.I can remember back to being a little kid and making plans with my friends. You had big ideas and big dreams… you didn’t let the “outrageousness” of the dream hinder you from making the plans, right? This cracks me up as I think about it… in the 4th grade, one of my best friends and I talked about how we were going to be rock stars. I was really into music when I was a child, I played piano and was in a children’s choir. We spent so much time drawing our outfits and planning our performances (I don’t remember what we were going to call ourselves). I wish I could remember when we pivoted to the next great idea, but that’s not the point. The point is how we felt while we were “in it.” You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? As entrepreneurs we connect with the excitement of the idea and the planning phases on a regular basis (if we’re lucky). The novelty and excitement can wear off once you start digging in and doing the work, but if it’s right, you keep going. Finding Inspiration I’ll admit it… I can be a bit of a nut when it comes to information. I jokingly said to my therapist that I wish I could get paid to read. Her response? Spot on as always, “well, you do. You take what you’ve read and learned, implement it, and apply that knowledge to what you’re doing.” That being said, there does come a point where you have to consume much less than you create. For me, I have routines for consumption. I allow myself time in the morning when I’m having my first coffee, or when I’m having lunch, or even after my work day is over (I tend to leave my office in the late afternoon, and then pick up my laptop again after dinner). Now that I have two newsletters (https://kimdoyal.com/fthehustle (#FtheHustle )here and https://contentcreatorsplanner.com/category/creativity-published/ (Creativity Published) with Jodi on Content Creators Planner), my consumption has a more direct impact on what I’m doing (can I get an Amen?). I’ve started creating a little bit more structured process for note taking and gathering. There are things I gather to share and there are things I gather for myself. All of this has led me to discovering new people and places that inspire me. What a gift! For the sake of keeping this somewhat focused, I’m going to use the internet marketing/online marketing space as my example here. There is no shortage of experts, influencers, or guru’s to follow in this space. And let’s remove all judgment about how we feel about any of those people… let’s just look at the facts (because I have no doubt some of the people that come to mind when I use those terms may trigger something in you, that’s O.K.). Like you I’m sure, I have my “go to” people that I follow, read, or listen to. On one hand, this is great. You know who inspires you, who you resonate with, and what you like about them. On the other hand, it can lead to challenges that create that feeling of being “stuck” in your business. There are a lot of “names” I’ve followed or listened to in the past that I don’t follow or listen to anymore. And it’s for one simple reason. I’ve outgrown them. When we change and grow the people who brought us to a certain level aren’t necessarily going to be the same ones who take us to the “next level” (that poor saying is so overused and annoying, but it is what it is). Even when these people have significantly scaled and grown their businesses, what they’re doing may no longer relevant to what you’re doing OR… they’re still serving the same audience (which is smart because they know who they serve and how to help them) and you’re beyond that. Here’s the challenge with this. It might be hard to put your finger on it, but as you grow and learn in your business you need to be challenged. Often what happens is people simply move from tactic to tactic as opposed to going deeper (i.e, they go wider). I was listening to a podcast...

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Bridget Willard joined me on the podcast to talk about her brand new WordPress plugin, Launch with Words. We also discussed her books, social media, and marketing in general.

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Creating your own niche IS possible…If you’ve been in the online space for any length of time, at some point or another you’ve heard/read/been told that you need to niche down. As someone who hasn’t ever really done this, I’ve been a little giddy to see a couple of articles popping up lately that go against that age-old advice. I’m going to start by saying you don’t necessarily need to be a generalist either… I’m saying create your OWN niche. Back in the day when I was creating websites for clients, I never niched down. I also never advertised or marketed my services (which I’m not saying is a smart strategy, I simply didn’t want to be doing that work so let it just unfold and see what showed up, but that’s for another day). Before we get too deep into this episode I think it’s also worth noting that if you are in a niche and it’s working for you, then fantastic. I’m not saying that niching down doesn’t work, because I can give you plenty of great examples where it does. I have a friend whose niche is the building industry (construction). She has created a solid and growing business in a very specific niche. However, she didn’t start her business because she went looking for a niche and then picked the construction industry. When I started my online business I more or less stumbled upon WordPress, enjoyed what I was learning and grabbed a great domain name (The WordPress Chick). Those were the good ol’ days…. ignorance was bliss. My imposter syndrome showed up as I started to learn more and it wasn’t until I found my own little space within the WordPress community (marketing & WordPress) that I started to slough off the feelings of being an imposter. Which is why I shifted to my personal brand. I love EVERYTHING about marketing. Content creation, email marketing, copywriting, product creation, offers, chatbots, traffic, etc. I go deep on things that interest me and let them evolve. Let’s look at content creation as an example. I started creating content and continued doing things I loved. I knew very little about SEO, had never done the ‘content silo’ and many of the posts or episodes I’ve created that have resonated most with people have very little to do with SEO. Again, not saying SEO doesn’t matter (it does, and it’s worth doing and getting good at). What I am saying is it’s brilliant to create and publish from a different place. If I don’t feel inspired by what I’m doing it’s simply not going to work. Let’s talk about the whole “niche” thing, shall we? First, let’s differentiate who we serve from the niche. When you’re creating your customer avatar, with demographics and psychographics, you want to get specific. Whether or not that ends up being exactly who you serve isn’t the point. Meaning, let’s say I were to say that my target audience is a female, between 35-60, who has an online business and is looking to stop trading time for money. In other words, even if they love the service work they’re doing they want some leverage. My psychographics are clear: they’re self-responsible, willing to do the work, and are non-judgmental. Does that mean I don’t work with men? Or I don’t work with someone outside of that age range Of course not. What this does is help me get crystal clear on my messaging and who I’m talking to when I create content or copy (including email). When I was in the WordPress space my audience was pretty split (50/50 between men & women). I don’t have current data on this right now but I can tell you that more women purchase from me than men (especially coaching services). In a https://nicolascole77.medium.com/find-your-niche-is-terrible-advice-heres-why-67a18781060d (recent article by Nicholas Cole,) he said: Creators who stand out don’t “find” their niche.The Reason why is hidden in the phrase above.Finding your niche is another way of saying “figuring out where you fit in.” And people who stand out don’t fit in anywhere. Which is the whole reason why they...

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The best path to long term success online is taking an audience-first approach to everything you do. Focus on who you serve and why. In this episode, you'll get: Optimize your website Get picky Boring works Ask questions

Create a solid foundation for your business by focusing on customers, quality, and long term strategy and growth.

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In this episode, I'm sharing my own journey to falling in love with email marketing, why I've decided that I'm going to double-down on it in 2021 and how I'm going to do that.

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It was fun to look back on my accomplishments for 2020. As challenging of a year as it was, I experienced a lot of growth and I'm grateful.

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As we wind down the year and start planning for 2021, I thought it would be helpful to continue the conversation on courage. This is a continuation of episode 59 where I had a conversation with Allegra Sinclair, "It takes courage to be who you are."

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If you feel overwhelmed and aren't getting anywhere then it's time to simplify your marketing. OR, if you just want to get more results from what you're doing. Stop trying to do everything at once. Get ONE thing working and perfect it before you jump into new tactics or give up on whatever you just created.

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My good friend Allegra Sinclair is back on the podcast this week. After releasing my #FtheHustle newsletter I asked her to join me for a conversation on what it means to trust your gut and do what works for you, even if it means some people don't stick around.

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Finishing what you start is so much more than hitting publish or finishing a project. It's about the ongoing activity and effort you continually put towards what you created.

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This episode was inspired by a question from a friend (these are some of my favorite questions and make great content). The question was how did I make the transition from being a service provider to being a coach, e-commerce owner, and course creator. Here's how that happened and what I'd recommend.

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This interview was a blast. I wanted to talk to Nathan because he's built a successful coaching business using Facebook only. He shared his massive distaste for the word "authentic" (which was hysterical) and what he feels people need most and where things are heading.

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How many times a day do you see people making declarations & explanations on social? This need to tell the world everything is crushing your soul. Here's why...

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This episode is a continuation of the last episode, "What it means to #JustSHowUP" Are you willing to take complete responsibility for everything in your business? Too many people are looking for the end-all be-all solution with one course, guru or strategy... the challenge is that none of that works if YOU don't do the work. Each of those things are simply one piece of the puzzle.

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JustShowUP is a mantra, phrase, hashtag that I came up with probably 6-7 years ago and outside of using the phrase frequently, I haven't done much with it. Well, GAME ON. I'm in a bit of a 'business reboot' and feel called to #JustShowUP, make that my movement and show up in a whole new way.

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Shame has no place in business, yet we shame ourselves all the time. Worrying too much about what other people will think. Time to kick it to the curb.

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I have to admit that I thought this was going to be easier than it was. Coming up with 50 lessons didn’t seem that daunting to me, I thought I’d rattle them off in one sitting and get to writing. This was definitely one of those times where the process in and of itself was a gift. Since this is a longer than normal post, let’s jump right into it.

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It's been a long year and I'm feeling like I'm finally getting my groove back. I'm going into depth on what is coming for my personal brand, podcast, Content Creators Planner, and the Facebook group.

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This episode was inspired by an email I received from a friend. He found himself focusing on the wrong things in his business, took a break from social media, and re-focused. He asked me what I'd do if I were starting my business today. This episode goes deep into where I've been and what I would do today.

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Amongst everything going on, now more than ever I believe it's time to #JustShowUP. How you can get through this time, continue creating, and what I'm doing.

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It's been whirlwind few months and I've been taking some time to evaluate where things are heading with my business and this show. I'm back from my 'self-imposed' sabbatical, and am excited to share the direction of where things are headed and all that 2020 has to offer.

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Cory Miller joins me on the podcast to talk about his journey building and selling iThemes and where his next journey is heading. We talked about mindset, entrepreneurship, and how to move forward when life brings you to your knees.

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John Jantsch joined me on the podcast to discuss his new book, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur. This book is a bit of a detour from his previous books (all based on marketing). One in which he says has been a 20 year journey with the work he's done. His personal lessons and things he learned about himself during the process were invaluable.

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The stories we tell ourselves can easily determine whether we succeed or fail. They also dictate our mood and how we approach things. Start telling yourself a better story.

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Being a podcast guest is a great way to grow your brand, gain visibility, and provide value to someone else's audience. Most people go about this the wrong way.

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I'm back to work after losing one of the most important people in my life... my Mom. I've done a lot of reflecting and re-evaluating during my time away from my business. This is the journey, where I'm at now, and what's coming.

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Josh Spector joined me on the podcast to discuss the power of using newsletters to marketing and grow your business. Josh is a veteran of social media and content marketing. He's run the social media marketing for the Oscars for the last 9 years (yes, as in, the Academy of Arts), consults with clients, and is super passionate about Newsletters.

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Allegra is back for part 2 of our conversation about non-douchey marketing and the general state of internet marketing. We talk about content, tools, strategies and even a little bit of GaryVee.

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Mor Cohen joined me to talk about the power of design & branding for your business and how it can increase conversions and sales. We also went deep into the successful launch of her first course, DesignClass.

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Mor Cohen joins me on the podcast to talk about how design and branding can impact your sales and how you can get set yourself up by learning the basic fundamentals to increase conversions.

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As my business has grown and shifted I'm spending much more time trying to be intentional with where I spend my time and energy. What if it was really more about the process as opposed to the outcome? 

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This conversation was inspired by an amazing article by Amanda Bond about "Why Your Facebook Ads" aren't working anymore. She goes deep into the philosophy of 'bro-marketing' and brilliantly called out the crappy, hypey tactics that make us all feel like we need to shower.

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Matt Davies, the co-founder of Funnel Packs, joins me on the podcast today to talk about their amazing new product for getting funnels launched on WordPress in less than an hour! Everything you need from lead magnets to email copy, funnel pages, and more!

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Michelle Hunter of Michelle Hunter Creative joins me on the podcast again for a follow-up conversation to our last episode where we discussed getting clear on your message. In this episode, we talk specifically about packing and pricing your offers.

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The Power of the Company You Keep is vitally important to the growth of your business (as well as your personal well being). I was reminded of this recently after I was invited to a private mastermind.

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Troy Dean joined me on the podcast for a fourth time to go behind the scenes to talk about how he's grown WP Elevation and launched his private mastermind, Mavericks Club. 

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I spent the week in Santa Monica, California with Troy Dean and some of his team for his Mavericks Club event as well as the one-day event for WP Elevation

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This was an amazing live stream from Michelle Hunter of MichelleHunterCreative.com. Michelle is a marketing strategist and copywriter and knows how to help you dial in your message so you're speaking directly to your customers and you differentiate yourself from your competitors (hint: it's not about defining boring customer avatars).

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Tom Morkes joined me on the podcast to talk about something we all need more of... traffic and customers. What makes this unique is that Tom does it all without spending a dime on paid advertising. This was originally a live stream and it was so good I had to repurpose it for the podcast.

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Lorraine McNulty joins me on the podcast to talk about the state of online marketing and online business this week. We talk about pet peeves, what's working, what's not, and where things are heading.

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Daniel Daines-Hutt joins me on the podcast this week to talk about using paid traffic to content to drive conversions, leads, and sales. He completely over-delivered and blew my  mind.

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Jason Resnick joined me LIVE to talk about using content in a follow-up sequence to position yourself as the expert. You might want to get a pen & paper to take notes!

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I was thrilled to have Brendan Hufford back on the show to talk about SEO again. This was pulled from a live stream we did talking about his brand new course, SEO for The Rest Of Us. Brendan brings a much-needed fresh perspective to this space and is brilliant at sharing and teaching through stories.

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Doing an in-depth look at the Content Creators Planner, the Kickstarter that failed, and why the product is still a huge success.

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I've gone deep into the challenges, wins, products, and plans for 2019. This is the longest post & episode I've recorded to date and I think it will resonate with you.

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This was a super fun episode with the president of Kajabi, Jonathan Cronstedt, also known as JCron. We went deep into the journey of Kajabi, how things have developed since the release of 'New Kajabi', all the new features they've released in 2018. We got a little bit of a sneak peek into what's coming in 2019 (Including their first live event). I absolutely love Kajabi. The people behind the company and the culture make it pretty amazing.

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In this episode, I talk with one of my favorite people, Brendan Hufford about SEO, content marketing, and where things are headed with both.

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In this episode I go deep with FOMO, my new physical product and Kickstarter. 

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Joel Erway, of The Webinar Agency and Experts Unleashed joins me on the podcast to dissect webinars, what's working, and what you should do first before running a webinar regularly.

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In this episode I talk with the amazing Paul Lacey, who runs the successful agency, Dickiebirds. Paul is becoming a prolific staple in the WordPress community, is well known for his amazing development and design skills and has some exciting projects coming out for Beaver Builder, GeneratePress and Elementor.

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Slowing down to get their faster is all about getting your mindset right, getting over your fear of selling, and being completely self-responsible.

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In this episode, Landon Porter and I go deep with Relationship Funnels, Relationship marketing, and where everything is heading. Lots of things are changing in the online marketing space, so get your pen & paper ready to take some notes with this episode.

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In this episode, I go deep with Piccia Neri of Design Geeks and PiccianNeri.com. We talk design fundamentals and growing your community with a Facebook group.

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Content repurposing is vitally important for your business, but there are a few things to keep in mind and a correct way to do it.

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In this episode, I go deep with Matt Staton & Matt Tims who run the Facebook Group 'Botpreneur'. We talk about Messenger marketing, using chatbots with advertising, and how Matt Staton sold his house through a chatbot.

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Messenger marketing, chatbots, and ai is on its way. If you're not using Facebook Messenger Marketing, you'll want to after this episode. ManyChat's founder, Mikael Yang joins me on the podcast to talk all things Messenger.

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Mike Killen, the founder of Beaver Funnels, talks about building all your funnels out in WordPress, marketing, sales and so much more in this episode.

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In this episode, I talk about Running a Business When Life Goes Sideways (and my secret project). How do you keep things moving forward in your business when you're the brand and your business requires you to show up when all you want to do is climb in bed.

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Introducing the newest WordPress page builder to hit the market, Brizy. I had a great conversation with one of the founders, Dimi Baitanciuc. This page builder is so easy for the non-coder to use to create beautiful pages in WordPress.

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Kronda Adair, of Karvel Digital, joins me on the podcast this week to talk about how she's grown her digital business, her personal 30-day video challenge to herself and what's coming for her business.

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This episode goes behind the scenes of my recently released Content Traffic Kickstarter free course. The reason, the planning, the production.

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In this Facebook live stream with my friend Davinder Singh Kainth, we discussed the importance of growing your audience first, before launching and selling to people.

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Instagram continues to blow me away as a platform with everything they're doing. One of the things I love most about Instagram are stories, but I'm not as great at publishing them as I should be. Storrito for Instagram changes all that by making it super easy to create and schedule stories from your desktop and now their new phone app! I had the good pleasure of talking with founder Max Weber and getting a little inside scoop into where this amazing tool is heading.

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There's nothing like the end of a project you've been working on for a year and a half to deliver some Life Lessons and takeaways.

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Justin Burns, the founder of the new Miestro course platform, joins me on the podcast to talk about Miestro, what it is, who it's for, and how you can use Miestro to sell your digital courses.

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Growing a Facebook Group takes commitment, consistency, and patience. Here's a look back on the first year of Content Creators, what I'd do differently, and a few recommendations for growing a Facebook Group.

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This episode was a blast. I caught up with my good friend, Jon Perez. Jon and I talked about the projects we had created and launched together, what worked, what didn't, and all the transitions we've both been through in the past year.

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The Kim Doyal Show is the newly updated podcast for what was formerly, The WordPress Chick podcast. Join me for this first episode on this next step in my online journey.

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After an amazing week at Funnel Hacking Live, it's time to share my thoughts, a recap of the event, and why I'll definitely be doing next year. A breakdown of the speaker sessions, the hotel, the connections, and my lack of FOMO.

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It's been a long time since I've published a solo show and I have a lot of updates to share with you today. The virtual Content Creators Summit is next week, LeadSurveys is live and the year is moving pretty quickly.

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This week I talk with Tori Reid about building a brand with content and a Facebook Group. Tori has a unique strategy of creating valuable content, connecting with influencers and growing her tribe through her private group.

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Today I'm talking with Entrepreneur Arlene Batishill. Founder of GoGo Gear, a certified ClickFunnels partner and the author of Retail Shock Therapy.

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2017 was all about self-awareness, going all in with content creation and saying goodbye to things that no longer serve me. I've also thrown in a few content predictions.

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Scott Wyden Kivowitz joins me on the podcast this week to talk about Imagely (formerly Photocrati) and how they help photographers with WordPress.

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I finally had the good pleasure of connecting with Jan Koch to talk about WordPress, e-commerce, and where things are headed.

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Founder Matt Barnett joins me to talk about how Bonjoro is revolutionizing personalized marketing, onboarding, and video in email.

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Content as equity is a new term I heard recently that I wanted to share with you guys. I also have some updates on my personal life and where I've been.

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I was having a conversation with my friend Lee Jackson the recently on a Facebook live stream and we were talking about how sometimes it feels like we're 'cheating' when we're podcasting because we get to spend an hour with these brilliant minds and it's almost like getting a one-on-one mentoring session with them.

That was exactly how I felt the entire time I was talking with Brian Kurtz.

It's been a long time since I've connected with someone new, who I instantly respected, and thought "as soon as I'm ready to hire a mentor next year, I want to work with Brian" (I need to wrap up a few things this year and get LeadSurveys launched).

Brian has an amazing background in direct response marketing (over 30 years) and has brought all of his wisdom from selling offline into the online space. He's also the co-author of 'The Advertising Solution' and has bought the rights to reprint all of Eugene Schwartz' books as well (he also graciously sent me his book as well as Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz... class act! :-) ).

I honestly felt like I had been giving a little bit of a glimpse behind the curtain. Over the last couple of years, I've spent a lot of time going back to fundamentals in marketing and direct response. I've started enjoying the process of mastery of the craft and have found a completely different joy in everything I do.

I can guarantee you if you're even slightly interested in marketing online with a real strategy (i.e, the long game as opposed to quick tactics), you're in for a real treat with this interview. I'd suggest a pen & paper for notes too. Questions I Asked Brian

Can you share your story with the audience? What is Titans Marketing? Let's talk fundamentals and the role they play in list building. What are people doing wrong with list building? What would you suggest someone do to improve their list building? Let's talk about your book, The Advertising Solution. What are you working on now?

What You're Going to Learn

Brian's thoughts on physical mail today How paying postage made him a better marketer What the 40/40/20 rule is What relationship capital is Why the psychology of selling is the missing piece of the puzzle How & Why Brian acquired the rights to Eugene Schwartz books

Where to Connect with Brian Website | Facebook Books & Links from this episode

The Advertising Solution

The Legends Book

Breakthrough Advertising Book

Brilliance Breakthrough Book

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I have a little confession to make before we get into the podcast with Chris Mason of WooCurve.

One of the products sold through WooCurve, Handsome Checkout, was something I had thought about creating with my LeadSurveys business partner, Gordan, about a year and a half ago. Then we pivoted to LeadSurveys (which is good because I'm super excited about LeadSurveys, but that's another conversation).

Needless to say, WooCurve has created two amazing products for WooCommerce users that are long overdue. One-click upsells and Handsome Checkout. What was most exciting about talking with Chris for me (besides the fact that he has amazing products), is that Chris is a marketer first. He's the marketing mind behind WooCurve and speaks my language when it comes to direct response marketing (my most recent obsession).

Let's jump into the interview. Questions I Asked Chris

What were you doing pre-WooCurve? First, I love that you created WooCurve and the two products you guys sell. Can you explain One-click upsells and Handsome Checkout for the listeners? How long has WooCurve been around? What was the process for getting your WooCurve products developed? Who is WooCurve for? Can you share any of your customer's success stories with your products? What's coming for WooCurve?

What You're Going to Learn

How they ran a beta to test the product Who they targeted for their beta version How they decided what payment gateways to integrate with What features they decided to run with when they launched What the 'proof element' is What Chris would recommend to someone getting started with online marketing

Where to Connect With Chris Website | Facebook  Links from this episode

WooCurve

Handsome Checkout

One-Click Upsells

No BS Guide to Direct Response Marketing by Dan Kennedy

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I was introduced to Kyle from my friend Tom Morkes (who I need to get on the podcast still, he's brilliant at what he does and is a stellar connector) and responded like a little kid with who was just given a new puppy! Because my happy place is content and content creation, I was thrilled to get to talk to Kyle who has a brilliant book and was also partly responsible for growing WP Curve with their content strategy (he took over for Dan Norris when Dan got too busy).

The more I dig into "all things content" the more my through processes shift. On one hand, I know there is a ton of value in creating a solid strategy for growing your business with content. On the flip side of that, there's also a ton of value in simply documenting and sharing. No strategy, just creating based on what you're doing and sharing.

This is why I was so excited to talk to Kyle.

I felt like I got to go behind-the-scenes with a master.

Kyle is the author of the amazing book, The Story Engine and founder of ConversionCake. Questions I Asked Kyle

Can you share your story of how you ended up with your online business and an author and expert on content marketing? How did you get the job as the content manager for WP Curve? Can you share the results from your content strategy for WP Curve? Let's talk about The Story Engine. I love that you divided the book into 4 parts and then gave different approaches on how to use the book. Can you share what those 4 parts are? Why do you think so many people struggle with creating content? If you could recommend someone to ONE thing today for their content strategy what would that be? I know you don't have a crystal ball, but where do you see things heading in terms of content? What channels & mediums would you recommend people pay attention to?

What You're Going to Learn

How he created a system around creating more content for WP Curve when he brought on additional writers Examples of what they included in their style guide How focusing only on the data can hurt your content strategy What the invisible value of content is Why you shouldn't work on content one idea at a time Start with the core problem of your audience (and how to find it) Why you should get on the phone with your best customers

Where to Connect with Kyle Website | Twitter | Book

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This episode is brought to you by my sponsor, Content Snare

This podcast interview is long overdue (we recorded a few months ago) and I'm excited to finally share this with you.

I had the good fortune of connecting Jürgen Strauss a few years back through a mutual friend. Jürgen is one of those people who instantly makes you feel at ease and is a true pleasure to talk with. He also has a brilliant understanding of processes and systems, how to grow a team (through outsourcing), and how to scale a business with WordPress. Jürgen is a certified WP Elevation consultant and is also the founder of the Innovabuzz podcast (which I have had the good fortune of being a guest on). Questions I Asked Jürgen

Can you share your background & business with the listeners? You've also got your podcast, the Innovabuzz podcast, can you share a little bit about the podcast and why you started it? What has the podcast done for your business? One of the many reasons I wanted to have you on the show was because I know you've got some amazing skills when it comes to systems & processes. How did you get into that? What are some of the things you see people afraid of doing or afraid to implement when it comes to creating processes & systems? For web development agencies, is there a common mistake people make? What's coming for the rest of this year for you?

What You're Going to Learn

How Jürgen went from chemistry to the internet How he's learned to build remote teams in China, Japan, Singapore, India, Europe, and North America while being based in Australia How to focus on building strategic relationships and partnerships to grow remote teams How they position their projects for long-term work with their clients How his podcast was originally focused on innovation and has morphed into so much more (and what it's done for his business) How to connect with startups and get feedback and responses when using their tools How to make sure your team understands the why behind the company and their tasks

Where to Connect with Jürgen Website | Facebook | Twitter

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This episode is brought to you by our sponsor, ContentSnare 

Anyone who has ever worked with clients to create their website can tell you that the hardest part of the process tends to be getting the content from the client to put into the website.

My guest today, Christine Thatcher, and her business partner, Michelle Hunter, have solved this problem and are now showing other people how to do the same. What's fun is that I connected with Christine through our mutual friend (and sponsor of this podcast episode), James Rose of ContentSnare.

One of the things that I was most excited about when Christine explained the Content Bottleneck Course to me was that they've created wireframes for client content (many people are familiar with wireframes for websites, but not for getting client content). We also talked about the soon-to-be-released Designing to Delight Course, which will help you "Master the Art of Drama-Free-Design" (I wish I had this when I was doing websites!). Questions I Asked Christine

Before we get into your content course and design course, can you share your background with the listeners? How long have you been doing client work? What made you decide to step into course creations? How did you decide what to create for the design course (who was this for)? What made you decide to create the content course? Can you share a little bit about what the content course consists of? When are your courses available?

What You're Going to Learn

What Christine's biggest challenge was when she created her first course How she decided to price her course What her students say is the biggest shift after having taken her course The importance of leading the client through the design process How she collaborated with her business partner, Michelle Hunter, to create 'Say Goodbye To Content Bottlenecks" Why she moves her content due date to the middle of the project

Get the Courses & Join the Facebook Group

Designing to Delight

Sat Goodbye to Content Bottlenecks

Drama Free Design Collective

Where to Connect with Christine Website | Facebook | Instagram

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I have a confession to make.

I was SUPER hesitant to jump into live streaming. For a few reasons. The first reason was that I would have to "get ready", as in, do my hair & makeup every day (O.K., technically I don't have to do that. I get that most people really don't care if what you look like if the content is good, but this was my hang up). Another reason was that I didn't want to just jump on at talk at people.  I wanted to have a strategy, plan it a bit, and make sure I had some time to promote the live stream.

When I did jump in I got results INSTANTLY.

I was floored by the engagement, the number of people that showed up (more than normally show up for a webinar), and the traffic to my live stream post after the event (I pull the videos into my site with Simple Social Press and write a post along with the video. The bonus with using Simple Social Press is that it also pulls the Facebook comments into the site as blog comments, which is awesome).

I knew I wanted to have someone on the show to talk about live streaming and after seeing Ross Brand everywhere, I knew I wanted to connect with him. We recorded this a few months ago and things have just gotten bigger (and better) since we first connected. Questions I Asked Ross

Can you share a little bit about your background and how you got into live streaming & broadcasting? What is your current business? What are some of the things people are doing with live streaming? How are people monetizing live streaming? Why do you think people are so hesitant to get into live streaming? Who are some of the people that you see doing live streaming well?

What You're Going to Learn

The three different ways people are monetizing live streaming How Mario Armstrong, of the 'Never Settle Show' is using live streaming to grow his brand What differentiates live streaming from T.V. The technical basics you need to get into live streaming The power of finding the right platform for your audience Why you should look at live streaming as a content strategy

Where to Connect with Ross Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Thanks to this episodes sponsor, ContentSnare, Get Website Content From Clients Without The Hassle

Feel like No One Is Listening? I've been there. And I'm going to warn you, this might be a bit of a rant, but it needs to be addressed.

It seems like lately, I'm having a lot of conversations about people feeling frustrated with their business, or wondering "what to do?"  I don't think this is a coincidence since I feel like I've finally gotten clarity around all of this myself. The thing that boggles my mind (and this isn't a judgment because I did the exact same thing), is that when we're TOLD what will change things and make the difference, we do nothing about it.

Even if the person who is guiding us or helping us is walking the walk, has actual REAL LIFE evidence that what they're telling us works. We still don't listen! We are crazy creatures.

Before I dive into this any further, let's dispell the myth once and for all:

Building an online business takes time and work, just like any other business.

Exciting, isn't it?

NO!

That's the problem with us... the basic, boring response of doing the work is NOT what we want to hear. This is the internet, after all, things are supposed to be MAGICAL here, right? It's all supposed to be easy.

The problem with easy is that it's subjective.

First, let me tell you that I will take building an online business over working a job any day. After having spent 20+ years in retail management, where I was on my feet all day (in dress shoes mind you, dressed up since I was the manager yet I still had the pleasure of being an extra pair of hands on a daily basis), and two bunion surgeries and plantar fasciitis later, that this beats doing that all day long (and now that I've stopped doing service work it's that much better).

I get it that not all jobs are physically laborious, but we're not digging ditches or sitting in traffic for 2-3 hours a day (another reason I need to move out of the Bay Area in a couple years). I get that some of you may have day jobs too, so I'm not poking at you here, I'm simply pointing out to people that don't appreciate how much easier it is to work for themselves.

Yes, there are struggles, challenges, money stress... I'm not negating that.

But there's like this idea that this is all smooth sailing.

This rant was brought on by an email I read this morning about someone feeling unhappy about their business. They had debated even continuing (this is a successful marketer), then realized they wanted to do things their way. They were tired of launches, fancy sales copy, marketing tactics, etc.

Before I tell you why I think this is hogwash, let me say that what came through loud and clear in this email to me was that this person was TIRED. More than anything, they need a break. Some time off, a little space, and probably some simplification in their business (see what 14 years of therapy with an amazing therapist can do for you?).

Now let's get into why this is hogwash...

No-one is making you do ANYTHING you don't want to do!

Don't want to do a 'launch'? Great. Don't.

Don't want to write 'fancy copy'? Cool, write whatever you want.

Want to be more authentic and do things your own way? Sweet, no one is stopping you.

BUT... and you knew this was coming...

You STILL have to market your business! If you had a brick & mortar store, would you be whining about having to market it? You better be good at writing copy (fancy or otherwise) if you're going to do any marketing. You're going to have to SELL... that's all marketing is, selling.

The methods used for marketing online are obviously different (can you imagine trying to do a 4 series video launch for a product offline?), but they work.

The frustrating (and kind of exciting) thing about the internet is that things change so fast. Just when you think you've figured something out they change the game on you.

Or have they?

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As someone who has done more organic marketing than paid traffic, when I first came across Ben Perry and his Organic Facebook Marketing I was immediately intrigued. I think the ideal situation is organic with a paid strategy, but when you're first getting started (or rebooting things), then having an organic strategy in place is a must.

The beauty of a good organic strategy is also that you're getting data without having to pay (at least monetarily, you're going to have to pay with your time, because just like anything else, growing a business organically takes work and time).

I connected with Ben through is Facebook Group, Organic Marketing Secrets.

What I loved instantly about Ben was his willingness to show up, every day, and do the work.

Questions I Asked Ben

Tell us about your background (what were you doing before starting your online business) When you joined the military was your intention to have a long-term career? Have you found that when you share your story it connects you more with people? Where did you start with internet marketing? What made you decide to go into organic Facebook marketing? Let's talk about Facebook Live. What are your insights around this medium? Why do you think people hesitate to show up?

What You're Going to Learn

How his daughter's cancer diagnosis drove him to re-enlist in the military How Ben went from being discharged from the military to a thriving online business The initial product (person) that inspired Ben at 16 to get into marketing (and is where he picked up after he left the military) How jumping full force into Facebook in 2013 forced Ben to cash out his military retirement so he could work with a mentor How Ben used the GI bill to pay for school and support him while he was completing school and immersing himself in marketing and sales

Where to Connect with Ben Website | Facebook Group

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I've been thinking about this a lot in the last month or so and knew it was time to share it on a podcast with you guys.

Hopefully, through the writing of these show notes, I'll be able to articulate exactly what I mean and it makes sense to you (hopefully by now you guys are familiar with 'Kimspeak' though and this will flow for you).

I've been sharing how I've been a little obsessed with all this stuff 'behind the scenes' lately... and it's working. Taking the time to work on this stuff and figure out the things that people can't see is helping me create better stuff that people can see. The end product.

I'm going to share something with you from one of Seth Godin's books, "What To Do When It's Your Turn (and it's always your turn)":

"WAIT.

While standing on one foot, we ask, impatiently, "what's this about?"

We don't go to a movie unless the coming attraction tells us exactly what to expect.

We don't listen to music we're not sure we'll like.

And we want to know how to pigeonhole every idea and every book so we can move on and click.

Please, wait.

Let it simmer. It might not be for you, but at least this time, postpone the relief of resolution.

This is your opportunity to make something that matters."

-Seth Godin

Amen.

We're living in a time when it's very easy to get distracted, get consumed by information, and stay stuck on the hamster wheel. Yes, entrepreneurs can get stuck on the hamster wheel just like employees do. What happens is we start our businesses excited and motivated. We take off from the start line guns blazing (I don't know if that's the correct saying here, but you get my point).

Then a few months in you realize, "hmm... this is hard work. This is going to take longer than I expected" and you start looking for a different path. You still want the results you hoped for when you started, freedom, income, making your mark on the world, but all of the sudden you realize that just like a job, you have to show up every day and do the work.

Don't worry, before you think this is going to be another post or rant about "doing the work", hang with me for a minute.

What I've realized (just in the past couple of years), is that we often think we're doing the work. And we are... sort of.

Here are some of the things I'm referring to, tell me if they sound familiar:

Reading posts and books about what you're doing Buying and starting courses (because after all, it's that ONE course that will change everything, right?) Creating cohesive branding collateral (logo, site, lead magnets, etc.) Mapping out products and services Sharing things on social media Making lists of ideas Creating multiple opt-ins on your site ... etc., etc., etc.

Here's why that's only 'sort of ' doing the work. You NEVER actually produce anything. Cue the sad music...

Let me share a couple examples/stories because I think it will make more sense and probably connect on a deeper level for many of you. Before I share these stories with you let me say that there is zero judgment here.

Both are examples of people I know and am close with, and both are still in the same place they were 9 years ago when I started this business. One friend, I've known for about 20 years and one is someone I met the first year I started my business.

Story 1

The first friend (that I've known for 20 years), was with me from the very beginning of my journey. She and I had gone to a wealth expo in San Francisco (pre-crash of 2008, I think it was 2006?) and went into one of their side sessions and it was about internet marketing. I had already had my interest peaked after having heard someone on an audio program talking about it. Before I go any further, let me remind you that I was NOT technical at this point in my life (or should say I didn't think I was).

We were both hooked by the promise and possibility of the internet (I really thought I was going to be a million...

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When I looked back to the first time I had Dan Norris on the podcast I was floored to see that it was almost 100 episodes ago! Dan as always has been busy creating, producing content,  and even launching a brewery!

I had a ton of questions for Dan about Black Hops as well as the sale of WP Curve his books, and the fun project he launched for explainer videos, BoredAF ( I told you he's been busy). At the time of this recording, Dan and his partners with Black Hops Brewing had just hit a milestone revenue mark which was pretty exciting (he was pretty generous with sharing numbers when he could, which I kind of put him on the spot a few times, unintentionally. Sorry Dan!).

Of course, I had to pick his brain about content creation. Having gotten sidetracked a couple years ago with the mastermind I was in, you guys know I've come full circle back to working on (and mastering) the fundamentals. Content is a huge part of the fundamentals for me and Dan's book, Content Machine, was pivotal for me. Questions I Asked Dan

How has opening a brick & mortar business been for you? (Black Hops has brewery you can go to as well as finding the beer in other local pubs & stores) Your books Content Machine and Create or Hate were game changers for me. What are your thoughts when people say they're not good at creating content? How did your third book, Create or Hate come about? What can you share about the sale of WPCurve to GoDaddy? You've also been very transparent about the challenges you've dealt with to get to where you are (when you discussed getting kicked out of University and not making money with your agency). What are your thoughts about people being hesitant to share the struggles? How do you balance everything? What are your thoughts on focusing on "one thing?" Let's talk about Bored AF. I'm assuming the name came out of you wanting something new to work on, how's that going? What are your thoughts on Medium? What's in store for you next?

What You're Going to Learn

Where the idea for Black Hops came from How they created a unique beer for a video game (major release) The next step in growing and expanding the brewery and their beers The roll his books play in his overall business plan How the sale of WPCurve to GoDaddy happened (and what he could legally share with us) Dan's thoughts on repurposing content (hint: he's not a fan) What he's focusing on now

Where to Connect with Dan Website | Facebook | Twitter Links from this episode

A 7-Figure Business in 18 Months with Dan Norris WPCP: 056

Black Hops Brewing

Content Machine

Create or Hate

7 Day Startup

Operation Brewery

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O.K, guys...

This episode is a little different in that I recorded the episode from the car before I wrote the show notes.

My standard process for solo show episodes is that I write out the show notes first, then use those as a guide to record the episode. I've been thinking about how to proceed with the show notes for this episode and am going to do something a little different.

I'm going to give you the bullet points and then will include the transcripts after the fact (I'm still working on them). I'm sure I'll be adding to the post after the transcripts are completed but I really wanted to get this episode out first (not wait for the transcripts).

This episode was a ton of fun for me because I've been a little extra fired up lately. But fired up in a good way.

I feel super focused with everything I'm doing. Why You're Not Making Money with Your WordPress Site Are you the technician or the entrepreneur?

If you're stuck in the day-to-day tasks in your business and don't feel any further than you did in your business last year? You're probably the technician.

If you're able to focus on what you're really great at (as opposed to keeping yourself busy with what I call the 'peripherals'), then you're the entrepreneur. At some point, you need to shout from the rooftops that you have something to SELL. That YOU can solve a problem for your customer/subscriber.

If you don't want to do the marketing and promotion, it's quite possible you don't want to be an entrepreneur.

Which is O.K.

Not everyone who is good at a particular skill wants to sell that skill.

They simply want to practice it.

Here's an example of what I mean. Let's say you're an amazing woodworker. You create custom furniture pieces and love what you do. If you're more excited about woodworking than you are about selling the creations? It might be time to hire someone for marketing (or you have to step into marketing until you can hire someone).

My Deep Dive into Expert Secrets This book has totally turned my life upside down (in a good way) and is where I've discovered "the missing piece" in my business.

It was because of reading this book that I've had this light bulb moment and have really dug into ALL my messaging in my business. I'm starting with LeadSurveys (because it's a new brand and I'm still not super clear on everything) then will dive into WPChick.

Here are a few things I've been working on:

messaging why my story (what was the moment or thing that got me excited about LeadSurveys in the first place) what are people's beliefs when it comes to list building and growing their audience what is the pain point for our customer? what is the new opportunity that LeadSurveys offers them? what is the psychology behind what makes someone want to take action?

NONE of this is new you guys.

I've heard it all before, I've read it before, but for some reason, it's all clicking into place.

And it's WORKING.

Links from this episode

Content Creators

LeadSurveys

Expert Secrets

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Don't let the name of this show (or book, The Complete Software Developers Career Guide), fool you.

Having this conversation with John Sonmez, one of the co-authors of the book, was a little bit of a shift for me in term of what I talk about on the show but it's also one of my favorite topics. We talked a lot about self-development, personal productivity, books that changed John's life and how you can take a different perspective on all of this.

The amazing thing about John is that he's got both sides of the equation when it comes to what he calls 'soft skills' as well as the tangible skills you need to have as a software developer (basic overview of things like 'what is source control, what is unit testing, what is continuous integration, etc.). He's also devoted an entire chapter to women in tech, which is awesome.

We covered SO much in this interview! Even if you're not a software developer, you're going to gain a ton from this conversation. John is a huge inspiration and the book is definitely worth grabbing!

Questions I Asked John

Before we jump into your new book, The Complete Software Developer's Career Guide, can you share your story with the listeners? Was there one specific thing or incident that brought on this shift for you in your business? From software developer to performance coach? How did you step into 'act as if'? Pulling in the mindset and self-development into the software development space isn't common. How did the book come about? Were there any epiphanies or things that have come out of writing the book that surprised you? Are you running paid traffic to promote the book? You're producing a LOT of content, how big is your team?

What You're Going to Learn

How John went from a shy kid to software development to performance coach What book kept showing up in John's life that changed everything How John multi-purposed his blog posts into the book (and how you can too) How John used the Pomodoro timer to get the book written How John marketed the book What John means by 'Unmortgage Your Life"

Where to Connect with John Website | YouTube | Twitter Links from this episode

The Complete Software Developer's Career Guide Book

Simple Programmer

Think & Grow Rich

As A Man Thinketh

Psycho-Cybernetics

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Content Snare is the product every web dev person has been waiting for. I know, I know, that's a big claim.

But ask anyone who has ever done a website for a client... I don't care if it's an individual or an agency, getting content from clients is a pain in the arse! Projects can go on way longer than necessary and before you know it, you've got yourself into work debt (basically you start feeling like you're working for free because the project just keeps going on and on and on...).

With Content Snare it doesn't have to.

I had the good fortune of connecting with James Rose, one of the founders of Content Snare a while back for the podcast and am SO glad I did! Not just because they're solving a huge problem in this space but because he's a great guy. There are some amazing things happening in the WordPress space that makes it so much easier for freelancers or agencies to work more efficiently (and be more profitable). I'm really excited to share Content Snare with you guys.

Questions I Asked James

Before we get into Content Snare, can you share a little bit about your business and what you've been doing before launching Content Snare? I'm a huge fan of content and the power of good content marketing. Why do you think clients struggle so much with content? I'm sure there are a ton of reasons you guys created Content Snare but was there a moment or something that happened that made you guys say "we need to create a solution to this problem?" Tell us about the journey to Content Snare. How did you decide which features to include? Have there been any requests that you guys hadn't thought of? What are the plans for Content Snare this year? Your company overall?

What You're Going to Learn

How they came up with the idea for Content Snare How having conversations with designers gave them the validation they needed to start What they did to double their email list in only 3 days when promoting Content Snare What features will be included in the MVP (version 0) Who Content Snare was built for (but I see so many possibilities with it) What future features they'd like to include

Where to Connect with James & Content Snare Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Social Campaigns on automation sounded like a little more hype than I was interested in, but after a friend told me I should take a look at it I did. And I was HOOKED.

Everyone knows I'm a user and fan of CoSchedule, so part of me thought, "do I really need another social tool?"

When it's Missinglettr, the answer is yes. I do need another social tool. I did a quick review and post of Missinglettr when I signed up.

As soon as I signed up I knew I wanted to talk with Benjamin Dell, the founder of Missingletter.

Before we get into the interview, let me give you the quick overview of what Missinglettr is and does.

First, it pulls your content into the platform (Missinglettr is a web app, not a WordPress plugin). You can edit your settings so that as soon as you hit publish on your site it's automatically pulled into Missinglettr. Then Missinglettr goes to work behind the scenes creating a social campaign for you. I've set it so that as soon as the campaign is ready I get a notification from Missinglettr that my "campaign is ready". This is where the magic happens.

You log into your account and can now preview your campaign.

The first step is to review the recommended hashtags. Missinglettr will pull these from your content but you can edit, delete, or add new ones (I tend to edit this every time). Once you've approved your hashtags, the next step is to review the campaign that was created for you. The image below shows you how many campaigns that have been created and are ready for review:

Once you select the campaign to review you'll get the messages that Missinglettr has created for you (there are 9 pieces of content that are scheduled to go out over the next year. And you get to edit them so it's not the same message going out over and over):

Once you edit and approve your messages then you're done!

You get to go about your business and let your content go to your social networks on auto pilot.

O.K., let's jump into the interview.

Questions I Asked Ben

As much as I'd love to dive straight into Missinglettr, I'd love to hear your story and what lead you to develop Missinglettr. Can you explain what Missinglettr is? What gave you the idea? How long was it from idea to MVP? I love your blog strategy (they use contributing bloggers). What made you decide to approach your blog this way? How have you guys been marketing Missinglettr?

What You're Going to Learn

What the development roadmap was for Missinglettr What current features exist What social networks are connected to Missinglettr (note: at the time of the recording, Facebook wasn't connected. It is now) When the calendar view is coming How they're going to incorporate more images and more compatibility with WordPress

Where to Connect Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Build the Machine First. I literally just heard that on a webinar (podcast?) from Shane Melaugh of Thrive Themes (they're launching a new podcast called Active Growth, so naturally I wanted to listen in for their launch. I love their products & content. They're also brilliant at conversions & growth).

I've followed the content on Thrive Themes as soon as I became a customer. It's one of the very few product sites I read regularly (they do content around using their products as well as online marketing strategies). One of my most favorite things that Thrive Themes does is break things down, step-by-step.

Which was no doubt why Shane said to "build the machine first."

Before we get into building the machine, I wanted to talk about a few things I see going on in the online marketing space and what it means for us.

Buh-bye Bullsh*t

Obviously, there will always be the ding dongs out there who make huge income claims or get caught up in the 'make money teaching how to make money' space, but they won't last long. During a recent podcast interview, I had with Troy Dean he reminded me of something I think most of us who have been online for a while forget... "there are literally hundreds of thousands of people discovering WordPres for the first time every day"... think about that for a minute.

And it doesn't have to be WordPress.

Whatever it is you do, there are tons of people out there who are just discovering what you do and would love to learn more. At the same time, there are tons of people out there who hit the web running with enthusiasm for finding their "thing" and find the douchey marketers first. Then they get frustrated because they've invested thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours (quite possibly thousands of hours as well) and haven't made a penny.

They own more information products than they know what to do with, haven't completed most of them (side note: plenty of these products may very well be great products, but most are rarely a 'one size fits all' solution), and are on total overload.

I wish nothing more for people to understand that creating a profitable online business takes work, commitment, and time.

Can it happen faster than an offline business?

Totally.

In terms of speed, that depends on you. Although it's not how quickly you do things... it's how consistently you do things.

As much as I try not to give energy to regrets, I truly wish I had gotten this lesson earlier. I wish I had trusted what felt right in my gut when I was building my business and had the strength to put blinders on when I came across shiny objects or lifestyle images. Not because everything was bullsh*t, but because they were simply distractions. Every time I went in a different direction (and losing site of the fundamentals), it delayed the results I wanted.

Think about it...

Let's say you decide you want to paint your house (or simply a room for that matter). What happens if start painting one wall, then go to Pinterest and start looking at other paint colors. You see something that appears to look better so you go get a different color and start over.

Then you do this 10 more times.

You NEVER see the end result. You never get the full picture for what the color would look like on the house or in the room because you never complete the job.

Let's say you do finish the paint job...

Unless you're having a party or inviting people over you'll never get the 'wow! Love the paint color you chose!' Of course, you painted the room for you, but the validation still feels good, right?

Can you imagine going through this process over and over and over again?

At some point you'd just pick a color... any color, because you'd be so sick of painting that you would just want it DONE.

This is what happens in business when you keep jumping from one thing to the next (note: there is also a time for letting things go before they're finished as well,

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Beaver Themer was the initial reason I asked Robby to come back on the podcast (of course representing the Beaver Builder team). This was my second 'three-peat' guest on the podcast and I couldn't be happier that Robby McCullough joined me to represent Beaver Builder for the third time on the show.

Needless to say, we talked about Beaver Themer, but we also talked about the amazing year and journey that the Beaver Builder team (and company) has gone through. I couldn't be happier for them, their success and the amazing community that has grown from one simple idea.

The simple idea to streamline the site building process. Questions I Asked Robby

Congratulations on the 3 Year Birthday of Beaver Builder! Super exciting! What's changed for you guys since the first interview we did? Can we talk a little bit about the partnership with GoDaddy? How did that come about? The Beaver Builder Community is pretty amazing, how does that make you guys feel to see such a strong community that has grown from your product? How many downloads have you guys had of both plugins (the free & premium)? Let's talk Beaver Themer. Can you explain to the listeners what Beaver Themer is? What are the best uses for Beaver Themer? How long was Beaver Themer in the making? Next is the new UI for Beaver Builder, when is that coming out?

What You're Going to Learn

Why the Beaver Builder team started with a premium product and then released a free version The changes they made to the plugin specifically to incorporate it into the GoDaddy on-boarding process How the Beaver Builder Facebook community was started (shout out to Dave Toomey) What the Beaver Builder team thinks about the third party ecosystem that has evolved from their product Who they've followed for inspiration to grow their support and ecosystem What Robby's thoughts are on pricing in the WordPress space How they've grown with the team What's coming with the Builder 2.0

Where to Connect with Beaver Builder Website | Facebook Group | Twitter Links from this episode Beaver Builder Beaver Themer Beaver Lodge PowerPack for Beaver Builder Ultimate Beaver Addons Beaver Builder Swag Store

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I'm totally going to date myself here... but as soon as I wrote 'Let's Get Personal' in the post title the song "Let's Get Physical" by Olivia Newton-John popped into my head and has been stuck on loop.

Although I will say that I was still in elementary school when this song came out (trying to hold on to as much of my youth as I can I guess).

I've gotten a wee bit obsessed with where things are headed in terms of personalization in marketing.

I'm sure I would have dipped my toes in eventually, but as soon as we started working on LeadSurveys and what we wanted it to do, down the rabbit hole I went.

I'll talk a little more about LeadSurveys in a minute, but let's talk about personalization.

There are a few terms you're probably familiar with when it comes to personalization. You've seen people use custom fields or merge tags in email marketing (ex: Hi {first_name} and it automatically inserts your first name into the body of the email, or whatever name you gave them when you signed up in the first name field. ;- )).

No doubt you've experienced some of this when you're online shopping and next thing you know you see ads everywhere for a product you were looking at a few days prior. This is the magic of retargeting.

It might feel a little creepy (Lord knows all of our action online is creating data for someone), but it's also making sure you only see ads for things you're interested in (note: I'm not saying you will only see ads for things you're interested in. It depends on how many ads are on a site you're looking at and the type of advertising the site owner is using). Things are going to get a lot more personal. I've mentioned in a few of my recent emails that I'm moving from Active Campaign to Drip. I've been really happy with Active Campaign but as I started digging into more automation I realized that Drip has way more potential with their features than Active Campaign does. I also read a great article by Andre' Chaperon where he explained in full detail the power of Drip and he more or less convinced me.

I definitely have plenty to learn with Drip, but that's O.K., I'm in this for the long haul.

Taking the time to set up these automations and send the right message to the right people at the right time will be golden.

Here are a few of the things you're going to see more of when it comes to personalization:

What does all this mean for you?

You don't have to change everything you're doing, but you should start preparing for these options.

The first thing I would recommend you do is to make sure you're using an ESP (email service provider) that has the power to do all of this (obviously my recommendation is Drip). If you're using an ESP that doesn't allow tagging or segmenting, then you should move to one that will does this now and start segmenting your subscribers.

I recently wrote on post in more depth over at LeadSurveys that will explain where to start with this.

Read 'Segmenting Subscribers: Why You Need to and Where to Start'

I cannot recommend ENOUGH that you should NOT jump into every element of this at once.

If all of this is new to you then you should simply start by planning and get the basics set up. Begin by segmenting your subscribers and deciding what the customer journey (or path) is going to be. You don't need to start building crazy funnels with upsells, downsells, etc. Start collecting emails and segmenting subscribers.

That's step 1.

How I'm doing all this...

I've got the basics set up. I have a tagging framework that makes sense to me and follow-up sequences for each. The next step will be a more in-depth sequence with triggers built into the sequences.

My challenge will be managing all of this while doing my daily emails. I love doing the daily emails and won't be changing that anytime soon, so I need to figure out the best way to use both without people being sick of hearing from me.

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I've mentioned how much I love the Beaver Builder community a few times now (on top of loving Beaver Builder in general), Davinder is the perfect example of why this community is so awesome. I've had the good fortune of getting to know Davinder this past year and he never ceases to amaze me with how much he produces (and this is just the stuff we get to see... he has client work too. He's brilliant at producing and creating).

One thing Davinder does better than anyone else I've seen is aggregate content.

His site, ProBeaver does this for all things Beaver Builder.

Anytime I have someone who wants information on Beaver Builder I send them to ProBeaver. He's also recently launched another site, TheWPDaily.com, which yep, brings you WordPress news daily!

Questions I Asked Davinder

Before we talk about ProBeaver, what were you doing before launching this site?

What made you decide to go all in with Beaver Builder?

Creating a niche site around one specific tool in WordPress is a great idea. I’m a huge fan of niching down within WordPress… any recommendations for someone who might be interested in doing something similar?

I also believe that content marketing is one of the best ways to grow your audience and build affiliate income. You create the weekly ProBeaver post and email about all things BB. How much time do you spend on aggregating the content?

You just recently released the Beaver Builder Resource guide. I noticed you did a pay what you want model (or free download). What made you decide to go this route instead of a paid ebook?

I’m assuming you’re an affiliate (hoping) for everything you support and recommend. What has worked well for you in promoting affiliate products?

What’s coming for ProBeaver?

What You're Going to Learn

How Davinder launched ProBeaver without any specific plan or strategy How sharing and documenting helped grow ProBeaver How Davinder used Dropbox to help create ProBeaver Why the Beaver Builder Facebook group is Davinder's favorite Facebook group... ever What Davinder thinks about some of the managed WordPress hosting options (and which ones serve beginners) What Davinder has been working on (and how you can get more news from him daily)

Where to Connect with Davinder ProBeaver Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Thank you to my sponsor, LiquidWeb, for sponsoring this episode.

I’ve been thinking about this milestone episode for a while now. I knew I was coming up on episode 150 and wanted to make sure it was a solo show so I could do a recap of what podcasting has done for myself and my business. I should be beyond episode 150 at this point (I had a few periods in the first couple of years where I had breaks in the show, unfortunately) but I’m here and it’s time to celebrate. I’ll be doing a live stream a few days after this episode goes live with some giveaways for my audience (you have to attend live to get the giveaways), so be sure to like my Facebook page and pay attention to the events!  Moving onto my Business & Life Lessons

Confidence I’ve always considered myself a pretty confident person, but it took a lot longer to get over the imposter syndrome in my business than I ever thought it would. For the first 5 years, I really struggled with “who I am to teach this, or talk about this” (this being WordPress) because I wasn’t a coder or programmer. Eventually, I took a strong stance from that place. I wasn’t a coder or programmer, but I had built a business around WordPress because of my love of WordPress. Plain and simple. As I figured things out I would share them. Simple, not rocket science, right?

Yet for some reason, the simplest things aren't always the easiest things. I've said this many times and it bears repeating for this episode. I launched the podcast simply because I wanted to have more fun. I had zero expectations nor did I have a strategy. I just wanted to bring more of 'me' into my business and have fun while I did it (I was pretty deep in the thick of client work during this time and really feel like I needed something that was mine). The more I showed up as myself, the more the podcast grew. What I was saying was resonating with people and the feedback was beyond encouraging. Choosing to 'show up', be me, interview interesting people and let the rest work itself out was the best thing I could have done. Had I waited until I had a strategy for the podcast I can guarantee you it wouldn't have launched when it did. Podcasts weren't new, but there were far less at the time than there are today. Doing the podcast gave me the confidence I needed in my business to really show up.

Connections & Relationships As much fun as I have doing the show, the connections, and relationships that have come out of the podcast is without a doubt the biggest gift of them all.

It's so easy to get caught up in our businesses and just getting the work done. Sometimes taking the time to connect with people feels like a luxury or something we fit in after the work is done. Having the podcast has sort of 'forced' me to keep connecting with people and extend my relationships.

You can scale your business on your own, but it's a lot more fun and happens much quicker when you have people to share it with and support you along the way.

And at the end of the day, the podcast is a way to use the platform I've built to share someone else's message (or product or service). It's a genuine give for my guest and my audience.

I truly feel giddy when I think about the people who have become friends simply by connecting through the podcast. They've made a difference in my life whether it was business advice, a good laugh or helping me to see something from a different perspective.

It makes me feel like a little kid when I think about how many more awesome people I have yet to connect with.

Sh*t Happens... and it's O.K We've heard all the inspirational sayings like,

"Fail hard, fail fast"...

"It doesn't matter what happens to us, what matters is how we handle it."

"If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you."

You get the point.

The challenge when you're going through something like this is that it can feel overwhelming, frustrating, and lonely.

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Thanks to my awesome web host, LiquidWeb, for sponsoring the podcast.

This is one of my first official '3-peat' guests on the show, and I couldn't be more excited to have my friend, Troy Dean back on the podcast.

Getting to know Troy the last few years has been nothing but inspiring.

I won't get into a bunch of mushiness over Troy today, but suffice it to say I have a ton of respect for who he is and what he's created in his business (and life).

We talked a lot about WP Elevation on this episode but we also went in a direction I hadn't expected. We got into mindset, abundance, and beliefs.

I already thought the world of Troy so it was fun to see where our philosophies lined up in this space as well. In many ways, I feel like I'm finally getting how all of this really fits together. And when I say 'all of this', I mean how what goes on in our head impacts our business (and that you can't really separate the two).

Troy also shared some very exciting news on the show... he's going to be a Dad! Very soon! I think he's about a month out from the due date as this airs. I'm super excited for Troy & his wife (I had the pleasure of meeting her when they were on their California tour last summer).

Questions I Asked Troy

You've had a busy year since you were on the show last (almost a year ago exactly). Let's do a quick update for the listeners first.

I want to talk about the WordPress Business space a little bit (how things are changing, acquisitions, etc.). Not to assume you have a crystal ball, but where do you think things are headed?

You’ve changed your business model quite a bit since our first interview. Can you share a little bit of your journey over the last three years and what’s brought you to where you are?

Let’s shift directions a bit to the small business owner / solopreneur. One thing I’ve been on a little bit of a rant about over the last couple of years is pricing, particularly in the WordPress space.

I know you talk about this a lot in WP Elevation. And of course I assume everyone listening is familiar with WP Elevation, but for the listeners who aren’t familiar, can you explain what WP Elevation is?

How can people get more leverage out of the work they’re already doing?

Who is WP Elevation for?

What You're Going to Learn

Why Troy shifted from a membership model to a course model for WP Elevation How WP Elevation created the foundation for Rockstar Empires Troy's thoughts on the space of WordPress Businesses What Troy listens to that inspires him to keep challenging himself How creating processes for their staff creates what they teach for the customers & students How people are discovering WordPress every day, and what that means for business Why Troy believes in an abundant universe Troy's prediction for SaaS & the role with WordPress

Where to Connect with Troy Website | Facebook | Twitter

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This episode is sponsored by my awesome web host, LiquidWeb.

I've wanted to write a book for a while now.

My guess is that many of you have thought of writing a book too, but the thought of it seems a little overwhelming or you're not sure where to start.

The first time I thought of writing a book was probably a couple years into my business when I had gotten to the other side of some very difficult times in my life. I was (and still am), in awe of all the possibilities the internet provides.

As someone who has been an avid reader my entire life (and spent 10 years in the book industry), the stories of inspiration and hope drive me the most (and yes, I love a good novel too).

This is why we love the 'hero's journey', isn't it?

As entrepreneur's, we all feel that "call to adventure" (the first step in the hero's journey, thank you, Joseph Campbell).

Which is also why I was excited to talk to Jesse Krieger, of Entrepreneur's Press. Jesse's own story is full of adventure, challenges, and opportunities. Which all led him to create his publishing company that helps entrepreneurs get their message out to the world through publishing their own books.

Before you jump into the interview, make sure to sign up for the free online book summit:

Sign up for the online book summit here

Questions I Asked Jesse

Before we get into the publishing side of your business, you have a fascinating background! Can you share your journey from musician, to USB store owner to Lifestyle Entrepreneurs Press (before you published your first book)?

Let’s talk about your first book, Lifestyle Entrepreneur. What was it about and how did it come about?

When did you decide to go all in with helping entrepreneurs become published authors?

I'm sure a lot of people would like to write a book but think they don’t have it in them or aren’t sure about whether it’s worth the time and energy. What are your thoughts?

I spent 10 years in the book industry and am a huge reader… there are books on every topic imaginable. How do you guide clients who think their market wouldn’t really be served by a book?

What are some of the benefits of having a book?

I would assume that the promotion is as important as the production. What should someone know about the promotion side of things?

What You're Going to Learn

How Jesse's career as a musician led him to Southeast Asia How he got his first book published in Malaysia The difference between the publishing world in Asia and the U.S. and what his book tour was like How he launched his company, Lifestyle Entrepreneurs Press How you can write a book, even if you're not sure where to start The different ways you can get your book written How to join Jesse's free online book summit

Where to Connect with Jesse Website | Twitter | Facebook

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Thank you to my sponsor and awesome web host, LiquidWeb for sponsoring this episode.

I wish I could tell you that SEO was something I got excited about. For me, it's one of those necessary evils. Over the years I've gotten better at it (although I'm still not a fan of keyword research... also a necessary evil, but all worth the time and effort) and can see the results of my efforts.

All of that was before I connected with Phil Singleton, one of the authors of SEO for Growth. Phil got me to think of SEO in a whole new way.

Mainly because he believes that SEO isn't simply the tactics that have been used. It's the bigger picture. SEO for Growth incorporates content marketing and social media (and we all know how I feel about content, don't we?). I could have talked to Phil for hours... not only is he a great guest with a ton of energy, he's like this massive wealth of knowledge. You're definitely going to want to take notes or at least download the transcripts (you can grab them at the end of the post, I've got an opt-in for you to get them).

Questions I Asked Phil

First, you’ve had a pretty fascinating career that led to your SEO path. Can you share that journey with the listeners?

Since we can’t cover the entire book in an hour (and want people to buy the book anyways), there are a few things I picked out that I thought would be most helpful for my audience. A little basic question, but can you explain inbound marketing?

You talk about why 99% of websites fail. Are there a couple common things you see a lot of people doing?

Can you help me get over my hatred of keyword research?

Are there a couple tips or best practices you can share about link building? I know I personally don’t have a solid strategy for this because I’m not exactly sure where to start.

How does social media tie in with SEO?

I’m a huge fan of creating, producing content. I still see so many people struggle with this. Any advice?

What You're Going to Learn

How working overseas and learning Mandarin led Phil towards entrepreneurship and owning his own agency Why Phil thinks podcasting is one of the most over-looked opportunities for SEO Phil's opinion on guest posting (hint: it's not dead and is still a great way to build quality links) Why web designers have a huge opportunity right now How to leverage relationships and influencers for SEO and traffic How they used influencers to amplify the book marketing How social media works with SEO (despite what Google says or doesn't say)

Get SEO for Growth 

Where to Connect with Phil Website | Facebook | Twitter

Links from this episode SEO for Growth website Chief Marketing Officers at Work - Josh Steimle Anne Handley

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Thanks to LiquidWeb for sponsoring this episode of The WordPress Chick Podcast

After years of having a team for development, I knew it was time to get some help to speed up my site. I'd done plenty of things on my own (caching, CDN, deleting plugins, etc.), but the truth is this isn't my wheelhouse. And I had zero desire to learn how to do these things. Since I've been publishing a lot more content and putting a conscious effort into driving traffic to my site I knew I needed to optimize it. I also wanted someone to go through things that may have been done quickly as opposed to correctly and clean up things (this sounds so ambiguous as I'm writing it, but trust me, I had a plan). The first thing I thought was that I would go to WPCurve. Then realized I couldn't... when I wanted to sign up they weren't taking new customers due to the recent acquisition by GoDaddy. Hmm... fortunately, I happen to be in a private Facebook Group and someone had posted a request for a review of their site, ValiusWP. I don't remember exactly what the question about their site was but when I saw that they offered WordPress support I went instantly over to the site (talk about the power of sharing in Facebook Groups, right?).

I signed up for the plan that included site optimization. Hallelujah! My site speed increased by a couple seconds... WOOHOO! Each week I get a website care report that lists:

Massive peace of mind. Their support is amazing (during normal business hours I get a response in less than 15 min? Usually sooner). I knew I wanted to have them on the podcast to spread the word (I've already referred a couple friends). If you're considering looking for support for your site (unlimited small jobs), look no further. Questions I Asked Steven

What were you & Kolby (his business partner) doing before launching WP Valius? Where did the name come from? How did you and Kolby connect? What made you decide to launch a subscription model support company? What are some of the common things people request help for? I signed up for the site optimization and LOVE it. What are the biggest issues you see with site optimization? How's the growth and marketing for the company going?

What You're Going to Learn

How quickly they got up and running with their support model How they approached pricing How big their team is Some of the most common issues people have What defines a 'small job' (unlimited 3o minute tasks) Which plugins they use (they have a basic plugin library) How you can get started with ValiusWP

Where to Connect with Steven & ValiusWP Website | Twitter | Facebook

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This episode is sponsored by LiquidWeb... Managed WordPress Hosting Done Right (my words).

One of my favorite non-fiction books of all time is 'The Obstacle is The Way" by Ryan Holiday. Last year he released "Ego is the Enemy", which comes as a close second.

What do I love so much about these books?

The stories.

True stories.

Of people who have come before us, faced adversity, lived by their convictions, and stood for something. Having been born in San Francisco (a 5th generation) and raised a 49er fan, it didn't come as much of a surprise when Ryan referenced the late, great Bill Walsh.

I'm not about to start spewing NFL statistics, but I don't think there are many people that would argue if I said Bill Walsh was one of the game's greatest coaches. Of all time.

Here's why Ryan Holiday was so influenced by Bill Walsh's book, The Score Takes Care of Itself.

"Walsh took the 49ers from the worst team in football to the Super Bowl in less than 3 years. How? Not with a grand vision or pure ambition, but with what he called the Standard of Performance. That is: How to practice. How to dress. How to hold the ball. Where to be on a play down the very inch. Which skills mattered for each position. How much effort to give. By upholding these standards—whatever they happen to be for your chosen craft—success will take care of itself." -Ryan Holiday (from his post, Books to Base Your Life On)

What do these books have to do with online marketing?

Everything.

When you hear the term 'internet marketing' does your mind automatically go to images of young guys posing in front of Ferrari's, mansions, yachts, and all their friends living the 'laptop lifestyle'?

Yea.

Me too.

Before I come off like a complete hypocrite, I will say that I bought into the 'laptop lifestyle' for a bit. When I was part of the mastermind for a couple years I thought that meant you were successful. It was almost as though if you were showing your fabulous lifestyle then you weren't successful.

No one told me I needed to buy into this, I went willingly.

Why?

Because I didn't trust myself. I didn't trust that how I wanted to live my life, what type of business I wanted and getting there on my own terms was enough.

I had some success, but it wasn't sustainable.

I was spending a lot of money in hopes of making a lot of money.

It was exhausting.

I had some amazing experiences, met some wonderful people and learned a lot. It was because of the mastermind that I started paid traffic (Facebook ads). I also learned how I didn't want to run my business.

I also learned how I didn't want to run my business.

After a very busy 2015, I needed to take a break. Regroup. I realized with all the travel I did for business in 2015 I didn't feel energized.

I felt drained (none of the trips were restful or a vacation).

Which is why it's refreshing to see the 'laptop lifestyle' on its way out.

I was talking with a friend last week who is involved in Facebook advertising and she said that the ads that used to work on Facebook (flashy cars, expensive lifestyle) are no longer working.

Can I get an AMEN?!

I love that the push for a certain lifestyle has worn out it's welcome. I think we've all grown weary of what we see online... the pictures that show the fabulous life, the perfect family, the amazing trips, etc. Not that those things don't deserve to be celebrated because they do. When you work hard for something you absolutely should celebrate it. But those are moments, not our lives. And it's vitally important that we learn to keep those moments in perspective. If the 'amazing' moments carry so much weight in our lives how do we feel when we're not living in a constant state of awesomeness?

Do we appreciate the day to day goodness in our lives?

Or are we constantly in a state of never being happy with where we are.

I know that's exactly what happened for me.

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This episode is sponsored by my awesome web host, LiquidWeb

I think at some point many web developers are posed with the question of growing their business into an agency or staying on the solo path (even if you have a team, you may choose to stay small). I waffled with this for a long time. You guys have heard me say over and over again that it had never been my intention to build websites. I fell in love with WordPress, started playing around with it and the next thing I knew I was bartering a website in exchange to having some tile done in my house. At the time, it was a win-win. Looking back sometimes I wonder if it was choosing the wrong fork in the road, but I guess that's how we learn, right? Fast forward to a few years after that first project and I had hired a developer and a designer. The only problem with doing this was that I never really learned to properly price my projects. A couple years after having hired the developer and designer I had a project manager and an outsourcing company (other WordPress site builders, like myself, were using my developers and designers). At the time it seemed like a smart decision. It was great cash flow and didn't require much on my end. It did, however, give me a much higher overhead than I ever wanted and all of the sudden I felt trapped.

The good news is if you really love what you're doing and have a passion for building websites, you can learn how to scale your business into an agency with larger projects that are much more profitable than the freelancing only route. That's what Brent Weaver of Ugurus learned. Brent got into website building at a young age, continued doing so with a good friend (still his business partner), learned a lot of the mistakes we all make along the way, then figured out how to scale his business the right way. Questions I Asked Brent

Before we get into Ugurus, what were you doing before you launched the company? What brought you to creating Ugurus? (Why did you start the company?) When you launched Ugurus, was the Bootcamp your first product? What are some of the things that get in the way of people creating an agency (moving from freelancer or solo entrepreneur to agency owner) When I was looking at the 10 weeks of the bootcamp, one of the things that stood out to me was in week 4, the anatomy of the $10k project: Discover why you need to transition how you present yourself. I noticed a huge difference once I scaled my team and it wasn't just me. Any tips you can share without giving away your course? Are there common characteristics you find that make someone a good agency owner (vs. staying a freelancer)? When should someone consider expanding their team? When's the next Bootcamp?

What You're Going to Learn

What Brent was doing in Australia for 6 months and how he realized cubicle life wasn't for him How he and his partner almost ran their business into the ground When it's good to have office space (what are the 'right reasons') How investing in mentoring and coaches shifted the business (and created a business they could sell after 12 years) When Brent realized there was something to the teaching and training he was doing (hint: he was creating content) What the first Ugurus course was How they've built their team of coaches What courses Ugurus offers

Like Brent mentioned in the episode, you can get access to their Web Design Sales kit! Just click the button below to get free access!

Where to Connect with Brent Website | Twitter | Facebook

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This episode is sponsored by my awesome web host, LiquidWeb

It's no doubt that I'm a huge fan of Beaver Builder page builder for WordPress. Because of how awesome Beaver Builder is, there are a lot of great 3rd party products being developed. One of my favorite products is PowerPack by WPBeaverAddons.

PowerPack takes Beaver Builder to a whole new level with a massive collection of additional modules and templates.

Needless to say, PowerPack is a staple now for me with any site I'm working on (which is pretty much only my own projects at this point, but it's definitely a staple).

I had connected with the founder of PowerPack, Puneet Sahalot, through the amazing Beaver Builder community a while ago and knew I wanted to have him on the show. I was excited to talk to Puneet because they came on the scene pretty quickly and have made a huge mark in the Beaver Builder community. I'm constantly amazed at what they give to the community (they also have their own free Facebook group) as well as offering great tutorials and content on their blog.

Questions I Asked Puneet

Before we get into all the awesomeness that is PowerPack, tell us about IdeaBox and the history behind your company. How did you get into Beaver Builder? What made you decide to go all in with the Beaver Builder add-on modules? The Beaver Builder community is certainly an amazing community online. You guys have really embraced the community and become a part of that. How has the journey with PowerPack been? How do you and your team decide which modules to start with and how do you decide which features to add? How are you guys marketing PowerPack? What's coming this year for you and your team?

What You're Going to Learn

How they launched PowerPack in a short period of time and gained massive traction How they came up with their pricing model What other plugins Puneet and his team have created How they're using free plugins to build their audience Which form builders they created custom modules for first How their Facebook group drives which features and modules they work on first How many modules they launched PowerPack with

Where to Connect with Puneet Website | Facebook Group | Twitter

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Thanks to my podcast sponsor, Liquid Web, for sponsoring The WPChick Podcast!

I know that lead generation and list building are nothing new but hang in there with me. We're going to go in a little different direction with this and a lot of it might be new to you (or you might be aware of it but haven't implemented it... yet).

My goal with this episode is to get you to look at lead generation and list building from a different perspective, not just something that internet marketers push because "the money is in the list"... because let's face it, in this case, quantity doesn't count as much as quality. I was recently reading a post by Matthew Woodward where he deleted over 40k subscribers from his mailing list.

FORTY THOUSAND!

(if you want to read the full post, click through to Matthew's blog here)

First of all, kudos to him for doing that.

My last purge was over 1000 people, and that was painful. I can't imagine deleting 42k subscribers.

However, he just saved himself a ton of money by getting rid of people who were not responsive. Anyone who hasn't opened your email in the past 6 months probably needs to go. Plain and simple.

Let's start with the missing piece of the puzzle to all of this.

There is a correct way to build a list and an incorrect way to build a list. The problem is that you don't know it's incorrect until after the fact (at least I didn't).

And let me say that doing something is always going to be better than doing nothing.

I will confess that I haven't ever purchased a list building course (at least not to my recollection... 9 years in it's quite possible there is something sitting on a hard drive somewhere that promised me wealth through list building).

Not because there weren't plenty of opportunities, but quite frankly, none of them seemed all that appealing to me.

Most seemed to focus on the basics:

I know that's probably over-simplifying it a bit, but you get the picture.

I'm sure there are courses or people out there who get much deeper into this stuff, but for the most part, it seems like so much of this stuff is assumed.

Marketers assume you know how to do this or are already doing it.

Take ClickFunnels as an example.

As a ClickFunnels customer, you can share funnels and import other people's funnels.

All great.

But if you don't have the foundation set up to manage your new subscribers it's a lot of energy for nothing.

Because the magic starts happening in the background with automation.

Some of the things that have to be set up in the background are things like:

Correct lists and segmentation Tagging framework (if your autoresponder company uses this) Tracking code on your website Follow up sequence UTM links for tracking (any links in your follow up sequence) Offer at the end

And none of this includes how you choose to communicate and email your subscribers once they've gone through whatever initial email sequence they signed up for.

Where I Started

Aweber was one of the first email marketing companies I used and it was great for what I was doing at the time. Aweber didn't have tagging options when I was with them (as of this writing they still don't have options for tagging. There is the ability to create segments but I don't know enough about that to talk about it here). For a long time, I stuck with simply using lists to segment even after I left Aweber.

Once I moved to another platform (probably one of my first times with Infusionsoft), I started tagging people as well (even though I wasn't doing much with the tags).

My first task was to go into Active Campaign and clean up my lists and then tags.

Like I do with everything else, I started with the end in mind. I mapped out the monetization model for WPChick.

From there, I had to take a look at my lists (and any corresponding follow-up sequences) and see if they made sense.

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This episode is sponsored by LiquidWeb, my awesome Managed WordPress host

Anytime I hear about anything that will help me with my content creation and planning I get excited.

Plus, you know me and how much I love new tools.

I do have a confession to make, though, I haven't spent as much time as I want to in Airstory. As I've been streamlining things in my business I've started spending more time 'cleaning' things up. So right now everything is a process. It doesn't make a ton of sense to jump into new things before I've made space for them.

My initial interest in Airstory was because of needing to create a content strategy for LeadSurveys (still working on that one). I came across Airstory through Producthunt and as soon as I saw who was behind the app (Joanna Wiebe & Lance Jones of Copyhackers), I knew it was something I wanted to try.

Who would be better at putting together an app for organizing content and writing than a writer?

I'll definitely do a follow-up post with how I'm using Airstory and what is working for me (truth: this might take a little longer since I'm approaching my content from a different perspective. In other words, taking more time to create more in-depth content. I'll still produce some quick posts when the mood strikes me, but I want to go deeper most of the time).

Let's jump into the interview Questions I Asked Lance

Before we get into Airstory, your partner in business and life is Joanna Wiebe and you two are the brains behind Copyhackers. For those who aren't familiar with Copyhackers, can you share what the site is about and what you guys do? Let's jump into Airstory. Can you explain what Airstory is? What made you guys decided to create a SaaS product? Can you share what the process was like for building Airstory? You guys did a beta run of the app before it launched to the public on February 2nd. How did you determine the length of the beta? Let's talk pricing. Something that seems to be a little all over the place with SaaS products. How did you decide on the pricing model for Airstory? What's the plan for the remainder of this year?

What You're Going to Learn

How they went about starting a web app (and why they didn't go with a WordPress plugin) How long it took to go from idea to beta release (and how changing developers was the right move) What type of feedback their users have been giving What features people use most in Airstory How Airstory is being compared to Google Docs The roll that cards and drag and drop functionality play in Airstory What integrations and extensions make Airstory so easy to use

Where to Connect with Lance, Joanna and Airstory Airstory | Facebook | Twitter

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This episode is sponsored by my web host, Liquid Web.

I know, I know.

You guys might be surprised that I'm sharing a way for you to Learn WordPress Development (if you've listened to the podcast intro and my "no boring code snippets here", then you know why I say this), but when I connect with great people doing awesome things, it's easy to step outside my comfort zone a little.

That's what happened when I had the opportunity to speak with Alex Denning, Fred Meyer, and David Hayes of WP Shout.

Fortunately, we didn't get too heavy into development speak.

But we did talk about their in-depth course for anyone who wants to learn WordPress Development (and I'm going to give you a spoiler alert here, but I told them I thought the course was way underpriced. #justsayin).

Questions I Asked Alex, Fred & David

There are 3 of you that run the site WP Shout, but before we get into that, share your background (and the background of your partners if you want), with the listeners?

When was WPShout founded? How did that come about?

WPShout is focused primarily on developers. What made you guys decide to focus on that space?

How have you guys monetized the site? Do you also have client projects?

How have you grown your audience?

Tell us about your course, Up & Running. Is this your first course?

Where can people find out more about your course?

What You're Going to Learn

How WPShout evolved How they took their client work and started creating content with what they were doing When they first launched Up & Running (and what they've done to make the second version even better than the first one) How they came up with the pricing for Up & Running (and why I think it's underpriced, hint: get it this round)

Up & Running is open now through March 31st. The guys at WPShout have agreed to give my listeners a 20% discount! Use the discount code WPCHICK at checkout.

Sign Up for Up & Running Today Where to Connect with WPShout Website | Twitter | Facebook

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This episode is sponsored by my new web host, LiquidWeb

It's time we had a heart to heart.

About Selling. And why you need to Get Comfortable Selling. In the past month or so I've come across this topic via conversations with people or through social media conversations (particularly in Facebook groups).

We need to start looking at the real issues with online marketing and why business do or don't succeed... because for some reason this seems to be as mysterious as the Bermuda triangle.

When in fact, it's SIMPLE.

(notice I didn't say easy).

The bottom line is that we (I'm certainly not exempt from this) over-complicate things and get bored doing the things that we can't see immediate results from.

Let's start with Getting Bored

The easiest way to do this is to give you some examples.

I was thinking about all of the different people I've worked with over the years (for websites) and nothing was more frustrating than seeing people get caught up in the peripherals. The things on the outside/edge of their business that really don't matter or make the slightest bit of difference to the bottom line.

Do your logo and colors matter? Sure. But not enough to tweak 287 times.

The same is true for your products and services.

I lost track of how many people spent hours and hours agonizing over the most niggly of crap but never spent the time to hit 'publish' on one single blog post.

Yep, you heard me correctly.

They'd spend all this time (and money) on a website they never officially 'launched' to the world.

They sat waiting for things to happen (their idea of 'work' was paying to have a website created).

Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

Years ago (this was probably 5 years ago?) I had a client that I was building a website for. She was working with an internet marketing coach who was telling her what she needed in terms of things on her site and tools she needed to buy. This coach told her to invest in Infusionsoft (which she did) and to put together her 'packages' for her programs and what she was going to sell.

So far, so good, right?

WRONG.

First, the coach had zero traffic strategy for getting traffic to her own website. She was still using the 'uncategorized' category in WordPress and had ZERO... I mean ZERO SEO going on in her site.

Let me ask you a question.

What good is an email list or packages to sell if no-one sees what you're doing?!?! (or knows you exist).

Six months after we were finished working together there was still ZERO new content or anything happening on her site. Nothing new had been written. She didn't have a paid traffic strategy so she was getting zero sign-ups. Of course she was still investing in the 'coach' and other high-ticket programs, people, and events.

You can buy all the courses you want.

Have at it.

But unless you start rolling up your sleeves and implementing, nothing is going to happen.

Other than a big credit card bill and stress.

Stress will rear it's ugly head in all kinds of ways.  You'll doubt yourself, feel resentment that other people seem to be 'making it' and here you are working all these hours but can't get ahead of it (or you do start making more money but your expenses increase right along with your profit).

It's time to focus folks.

I get it, no one wants to hear that they have to stay focused.

That they need to show up and do the work.

MAKE something. CREATE something.

Then get eyeballs on it. Share it, email about it, ask for feedback.

My preaching on this topic comes from my own painful experience of not sharing, promoting and selling sooner.

This really isn't rocket science.

Over-Complicating Things

So apparently it's conference season.

Funnel Hacking Live just wrapped up a week or two ago (ClickFunnels annual event) and this week Digital Marketer's annual Traffic and Conversion summit (T&C) wrapped up.

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Ben Settle is the reason I started my daily emails (er, almost daily emails). I don't remember where I initially came across Ben Settle, but you guys have heard me talk about him enough to know that following his method of daily emailing is one of the best things I've done for my business.

I was a subscriber of Ben's for about a year before I became a customer. Ben sells a monthly physical newsletter called Email Players (as well as a few other products and books). To say I look forward to getting my Email Players every month would be an understatement. I don't know if it's the little kid in me or what, but I love getting that physical newsletter in my mailbox. I guess I'm probably a little old school as well because I still like holding something physical from time to time (as opposed to just a digital version).

Tactics vs. Strategies

This was one of those things I needed to learn through experience.

It's also something I see soooo many people doing with their online businesses. I think it might be a right of passage or part of the process, but if you want to cut your learning curve down by years then stop chasing something you think will be 'it' for you. A course, a guru, a tactic or a platform. None of these things alone will give you the business you want. You might have a quick win or a little success with one of these tactics, but taking the time to really learn and understand direct response marketing (good copy, conversions, content, sales) will create a compound effect.

This was what Ben did for me.

First, he made receiving email fun again.

No, he didn't add a new "you've got mail" ping to my inbox.

He provided entertaining copy that made me want to open his emails. Once I started reading (consuming) the emails regularly I realized I was also learning a ton in the process.

Ben was doing something I hadn't seen anyone else do.

He was selling in every single email.

And I still wanted to open them, every day.

I didn't get offended by his selling, I just kept reading until I was ready to buy (which remember, it was a full year before I jumped in).

I've gotten more validation, more engagement, and more responses to what I'm doing since implementing El Benbo's methods (this is how he refers to himself from time to time) than I ever have before.

The best part?

I'm having more fun in my business than I ever have.

Literally, like EVER.

O.K., let's jump into the interview.

Questions I Asked Ben

Let's talk email. Can you talk about the daily email philosophy and why it works so well? What are the biggest objections you hear from people about emailing daily? Why do you think people freak out so much about selling daily as well? This probably isn't a surprise to the audience, but you do things a little different. You don't worry about open rates, click through rates or any of the stuff that so many marketing 'guru's' preach about. Why don't these things matter (like we think they do?)? You don't seem to do a lot of marketing for your brand (in terms of ads, webinars, JV's, etc.), yet you have a very successful business. How do you market your business? What do you tell someone who doesn't have something to sell yet?

What You're Going to Learn

What Weng Chun Kung Fu has in common with email marketing The concept of being 'un O.K.' How to listen correctly to your subscribers and sell them what they want, even if they don't know what that is Why Ben has renamed the internet troll 'Lennox' The real reason people aren't clicking the links in your emails The roll timing plays in your emails (not the time of day you send them, but the timing in the lives of your subscribers)

I have to tell you that I had just as much fun listening to this interview as I did when I recorded it.

Here's my suggestion to you when it comes to daily email.

Step into it in a way that works for you. If you're currently emailing once a week,

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There was a time when simplifying my business felt like giving up. What is it about our culture (at least western culture), that we can't shake the 'no pain no gain' mentality? Why does it feel like things have to be hard to be worth anything?

Fortunately, those days are behind me.

Now I feel like I've won the time lottery (it exists in my head, just go with it).

I was talking with a friend recently and I realized how everything I've done in my business has brought me to exactly where I am now and it feels so right.

Let's take a brief stroll down memory lane and we can look at all the iterations of my business. I've come full circle to what it is I really wanted to do (and this path has prepared me to step into this next phase).

I've mentioned a bunch of times that my intention when I started my business was to be an information marketer. I had zero technical skills, no idea about creating websites and had only played with WordPress.com. All I knew was that I was fascinated by online business and knew I had to make it work. I needed to work for myself and pretty much committed to never going back to retail management again (we won't talk about my stint in real estate or insurance, because... yawn).

I'd had my fair share of attempts at other businesses:

MLM (my guess is a LOT of entrepreneurs have been down this path at one time or another) Contract recruiting for retail Physical retail scrapbook store Loan & Real Estate agent Insurance agent

Dang.

Makes me tired thinking of everything that went into each of those ventures.

Especially the real estate and loan agents, because again, they were a little dry for me (and I am SO not good at being at anyone's beck and call).

Once I connected with this whole online business thing it was like coming home.

I couldn't get enough of it. I was consuming as much information as I could, with a bunch of words I had zero understanding of but it clicked (pun intended).

I KNEW it was possible.

Fast forward 9 years and here are the different paths I've been down that have brought me to exactly where I am today (I can't really give you a definitive timeline, but know that it started in 2008 and has brought me to 2017) Up until 2017 I was still offering websites for clients:

Long story short, I've come back to to the fundamentals of what I wanted to do in the first place.

Is it easier for me now than it would have been even 5 years ago?

Absolutely.

I have an audience and I know so much more.

I'm not weighed down by the challenges of making the technology fit.

However, I will tell you that I had I stayed the course of doing what I knew I was supposed to keep doing (i.e., not getting sidetracked by shiny things) my business would probably be in a different place today. That's not a judgment, simply reminding you of the role you play in getting to where you want to go.

I also know I'm much more confident in my abilities and how I want to run my business today than I was 5 years ago.

As much as I like having a nice income from my business, the freedom to enjoy the fruits of my labor has to be there too. And it wasn't. I had created a business that had more overhead (salaries) than I had ever wanted and I felt like I was in a constant state of chasing something. The big launch, the big lifestyle, the big high-ticket offer, the big 'whatever the latest guru is preaching' thing....

Before you start thinking I'm anti the big lifestyle (or however that may come across), at the end of the day I'm not anti-anything except for what doesn't work for ME.

I had some amazing experiences but I'm not driven but flashy stuff. The houses, cars, planes, watches... none of it gets me excited. Don't get me wrong, I like nice things, but I'm way more inspired by experiences (travel) and freedom.

But I found myself feeling like I needed to keep up with a lot of that and have all kinds of funnels, strategies, campaigns,

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Erin Flynn has mastered something we've ALL encountered at one time or another... how to deal with nightmare clients. Not only does she help you grow your freelance business but how about how to handle those clients that make you want to quit what you're doing? (Kinda makes you want to send her a virtual hug already, doesn't it?).

I was fortunate to connect to Erin through a mutual friend, Curtis McHale (who I had on the podcast a couple months ago). Erin does a lot more than just help you deal with nightmare clients (although of course, that was one of the things I had to delve deeper into. We've ALL been there and have that crazy story of working with someone that made our lives a living hell). Erin has built up her own business (design and websites) and is growing it through a membership program (which she has a free membership also) and courses. I love it.

Erin has been involved in web design since she was 13 and building Sailor Moon fan sites (the beauty of growing up with technology, huh?). After college, she went out and got a job (like we're all 'supposed' to do) and ended up hating it. She hated it so much that she literally just quit one day (something I know many people would love to be able to do). Fortunately, she's figured out the freelancing space and is sharing her knowledge and skills with other people so you can avoid some of the mistakes she's made. She's now transitioning to an agency and has tons of training available to help you grow your business and position yourself as an expert.

Questions I Asked Erin

I always want to know what led someone down the entrepreneurial path. Have you always worked for yourself? What brought you here? What is your current business? You have courses & workshops, did you start with services? Let's talk about Nightmare Clients.

What made you decide to offer help with this? I love the "screen, prevent, fire"... can you explain what that is?

You also have a membership for growing your business. Can you share a little bit about the Unstoppable Expedition? What would you recommend to someone who wants to start a membership? What's on the horizon for you this year?

What You're Going to Learn

How Erin approaches everything in her business How a conversation on Twitter turned into a community on Facebook How her communication skills led to her first product that sold a few hundred right out the gate Why positioning yourself as the expert is key when starting a new project Why Erin thinks you should work with a couple nightmare clients (hint: boundaries)

Where to Connect with Erin Website | Twitter | Facebook

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This week I continued my conversation with Gordan Orlic, my partner with LeadSurveys.

Like I said in the podcast last week, this has been a massive education for me (what that I'm loving) and each step of the way gets me more and more excited about LeadSurveys.

This week I wanted to talk about all the pieces that have had to come together, such as servers, payment gateways, payment processors, etc. This will probably open your eyes a bit to how this all works when it comes to the tools and apps you use in your own business.

We also talked about the branding and marketing, how that's evolving and our "Name the Fox" contest! Yes, we have an awesome mascot that is a fox, but she needs a name.

Here's the full conversation with Gordan (transcripts):

Kim: [00:00:25] Hey what's up everybody. Welcome to the second official conversations of Kim. This is part 2 from last week. Listen to the conversation with Gordon Orlic and I am we are talking about lead surveys and and how that all started. We're going to pick up that conversation today because we have a lot that we did not cover. Gordon what's up. Thanks for being here.

Gordan: [00:00:46] Hey thank you for having me again.

Kim: [00:00:50] Everybody after after last week I'm putting the transcripts in and realizing we talked a lot. That was a lot of words that was fun. So today we're going to go over. I think we're going to start with the direction of getting started. So for everybody who didn't listen last week I'd recommend going back and listening to how Leadsurveys came about. The idea of it. You know what we started looking at the different the different tools that we looked at but just what we wanted to do to differentiate lead surveys from other things in the market why we wanted to do this. All that good stuff. So that's all in last week's episode. So let's kind of start with the next step which would be what needs to come together in terms of the different pieces. And obviously this most of this is going to in your Gordan. But there was a lot this has been such an education for me. But all of the things that needed to come together before we could even we meaning you get into coding and I'll talk about the content and marketing and stuff so the different things that we had a look at

Kim: [00:01:58] We're obviously merchant accounts but the processing of recurring payments in this space is different than say just a membership right. So what did you need to look at Gordon to get that. And can you share where we ended up.

Gordan: [00:02:12] Yeah sure.

Gordan: [00:02:13] So in essence today it's infinitely more easier to take money from people legally obviously than it was five years ago.

Gordan: [00:02:28] You have Paypal and stripe and all of these different card processors. And just by glancing at things you would think that you can have things set up in five minutes. So just click click next next. Open an account give them your bank account number and you can start receiving payments. And that is true.

Gordan: [00:02:53] However as with anything in life if you have certain demands if you have certain things that you know that you need then all of a sudden you don't have 22 things available to you. You have maybe one or two. And even with those two you're going to have to make some compromises for us. One of the main things we decided from the get go is that we wanted to accept both paypal and credit cards.

Gordan: [00:03:25] So just by having those requirements you have cut off a lot of different possibilities. For instance a lot of companies that offer a processing of payments you Stripe. Stripe only accepts credit cards. So for us that would mean that we have to have two systems one system based on stripe to accept credit cards and another system where payment to Paypal sorry to accept paypal payments. So is that doable. Obviously it's doable but then we have two systems. Double the maintenance double the cost double the processing ...

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The Story Behind LeadSurveys is my first official "Conversations with Kim" episode. These are going to be a little different than my normal interviews (and obviously won't be solo shows). It's a more organic conversation about a topic as opposed to interviewing someone about their business.

Kim: [00:00:25] Hey what's up everybody. Welcome to the official first conversations with Kim WordPress Chick podcast episode. I don't know how I'm going to word this or or flow with it so bear with me. This is sort of a new test but this really came about specifically because of this project I'm doing and having some conversations with friends where I'm like I just want to have a little bit more organic flow to to some of the things that I want to talk about that a relative obviously to online marketing to our businesses whether it's mindset, product development, you know Course creation content whatever. So let me know what you guys think. I would love some feedback today though. We're going to do a little deep dive with something that I'm working on and today I have Gordan Orlic. Gordan you rock. Thanks for being here.

Gordan: [00:01:13] You're welcome. A pleasure to be here.

Kim: [00:01:16] All right. So for everybody listening if you've not heard this I had Gordon on the show and it was mid-year last year going into summer and it was of course summer summer summer ish. OK. So Gordon runs what factory owners say factory Ltd dotcom and they are software developers and I'm going to link to that episode. But what I want to do is we're going to fast forward. Gordon and I he had he had asked me they do a lot of white labeling of Wordpress plugins and software and had said oh do you have any ideas and I had no idea we were kind of working on playing with it and I just couldn't get super excited it was a WordPress plugin so. But Gordon has been ridiculously patient with me and I don't know Gordon. Have you seen the difference between my excitement for lead surveys and the first project.

Gordan: [00:02:04] Oh definitely. Definitely yeah. It didn't sound like a bad project. I still don't think it's a bad project but this one is better.

Kim: [00:02:14] I agree and you know it's funny because I had a couple of people that I talked to about the first project were like when is it coming in. Like well. It's on the backburner for now. So this came about because of a massive frustration and I should probably tell everybody we're talking about LeadSurveys.io. I know which is a web app. And so Gordon and I you know we stayed in touch you know about the project and then one day I was like. So what about a webapp. So before we get into lead surveys and everything that's going on behind it because this has been a massive learning curve for me and you know for everybody listening if you've ever thought about software development you're going to want to take notes or I'll put the transcripts in the post because I feel like I've got like I'm in kindergarten. Like writing to Gordon. Well what about this and how do we do this and it's kind of a rabbit hole but it's been awesome.

Kim: [00:03:12] So Gordon prior to this had you guys done webapps I'm so sorry for forgetting that but had you guys some web apps before.

Gordan: [00:03:21] We only did one. which was a what's called a semi web app because it was still basically a repressed plugin but the part of it was plucked out in order to keep the code safe. So you still needed the WordPress plugin but I'd say some of the calculations were done on a centralized server. In order for it to be hidden from you know praying eyes.So some sort of a mix between a WordPress plugin and a SaaS.

Kim: [00:03:54] Well and how many plugins?

Kim: [00:03:57] I always tell people I'm like 30 plus. And I don't know how many white label things you guys have done.

Gordan: [00:04:01] No it's its boards border lining 1000.

Kim: [00:04:05] Oh my lord.

Gordan: [00:04:07] No no it's seriously huge amou...

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It's been a long time since I've run a webinar.

For years I had a subscription to GoToWebinar and would run webinars every now and then. It's probably not a huge surprise that I enjoy hosting webinars... it's kind of like podcasting while sharing your screen (a little crude description, but you get my point).

I've taken my fair share of courses on webinars and have hired someone specifically to help me with my webinars. I got a little frustrated running webinars because so many people would register and not attend, even though I know it's pretty much a standard to have about 30% attendance rate.

Needless to say, I finally cancelled my account with GoToWebinar because I was paying for something I wasn't using.

Since then I've tried a handful of other webinar platforms, most run on Google hangouts. I'm not a fan of Google hangouts and the delay. I know this technology is just going to keep getting better, but I couldn't ever get excited about using the platform (I think I have 3 different webinar platforms that run off of Google hangouts... I went as far as setting up test webinars, trying the platform but never promoting it).

Hence my lack of webinars the past couple years.

Until now. Enter Demio. Holy moly.

I watched the Demio launch and thought about jumping in but knew I wouldn't be running any webinars anytime soon (mistake on my part... it was a lifetime price, I wish I had jumped in).

What brought me back to taking another look at Demio was after watching a virtual summit on launching a SaaS product (a little bit of an obsession for me lately with LeadSurveys coming). I registered for one of Demio's webinars and knew it was time to get back into webinars.

I reached out to David Abrams, one of the founders of Demio, for a podcast interview and the rest as they say, is history.

Questions I Asked David 

Before we talk about Demio, what were you & your partner doing before launching this? How did you and your partner connect to create Demio? Explain to the listeners what Demio is? What made you decide to 'take on' the webinar space? I watched your interview for the virtual summit for The Foundation. You guys spent a lot of time and money on this project. What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you guys decide on the pricing for Demio? What would you recommend to someone who wants to launch a SaaS?

What You're Going to Learn

What software the Demio team was working on when they decided to pivot and go all in with Demio The technology that Demio runs on and how it works right within your browser What features Demio launched with Why they decided to keep the UI clean and streamlined How the launch as been for Demio and what is working to get the word out Why Demio is going with 'like live' webinars instead of webinars that seem like they're live, but include fake registrations and chat (something they're against) What's coming for Demio in 2017

Connect with Demio Website | Twitter

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Course Creation does NOT have to be difficult. I know that's saying a lot, but there are simpler ways to go about creating courses that won't leave you feeling like you need a PhD to get it launched.

But before we get into course creation, I've got a little bit of a rant today.

This is what happens when you have a platform and an awesome audience that goes along the journey with you. Every now and then your audience may get more than they bargained for.

My Little Rant

I've had some interesting experiences lately and something has become glaringly apparent to me.

On one hand, things are shifting and changing massively in this space (I'll get more into that in a minute). On the other hand, people are people. No matter what we do when there are people involved there's going to be a certain amount of psychological factors that come into play with any interaction. Especially when you bring money into the equation. We all have our own money story and we bring it with us to every interaction.

What I don't understand is how people think starting an online business isn't going to take WORK.

Is it simply that they've read great copy?

Bought amazing products?

The promise of riches?

Probably a combination of all of the above.

But I've got news for people who 'buy' into this....

First, there's nothing wrong with you. You're human. I don't know anyone who loves the idea of having to put in hours and hours of work in hopes of it paying off. There's no crystal ball. You can work your arse off and still not make a penny. Trust me, I've been there and done it. When that happens you have to look at the type of work you're doing.

There are so many ways you can keep yourself busy 'doing work', but let's be honest. We both know what is and isn't going to pay the bills. Spending hours, weeks or months planning and preparing things isn't work. It's procrastination. At some point you have to make an offer. Oh... and of course you need people to make that offer to.

It's better to start building a list of subscribers and potential customers from DAY ONE than to wait until something is perfect.

Don't have a lead magnet?

Google how to create one.

Make a list of TEN things you can offer as a lead magnet.

Close Facebook, close Gmail, turn your phone off and open a word doc. Start writing. Start recording. MAKE something of value you can give in exchange for someone's name and email address.

This is only hard because you're making it hard. You've made a decision somewhere along the line that you don't have something that can help someone else. That's bullshit. EVERY single one of us has experiences, stories, lessons, hacks, tips, tricks.... whatever. Simply share something that made your life easier and you feel will provide value to your audience.

Don't have an audience?

Define who you want them to be. Don't tell me you don't know who.

Google 'how to create a customer avatar'.

It's not 1990 folks.

Stop waiting for someone to come in and do the work for you.

You guys know how I feel about 'Hustle'.... and I still live by #FtheHustle.

But being sick of all the hype around the 'hustle and grind' movement does not mean I don't do the work.

Stop looking outside of yourself for answers.

Creating a real business online takes time, energy, effort, work, investment, consistency, and initiative. It has never been easier to get a business started.

But no one is going to do it for you.

End rant. Let's move onto Course Creation I've created a handful of courses over the last 8+ years.

And I can tell you without a doubt that I always made it WAY more difficult than it had to be. I did the exact same thing many of you have probably done.

I mapped it out, had all kinds of cool branding and graphics created, planned the how and when, decided on the platform, started creating content.

Then when all was said and done, I'd launch it (offer it once or twice is more like it)...

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Building a business with WordPress can feel a little challenging at times.

As websites become more of a commodity it can feel a little like an uphill battle when you build websites with WordPress (and is personally one of the reasons I'm not doing service work anymore). I've said for a long time that I still believe there are great opportunities in the WordPress space to build a solid, profitable business.

But it's going to look different than it did a few years ago.

With more people 'building' WordPress websites (I use the term 'builder' instead of developer because there are so many tools available to make this process easier that you really don't have to be a developer to build sites for people anymore), it's imperative that you carve out your own niche within this market.

If you're a 'builder' or developer, I still think the documentation space is wide open. There are plenty of things you can create training and content around that can provide a great income, provided you stick with it and market it consistently (there's the magic word, right? It's all about consistency).

Today's guest has done just that with his business.

He's picked a niche within this space and has created products (themes and plugins) that are specific to one niche.

The Restaurant & Bar space.

Nate Wright of Theme of the Crop joined me to talk about how he's niched down within WordPress and where he's headed.

Questions I Asked Nate

Before we get into Theme of The Crop, what brought you here? What were you doing before you launched this? Can you explain to the listeners what Theme of The Crop is and what differentiates your themes and plugins from everyone else? What made you decide to focus on restaurants, cafe's and bars? What was it like to take on something like online reservations when there are companies out there like Open Table who are established in that space? How do you market your business? What would you recommend to someone who wants to niche down in the WordPress space the way you've done? What's coming this year for Theme of the Crop?

What You're Going to Learn

How Nate's job as a journalist helped him realize what he didn't like doing How rejection through a popular theme marketplace drove him to build his own shop How long it took Nate to sell his first theme (and why he stuck with it) Who Nate's target audience is... and why it's not simply 'any restaurant' owner (he's drilled even deeper into his niche) How he's used the WordPress.org plugin repository to grow his premium plugins Why Nate is focusing more on content and marketing

Where to Connect with Nate Website | Twitter

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No matter what you do to repurpose your content, there's always more you can do. I know, that might sound a little depressing or overwhelming (how much more can you possibly do, right?), but the good news is that there is a lot of automation happening in this space and tools that are coming out to streamline this process.

Which is why I was super excited to have Hani Mourra back on the podcast this week.

If you haven't listened to my previous episode with Hani, you can listen to that here. Hani is the creator of the Simple Podcast Press plugin as well as a couple other WordPress plugins. Hani has launched a new SaaS platform called Repurpose.io.

Repurpose does exactly what you think it would do, it repurposes your content.

Not all of your content, but for those of you who create audio and video content, you're going to want to jump into this as soon as possible. Repurpose is currently by invitation only, but not from the exclusive sense. The first founders will get access in February (yes, I'm super excited to be one of those founders). Hani wants to make sure everything is working smoothly and the initial adopters are up and running (smart process).

Questions I asked Hani

What have you been up to since our last interview? (we had to catch up a little bit) For the listeners who may not be familiar with you, can you share a little about your business and what your WordPress plugins are? Let's talk about Repurpose.io. What made you decide to launch a web app for this as opposed to a WordPress plugin? How has creating this product differed from creating a WordPress plugin? How did you decide on pricing for your platform? Can you explain what Repurpose.io is? Where can people find out more about Repurpose.io?

What You're Going to Learn

Why Hani decided to go with a web app as opposed to a WordPress plugin How he's decided which features to launch Repurpose with Why he considers Repurpose a platform as opposed to a web app Which integrations Repurpose will launch with Why Hani considers himself an 'automation freak' When you can get access to Repurpose.io (and where)

To say I'm excited about Repurpose.io would be an understatement.

I have always loved repurposing content, this just gives me a way to automate it and measure which channels give me the best ROI.

Where to Connect with Hani Facebook | Twitter | Repurpose.io Transcripts coming soon

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I've been thinking a lot about how to approach my 2016 Year in Review episode. Like many other people, this year has felt particularly long. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that this was a record year for celebrity deaths and crappy politics. I promise not to go into either, although the celebrity deaths, particularly a couple of the musicians we lost this year reminds you how short life is because their music can take you back to a time and place in your life instantly. Both Prince and George Michael were huge when I was in high school (we had some fun music in the 80's). I lip-synced songs by both musicians at school (one was for a dance and one was at an assembly, in front of the entire school... wasn't shy back then either).

All that being said, the last thing I want to do is write about or focus on the negativity... we've all had plenty of that and it's time to turn the page on it.

My intention with this episode and post is to look back as objectively as I can, acknowledge what worked, what didn't, and share why I'm so excited about 2017.

The easiest way for me to break down 2016 is in chunks... we'll look at each quarter of the year (hopefully I can remember everything worth sharing without having to go back to a calendar).

First Quarter of 2016

It's a little crazy when I think about what was happening at the beginning of 2016 and where I was headed (compared to where I am).

I had hired Jason Hornung to create a Facebook ad strategy for my 'podcasting done for you' service. We started working together in December of 2015 and in January I flew back to Wisconsin to spend a few days with him and a few other entrepreneurs as we worked through our ad campaigns, strategies, copy, and funnels. The whole enchilada.

To say it was an intense (but amazing) few days is an understatement.

I learned a TON about Facebook ads in general (and will be going back to his training when I get ready to launch my next campaign), had a very successful campaign (more on that in a minute), and walked away with an education unlike anything else I had experienced. What I mean by that is that is was like a lightbulb finally went off for me after all these years. After having spent the last couple of years in a mastermind (which was a great experience), I understood the value and importance of having a solid foundation and mastery of the fundamentals. I've been talking about this for months (mastering the fundamentals) and will probably continue to talk about it because it's made a HUGE difference.

Outcome of Podcast campaign:

My investment with Jason wasn't cheap, but it was worth it. It was a $15k investment: they did all the research, created my funnel, ad & worked with me on testing and tweaking. I also spent a couple days in his office with a few other entrepreneurs to dive deep into Facebook advertising. It was really a great experience (a little overwhelming in that there was a LOT of information). My total ad spend before shutting the campaign off was $2500. I got one podcast client ($7k) and ended up with her on a recurring retainer as well (so the campaign itself was paid for). During this time I also signed another podcast client ($6k... the first one included a site makeover and we gave her a discount for being a podcast client), so between those two clients and the retainer I've made my investment back completely. I turned the ads off after a month because it still needed more testing and tweaking (it was converting well, I gained about 900 subscribers in the process) and wanted to step back and evaluate things.

During this time I also had website clients I was working with so I felt a little squeezed (hence ending the 'done for you' element of my business).

Take away:

It is without a doubt worth hiring the right people for mentoring. I got very clear after having worked with Jason that the only type of mentor I would hire was someone who could help me with a tangible piece of my business...

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After almost 9 years in this business there are some things I think I'll never wrap my head around.

One of those things is the 'haters' out there.

Those people who get bent out of shape by something that is absolutely NOT worth the energy they expend.

Take a look at the screenshot below, which is what spurred this discussion about haters:

WHOA!

Settle down there tiger...

I've been emailing much more frequently than I ever have before (almost daily).

I am a customer of Ben Settle's email players and without a doubt this strategy has worked wonders for my business. I've talked about it a bunch of times on the show so I'm not going to go into detail about it here again, but I will tell you that it works. My engagement rate, sales, affiliate sales, social connections... have ALL improved.

Here's another response I got to this same method:

I received that email a couple months ago.

I'm glad I took a screenshot of it.

So now I have a choice... I can focus on the first email (whiners or snowflakes, as Ben Settle calls them), or I can focus on the second email. Clearly I'm going to focus on the second email.

We all know the line... "haters gonna hate"...

I simply cannot fathom getting so worked up about something like an email. Delete it, unsubscribe from it, don't read it... it's NOT a big deal. What these 'haters' don't realize is their pissy behavior says WAY more about them than it does about me (or you).

I'm sharing this story for two reasons:

The first reason is because it's kind of funny... and well, if you're going to get bent out of shape and email me it's quite possible I'm going to create content with your email. The second reason is to share that this happens to everyone. The more you put yourself out there, the more you share, the more you show up and do your thing the more likely it is that it's going to rub someone the wrong way.

Regardless of your intention.

Thank them for the content and comic relief, then go about your day.

Self-Promotion This is probably one of, if not THE hardest thing I've had to overcome, work on, deal with... in my business.

Like... ever.

And I'm going to come right out and say that for some reason, unbeknownst to me, this seems to be a common problem for a lot of women. Men don't seem to have as hard of a time with this concept (I know I'm generalizing, but trust me on this, k?). Take my friend Jon Perez as an example...

Jon has no problem promoting his stuff, blasting it everywhere and screaming from the rooftops that he's written something, created something, or is selling something. His biggest challenge is having more time to do it all ;-) . Yet somehow with a full-time job, a wife and two small children he manages to grow his business and continue working towards the lifestyle he really wants.

I used to write a post, then share it and be done with it.

Every now and then I might share it again or respond to a comment, but for the most part, I figured I did my thing and didn't want to 'spam' people.

Let's stop and think about this for a minute.

What is the likelihood that everyone who follows you or is connected to you on your social platforms is going to see the ONE message you share at that exact moment?

Pretty slim to say the least.

I shared this in an email yesterday, but let me go into a little more detail with something I did yesterday and the results I've gotten (so far):

First, I went to a couple landing pages for current lead magnets I have and added featured images as well as a twitter & Pinterest image (for Social Warfare) Next I scheduled them to be shared a few times with CoSchedule Then I added them to the 'ReQueue' feature in CoSchedule under the category WPChick Landing pages (right now I have 3 categories for ReQueue- content, podcasts & landing pages)

Within a couple hours of doing that I had about 7 opt-ins from ONE of the pages (I scheduled the other lead magnet fo...

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I have to say that this is the first podcast interview that I've done where we talked about poop.

But that's what happens when you talk to a parent of young children (Curtis has young kids)... you just never know where the conversation is going to go.

I was pretty excited when Curtis got in touch to be on the podcast. I had subscribed to him sometime in the last year and really loved his writing. Curtis shares his personal journey, lessons learned and doesn't hold back from giving an opinion. That being said, he's also pretty relaxed. Which I'm sure comes from having clear boundaries in his business.

We talked about a lot of things (which is why I've included the transcripts below. I'll probably be adding these moving forward, it just depends on time. I'm also thinking of adding time stamps), but one of my most favorite take-aways was the need to set firm boundaries in my business. Curtis does something I've wanted to do for YEARS... he batches his calls on Tuesday.

Meaning, Tuesday is the ONLY day he takes and schedules calls.

The thought of that makes me feel like I won the time lottery (because somewhere I think that exists... and the beauty of the time lottery is that we're the ones picking the winning numbers. hmm... think there's a blog post in there somewhere). Questions I Asked Curtis

Before we get into vetting clients, fill the listeners in on you & your backstory You have an agency & your personal site where you do coaching & work with clients. When did you start doing coaching? When did you realize you needed to get better at vetting clients? Was there a shift or something that occurred in your business that made you put better time & energy into client vetting? When you started your business how were you getting clients? How did the questions that you asked potential clients differentiate you from competitors?

What You're Going to Learn

How Curtis left a job by telling the owner he'd fire himself Why you don't want to get on the phone too fast How asking better questions up front is key in vetting clients Why telling a client that their idea is bad will gain their trust Why Curtis started batching his calls (hint: it's not rocket science) What his new is about

Where to Connect with Curtis Website | Twitter | Book You can click the link below for the full transcript:

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Just when you think you've got a grasp on something... a little dose of reality comes in.

In this case, it's a good thing.

After last weeks episode on winding the year down and with Christmas quickly approaching, I'm starting to really wrap my head around what I want 2017 to look like for me.

I'm still going to do a full 'year in review' episode but I want to share some of the things I'm doing as I wind down the year to prepare for next year.

Beyond sitting down with my colored pens, planner of choice and BIG ideas.

I've been talking a lot about going back to basics and mastering the fundamentals (maybe I can come up with an acronym for that?). The first two areas I've focused on have been copy and email marketing.

When it comes to copy, I haven't even gotten into the sales type of copy yet (think sales pages, ads, etc.). I started simply by working on headlines and paying attention to copy.

Let's talk about paying attention to copy first.

This whole journey of getting interested in copy began at the very beginning of this year when I decided to sign up to work with Jason Hornung's Facebook advertising agency. I connected with Jason through another friend, had him on my podcast and knew I wanted to work with him. I won't go into detail on that experience in this episode (it was great and I'm planning on having Jason back on the show to do a follow up), but I got a bonus education outside of Facebook advertising.

I was impressed with Jason's understanding of ad copy, persuasion, the psychology of copy and what drives people. When he got interested in Facebook ads he jumped in with both feet. He studied copy, advertising and direct response marketing. Books that had been around 30+ years... he created a solid foundation for building his own ad agency.

Prior to working with Jason I had zero desire to do any type of copy (or get attempt to get decent at it). But when I heard Jason's story, observed what he did to master his craft all of the sudden I had a different respect for the art of copy. So I started studying and practicing.

I tend to be someone who baby steps my way into things or I leap like a lunatic. In this case I baby stepped my way into it (but I'm slowly working my way up to a jog). I've focused on practicing headlines this year. For posts, emails and ads (although I haven't run an ad in a while, more on that in another episode).

First thing I did was start paying attention to what headlines spoke to me.

What about them did I like, what drew me in to want to read more / learn more.

Then when I would go to write my post title I would head over to the CoSchedule Headline analyzer (which I've talked about probably more than you've wanted to hear) and start with my first headline.

Holy moly were some of them bad.

Then it became a game to see what I could come up with and how I could improve the score. Depending on the topic, I'd write 5 or 6 headlines or sometimes I would stick with something clear (and maybe not very exciting) for SEO purposes.

Once I had settled on my headline I'd write my post (which believe it or not I spend way more time editing than I used to). After the post is written the next step is to write a couple more headlines (or use a few that I had written in the headline analyzer) and use the Thrive Headline Optimizer to run some split testing.

I have yet to have my original headline win one of those tests (pretty interesting, right?).

I can guarantee you that 5 years ago I was not spending this much time on headlines or content. Not because I didn't care, but because I didn't really know better. Which brings me to growing your audience. In the recent survey I did with my email subscribers this is what people most wanted to learn from me. I asked the question "If I were to teach a class, which topic would be most interesting to you?" Which made sense since the other topic people wanted help with the most was lead generation.

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Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From The Crowd Anyone who has ever written a business plan (or attempted to), knows it's not a simple process (I had originally written not a 'fun' process, but who knows, maybe this is something you enjoy?).

I had to write a formal business plan once.

And that was enough.

It was when I was getting ready to open a physical retail Scrapbook store with a business partner. We found our location and the property management company wanted a business plan. We had plenty of research, examples of products, scrapbooking in general and we had our appointment set. So I went to the office store and bought a software program to write the business plan (this was way back in 1998... so what was available online pales in comparison to what you can find today). It took me 8 hours to plug through the entire 'fill in the blank' business plan.

Of course most of what I projected was just that... projections.

I probably could have zipped through the program in a quarter of the time had I known the property management company was just going to 'skim' through the business plan (in fact I probably could have written some of my answers in another language and they wouldn't have noticed... but we'll leave that alone). Which is why I was SUPER excited when I came across the 1 Page Marketing Plan by Allan Dib. Once you listen to how Allan changed his own business through creating a 1 Page Marketing Plan you're going to want to jump in and grab the book.

Questions I Asked Allan

Before we get into the book, can you share your journey here (what you were doing before you launched your business - how you got into marketing) When did you get into online marketing? Let's talk about your book, The 1-Page Marketing Plan. What inspired you to write the book? I love the tagline of the book... "Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From the Crowd"... In the book you talk about "the fastest path to money"... which I love, because there's SO much noise online about passion, etc. , which is important, but it's hard to do that work if you don't have any money. What is the 1-page marketing plan? Let's talk about the wrong type of business plan... can you share a little bit about that with the listeners? (strategy vs. tactics) I'm assuming that a lot of people listening to this show are not large agencies... what is one thing they could start implementing today that would make the biggest difference?

What You're Going to Learn

How Allan went from being a typical geek to writing a book Why being good at what you do doesn't matter (hint: you have to be able to market yourself) How the process of creating a business plan helps your business Why you need to be comfortable with being in business to make money (as well as follow your passion0 How focusing on marketing changed Allan's business

Where to Connect with Allan Website | Twitter | Buy the Book

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I'll be doing a 'year in review' post after Christmas, but thought this was a perfect time to do an episode on winding the year down, getting ready for 2017 and simply saying Thank You to YOU... my audience.

You've made it all possible and have encouraged and inspired me to keep going.

To say this past year has been a wild ride would be an understatement.

I've gone through some massive changes in my business and personal life (and unfortunately for you I've bared my soul in the process). As challenging as some of it has been, it's also all been so very worth it.

Winding Down 2016

It's been a long time since I've looked this forward to a year being over.

As I write this I realize the reasons for this are hardly the end of the world, they've just been exhausting. Everyone I love is still healthy and happy, no one has had any major losses in their life and my business is doing well.

Making the decision to sell my house was a big one, but I knew it was coming. It just came a couple years sooner than I had expected (I don't intend to stay where I am when my son graduates high school in 2 1/2 years. It's been a great place to raise my kids but it's not where I want to spend the rest of my life). I knew I needed to simplify my life (and my business). It's only my son and I at home now and while my house wasn't huge, it was more than I felt like taking care of (especially the yard, even though I loved my pool).

It's still crazy to me when I think about the cost of living in Northern California... (specifically close to the Bay Area), but that's for another conversation.

Part of winding down for me is getting all my client projects completely wrapped up as soon as possible. These could probably have been done sooner, but of course I'm the bottleneck (I have done a pretty thorough job of cutting expenses this year, which included my project manager). I'd love to have her work with me again but in a different capacity. As I start planning for 2017 I know that to do what I want to do I'm going to need some help in different areas. I guess it would still be project management but it won't be client projects. They'll be my projects.

In order to wind the year down and enjoy the last couple weeks of the year (not working, although I'll probably be doing some work, but again, it will be on my projects. No calls, no new projects) I need to close the books on these projects (and I'm sure my clients want that too).

So that's step #1.

The next step to really winding the year down is to start getting ready for 2017.

I've probably gotten at least a couple emails this week and last about planning for 2017 already. I still haven't decided what that will look like for me, but I have an idea of where I'll start.

Planning for 2017

When I look at planning anything I tend to work from the end backwards (which I'm sure most people do... you need to have an end goal, right?). The idea of backwards engineering makes more sense for me than any other method.

Before I can decide what I want my next year to look like I have to do a good, hard look at what didn't work this year (and what worked well).

I can tell you without a doubt that my biggest take away from 2016, as it relates to my business, has been emailing daily. I've been a fan and customer of Ben Settle's for well over a year (I subscribed to his list for about a year before I became a customer). It took me until August of this year to start stepping into his email methods. I jokingly say that it was my 'almost-daily email' because it took me some time to work up to daily (and I admit it, I still miss a day here and there). The benefits have astounded me to say the least.

I'm going to keep talking about the daily email process because it works that well and bears repeating!

Not only do I feel my writing has improved (now to work on my speaking... haha... omg. I have to stop saying "like" as if I were a 12 year old),

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Does it seem like there are a plethora of Managed WordPress Hosting options available now? Probably because there is.

And I love the fact that GoDaddy has stepped into this space along with everything else they're doing to support the WordPress community. Needless to say I was excited about talking with the person who is part of this movement at GoDaddy and is behind the scenes with one of the absolute best on-boarding processes I've seen when it comes to installing and getting up and running with WordPress.

Gabe was a champ and we addressed the 'elephant in the room' so to speak (the elephant that GoDaddy has had a reputation for not being a top hosting choice). I'm a firm believer that regardless of past experiences, when a company makes a concerted effort and improves their products and services it's worth giving them another shot.

And can I just say, HOLY MOLY...

The efforts by the team at GoDaddy are pretty impressive to say the least.

Questions I Asked Gabe:

Before we get into all the WordPress & Godaddy awesomeness, can you share how you got into all of this? Apparently you taught yourself how to code while deployed in Afghanistan? Let's address the elephant in the room... GoDaddy has changed a lot (for the better). Before we get into how much has changed and the new WordPress experience you guys are rolling out... what made you guys decide to put more energy into WordPress? Can you share the evolution of WordPress & GoDaddy?  You shared a sneak peek of the new WordPress OnBoarding process for GoDaddy customers... all I can say is wow! It looks fantastic. And I love that you partnered with Beaver Builder (love those guys). Can you explain this new process to the listeners? Plugins: I didn't know you guys had plugins... as in plural. I've used the P3 profiler to test the plugin load on my site. Can you share a little more about your plugins & strategy? Do you have any favorite plugins? What's coming fro WordPress & GoDaddy?

What You're Going to Learn:

How the change in management at GoDaddy has stepped into the WordPress Managed Hosting space What GoDaddy needed to do fix their reputation What's included in the new on-boarding process

New custom themes based on the customers market (ex: if an accountant needs a new site there are accounting themes) Free access to thousands of high quality, royalty free images searchable by category Beaver Builder lite is bundled in the on-boarding process New partnerships coming (Yoast, Ninja Forms & more to come) ... and more features coming to make the initial installation and set up that much easier

What GoDaddy does to choose their partners for what comes bundled in the on-boarding process

Check out the new GoDaddy on-boarding in the video below:

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I've been thinking a lot about processes.

My new-found love of the daily email practice (even when my emails aren't daily), has ignited a small fondness for discipline.

I say small because the thought of structuring and scheduling my life to the point where everything requires a discipline makes my head hurt (and makes me go into immediate resistance.... don't MAKE me do anything). I'm finding little ways that I can apply this in all areas of my life. For the sake of the podcast though we'll stick with business.

Like most entrepreneurs, I enjoy the process of planning and getting excited about the possibilities of what I can do with my business. Taking the time away from the daily tasks often gives us the perspective we need get re-inspired or even clarity on something we've felt stuck on. There's something about changing the routine that feels better (even when we feel like we 'should' be at our desks taking care of the tasks).

As much as I like my time to myself, this can be most helpful when doing it with other people (mentor, peers, parters... your dog. Whatever works for you). The extra energy of someone else's excitement and enthusiasm is contagious. They see things you might have missed or can point something out from a totally different perspective that makes you take a second look at something.

Then of course there's all the 'stuff' that goes along with planning... pens, calendars, markers (or is that just me), white boards, ideas... lunch with a friend.

Kind of like the whipped cream on the sundae, right? Not necessary, but makes it that much sweeter.

Here's the problem with planning...

You can get STUCK there!

(I wish I had some southern phrase or saying about being stuck... somehow it seems like it would just 'fit' here).

I've been here myself.

Many, many times.

I've mapped everything out (I love me some outlines and Gliffy diagrams. I'm not really a mind mapper), created the first few steps then get caught back up in the tasks. Or better yet... I don't get past the first step and get caught back up in the tasks.

I'm actually way better at following through on things than I used to be (not a lot of people who know me would say I don't 'get things done', but I make it way more of a chore than it needs to be), but at the end of the day what should get the most attention are the things that can make me MONEY.

I'm running a BUSINESS.

This isn't a hobby. As much as I love creating content, there needs to be an endpoint, right? (don't go all sideways on me with an altruistic opinion on this... you know what I'm talking about here).

I'm going to give you two very specific examples so you can feel like you're getting something tangible and not just joining me for a self-help session (although that could be fun too).

Let's look at The WP Chick first.

When I decided to change my theme I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my messaging needed to be CLEAR (notice I didn't say clearer, because I can honestly say it wasn't clear at all before). I wanted people to know that when they got to my site they could learn about WordPress and Marketing. I have some re-structuring to do of my content model, but that's more of a 'moving forward' as opposed to going backwards. Meaning, new content that I create should support this model. There are some content pieces I am creating that will be more like cornerstone content (full post on getting started with WordPress, installation, theme, etc. ... because 'duh'... I should have done this years ago) as well as some really in-depth tutorials on certain products (ex: CoSchedule).

Then it's a matter of the navigation supporting that direction and having a very detailed 'Start Here' page, clear paths for my visitors and products and services that support that.

Oh. And a new, well thought out plan for lead generation (and execution of that plan).

Here are the ways I'll be monetizing my brand:

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SEO is something we all know we're supposed to do.

So we get the Yoast SEO plugin, name our images with relevant keywords, follow some of the tips from Yoast and aim for the 'green light' from Yoast (I won't get into readability right now, because as I've been testing posting my emails as posts and those never get a decent readability score, but we'll leave that for another conversation).

Deciding to re-focus my efforts on a solid content strategy led me back to looking at SEO and what I can do to improve what I'm doing (or simply do it correctly... no shame here, it is what it is). If you're going to take the time to create content, share it and go so far as to do content upgrades (again, that's for another conversation), then isn't it worth it to make sure your content continues to work for you after you've hit publish?

Needless to say when I started diving into all of this I knew who I wanted to talk with. Rebecca Gill of Web Savvy Marketing I've been following Rebecca and her team at Web Savvy Marketing (full service agency that also sells their own Genesis child themes) and have had the good fortune of connecting with Rebecca through a mutual friend, Carrie Dils. Not only is Rebecca wicked smart when it comes to SEO but she's pretty fun too (and I've only connected with her through Skype calls. I have no doubt she'd be a blast in person).

I'm going to be jumping into Rebecca's DIY SEO Course soon and will be blogging the journey (what I'm learning, data beforehand, etc.). I've been holding off jumping into the course because I know I need to set a certain amount of time aside to implement everything (mind you... the longer I wait the less optimized my site is, right? #assbackwards). Regardless, that will be happening this month (November, 2016).

Questions I Asked Rebecca

What were you doing before you launched Web Savvy Marketing? Can you share what Web Savvy Marketing is with the listeners? What does your agency do? What made you decide to create a DIY SEO course? We've all heard "SEO is dead"... what's your take on this? If you could recommend people do one thing with SEO, what would that be? You've got an SEO even coming up in January with Cory Miller of iThemes and our lovely friend, Carrie Dils:

Is this your first event? What made you decide to host a live event? What's going to be covered? What can people expect?

What's coming for you & Web Savvy Marketing in the next year?

What You're Going to Learn

Why SEO isn't just about getting a 'green dot' on your content (or a green 'Y') Where you should start if you're new to SEO Why SEO & content should be a primary focus for your website What free tools Google gives you and why you should use them ( nothing like a little free data, right?) What SEO can do for conversions on your site and in your business Why you should attend the live SEO event (O.K., this was more me plugging than Rebecca)

Where to Connect with Rebecca Website | Twitter | Facebook

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I don't know if this is a distraction or real issue I need to solve.

Well... it's probably a little of both. Let me back this up a bit and give you a little 'why' behind this so-called dilemma.

I have done my fair share of setting up membership sites with WordPress plugins. I've used most at one time or another but tend to go back to Wishlist because I have a developers license for it (probably not the best reason, but hey, I can be practical once in a while).

Last December like much of the rest of the online world I was anticipating the release of "New Kajabi" because I was tired of using different tools and piecing solutions together (we've all been there, right? After you have the website sorted, then you add the membership plugin, set up the payment gateway, connect it to your auto responder, create your landing pages... sheesh. Makes me tired just thinking about it and I know how to do all this stuff).

So I jumped in with both feet.

Purchasing New Kajabi that is. I had set up a new community (now defunct... I've learned a lot about myself in the past year, but I'll try not to go too sideways with that) and after I got the hang of it things seemed to be O.K., yet for some reason there was a disconnect. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful platform...I just found I never really wanted to login and do what needed to be done (and no, I'm not going to hire someone to do that for me).

Then I though, I'll move my WordPress Genesis for Beginners course into New Kajabi... start selling that again.

Only I didn't.

I even moved the Selling with WordPress course Jon Perez and I had done into Kajabi.

I still didn't sell it (or promote it).

Why? That's the million dollar question, isn't it?

Before I get into the mindset issue here, let me share a few of the other platforms and options I've looked at and tested:

What is it with Kajabi that I cannot wrap my head around?

I don't know... but I'll let you know soon enough because I have a call with them tomorrow. Now that I'm doing these 'daily emails' I'm getting better at posting them as blog posts as well (more on that in a minute). I recently shared something about my decision to NOT renew New Kajabi in December and lo and behold I got an email from someone at Kajabi today asking if I would be up for a chat. They saw I said I was leaving and they wanted to get some feedback and see if they could keep me if it was a possibility.

Not too shabby on the customer service side of things if I do say so myself.

And here's my two cents on customer service in general:

You can ALWAYS find someone who has had a crappy experience with a company and you can ALWAYS find someone who has had an amazing experience with a company (O.K., most of the time. Just play along with me, k?). It's kind of like cars... some people hate a certain brand of car because they had a lemon. You can also find someone who has only bought that brand of car because they've been so reliable. Anytime you have people involved you're going to get a variety of experiences and opinions.

This is something you have to decide for yourself.

Here's what I'm doing before my call with Kajabi:

First, I'm going to go through all their latest updates (they're kind of kicking ass with updates. #justsayin). I'm going to go through the blog (obviously I can't read everything since the call is happening tomorrow), log back into my site and spend some more time with the platform so I come to the call with less than "I don't know what my issue is".... and ideally, get the points of disconnect connected!

When I started thinking about the benefits of using Kajabi it's a no-brainer. Everything in one place, I don't need to lay anything out, sales pages, checkout pages... they're all there. It's also ONE place for my customers to login if they've purchased more than one product from me (novel idea. Teachery actually does this too).

It will save me $300 a year on Wistia (you get a Wis...

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Social Warfare is one of those plugins that you need to dive a little deeper into so you can understand what makes it different than all the other social sharing plugins. I had actually bought Social Warfare a while ago, had an issue and forgot to go back to it (issue was nothing major). Like many of you I'm sure, I've tried multiple different social media plugins over the years. Not all the social media plugins have the same result (some are for sharing, some are for connecting, some are for data... you get the picture).

Part of making the most of any plugin that you use is understanding the bigger picture/ end result. In this case, it's not just about having options for social sharing on your site. It's about understanding how the different social media platforms work, what works better on different social networks and how you can maximize them for connection and results.

Not only did I have a great time talking with Dustin, I learned a ton from all of his wisdom and experience.

Questions I Asked Dustin

Before we get into Social Warfare, can you share your background with the listeners? How did Warfare Plugins come about? Social Warfare is a popular plugin - what made you guys decide another social sharing plugin was needed? What were some of the challenges & struggles in launching a premium plugin company? What would you recommend to someone in this space? What's your business philosophy? What's on the horizon for Warfare Plugins?

Wait until you hear the simple thing that made a huge difference with the Pinterest sharing feature in Social Warfare. Initially Dustin wasn't putting too much attention on Pinterest. Until he learned what he needed to do differently with Pinterest. He implemented a few changes that were recommended to him by friends in the social media space and saw a HUGE difference in the traffic from Pinterest.

Within 1 month he saw a 300% increase. A year later he saw 1000% increase in his traffic from Pinterest.

What I want to point out with this is we're not just talking about shares... we're talking about traffic. Which every website needs.

What You're Going to Learn

How Social Warfare doesn't slow down your website The biggest issues Dustin wanted to solve with Social Warfare (what made it different) The human psychology behind Social Warfare (and why it works so well) How Dustin became a well known name and trusted authority in social media and content creation Who influenced Dustin and how his own personal journey was the driving force Why Dustin feels every piece of content should be written for one person

Where to Connect with Dustin & the Social Warfare Team Website | Facebook  | Twitter Links From this Episode

Warfare Plugins

Dustn.TV

John Saddington

Desk App

Pomodoro Technique

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Elementor Page Builder is fantastic! Yep... another front-end visual page builder for WordPress has joined the scene (even though it seems like these tools are coming out overnight, I can assure you these take a lot of time to build and test).

Personally, I couldn't be happier.

Maybe that's because I'm not a developer... many developers are anti-page builders. That's fine. They're not for them.

Page builders have been built for users and people who want to get things to market quicker (and more efficiently). Asking a developer to endorse a page builder is like asking a vegetarian to endorse a hamburger. It's an argument that is irrelevant.

And now that we got that out of the way, let's jump into Elementor.

When I first saw Elementor I was really impressed with it.

It has a really smooth UI, tons of features in the free version and is really easy to work with. Needless to say I was excited to have Ben Pines on the show. I'll definitely be doing a full post, review and video on it... but I didn't want to hold up the interview any longer (I have a list of 7 posts to write, so it will be coming soon).

Elementor is created by the team at Pojo.me and Ben Pines is the CMO.

Questions I asked Ben

Fill us in on how you connected with the team at Pojo? Why did you decide to join the team? Visual builders for WordPress are getting much more popular. What made you decide to create Elementor? What makes this different from other visual builders? I'm sure you have this question before, but Elementor is free. How are you guys going to monetize this awesome tool? Where do you see page builders heading?

Features of Elementor You're Going to Love

Where to find Elementor & Connect with the Team Website | Twitter  | YouTube

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The last few months in my business have been interesting to say the least.

And by interesting, I mean good.

I've been taking consistent small action in a number of areas in my business and the results are paying off. Every day. And I love it. Before we get into 'How to Be Your Own Case Study & Profit in The Process', let me share a little bit of how this all came up. I've been sharing with you guys a little bit about my affiliate journey on this site and on the Freedom Papers Podcast site (which by the way is getting a complete brand makeover, but more on that in another episode. Let me just say that the decision didn't come lightly but it's one we're really excited about).

When I made the decision to start shifting away from service work (and by the way, if you're a current client please know that I'm not abandoning anyone. This is more about who I choose to work with and the type of work I choose to do) I had to step back and get clear on what I DID want to do (yes, this is uber obvious, I know).

This is the beauty of making changes. It requires you to find a different perspective on things and fortunately, my personal life provided that perspective.

The most obvious choice for me was to increase my affiliate income on The WordPress Chick.

You've heard me talk about CPA marketing and affiliate marketing with niche sites and through things that aren't related to this brand, but I've calmed down about that. It's still something I'm going to pursue but not right now. Trust me though, there is a method to my madness.

I have to admit that as I acknowledge all this it seems so obvious... the problem with obvious is that you have to be in the right frame of mind to see it.

And I wasn't.

The changes I was going through in my personal life were a little consuming (I'm sure you guys were as sick of my house move as I was). But hey... that's one of the reasons we run our own businesses, right? So we can live our lives too and not have our schedules dictated by what someone else dictates.

Now that all of that is behind me and I'm settled in my new place, I feel a fresh excitement and clarity with everything. Yes everything. My business and my personal life. For the sake of not boring you, I'm going to stick with the business side of things today.

Let's talk about Being Your Own Case Study

When I got into my first big mastermind group the model was: Create a case study, record a video, drive traffic to an opt-in page so the lead can then watch the case study video, then get them to apply for a strategy session where you can offer a high ticket service.

Simple enough, right?

But what if you don't have any case studies?

You go get them.

What I did at the time was send an offer to my list stating that I was looking for case studies (I never said it would be free). I got about 8 responses immediately to my email and I set up the calls. Of the people I talked to I got 3 to sign up for a 3-month coaching program so I could get some results.

At the time I also had two other coaching clients so I was gaining traction with what I was doing.

From there I created my 'case studies', made my case study video and went into promotion mode.

This was in late 2013 so Facebook ads were much cheaper, but it worked. From less than an $90 ad spend I made $500 in strategy session calls ( I charged for the appointment) and $10k in coaching clients (this was paid over a 3 month period).

The next time I did case studies was for my Influence Podcasting program (done-for-you podcasting). We produced podcasts for 3 different people (show, show notes, website... all of it) at NO charge so we could get this process down. Only one of those people is still doing their podcast but it's worked extremely well for him (he got a $5k coaching client within the first two months directly from the podcast). We built our systems and ironed out the bugs in doing that. The trick with podcasting is that it's a marathon...

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I've been talking about Content Upgrades for a while now. Not that I'm an expert by any means, but it's definitely a focus and something that I have first hand experience with. And it works.

I don't quite remember when I first tested using content upgrades (it was a while ago)... actually, I think it was when I created a PDF for a tool called Reachly (they don't exist anymore) that was for Pinterest. It was the early days of Pinterest and I was using it quite a bit (more for fun than for marketing) and when I came across Reachly (which I think eventually became Pinerly), I fell in love with it. It had a beautiful interface and was super easy to use. I have no idea what inspired me to create the PDF, but I just got caught up in the moment and went to town. I had heard about content upgrades before but hadn't paid too much attention to them. At the time I had an opt-in offer on my site but was not focused on building my list (more on that in a bit).

First, let's talk about what a Content Upgrade Is

I know... it sounds pretty obvious, but there are a few different schools of thought on the matter.

Some might tell you it is only when you provide more/additional content that is relevant to the content the visitor is reading /consuming.

For the sake of keeping things simple, I'm going to say a content upgrade is anything that provides additional value to your visitor.

Meaning, if you have amazing content that your reader might want to reference in the future, then providing that content in the form of a downloadable PDF is helping them (I don't know about you but I suck at bookmarking things and coming back to them. I just don't want to do it, so instead I save links and rarely go back to them. I know... doesn't make much sense). Keep in mind though if you're going to copy & paste a post into a PDF for easy reference, simply be transparent about it. Don't position the opt-in like they're getting something more. What I've done in the past is something like "If you want to download this post for easy reference click the button below" (or however I've linked to it).

Personally I prefer creating something additional to the original content.

It gives you more credibility with your audience and creates an asset for you in the process.

Content Upgrades aren't just PDFs

I think the default for creating a content upgrade is something in the form of a PDF, usually an ebook or guide.

Here are a few other options for content upgrades (and yes, I know some of these are in the form of a PDF but think 'not an ebook'):

If you're stuck with what type of content to create for your content upgrades (I'm starting to feel like I'm keyword stuffing here with the amount of times I'm using the word content), take a step back and think about what would help you the most. One thing I find most helpful is an actual example of when something has been used or implemented.

Take this podcast & post as an example (this literally just came to me as I was writing this).

I'll be including some tools and resources for content upgrades below. I could (can?) easily create a downloadable PDF with links to all the tools, a checklist for the process of creating a content upgrade (which may vary depending on what tool you're using) and maybe a video with one of my favorite tools (this could actually be a product to sell.. hmm... maybe I'll just include the checklist ;-) ). I could also include the audio download of the podcast for easy reference (no point in making someone come back and listen to it, right?).

How you do this depends on your own personal creative process.

There are times when I get ideas out of the blue (when I'm not at the computer) and I'll send myself a note or save a note in my phone so I don't forget it (the joys of getting older), but most of the time my creative juices start flowing when I'm doing the work.

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Yes folks, she's back. Holy moly though... a lot has changed with Carrie since she was on the show last (she was episode 7! One of my first guests and I was/am super appreciative of that). Fast forward a few years and knew I needed to have Carrie back on. Her business has exploded (my words) since we spoke last. She's created more products, creates Genesis tutorials for Lynda.com (how awesome is that?), runs the OfficeHours.FM podcast and spent some time working with Crowd Favorite. Oh... and she has added speaker to her list of accomplishments (I haven't had the pleasure of seeing/hearing her speak but I can only imagine it would be awesome). We talked about the disconnect that happens when you want to shift from freelancing to something else. Carrie had some great insight as to why this happens (which tends not to be for one reason only) and of course I had to get a little esoteric with her (I don't know what my obsession with that word is lately). This conversation went in a whole bunch of different directions with this conversation... and let me just tell you... you will be laughing. Carrie is not only uber smart, but she's pretty damn funny (I was laughing throughout the interview and again when writing the show notes).

Questions I Asked Carrie

Since we last spoke you had gone over to Crowd Favorite and are back working for yourself again. I have a couple questions regarding that shift for you. First, what brought about the decision to work for Crowd Favorite and then what made you decide to go back to working for yourself? When I was on your show last, we talked about changing directions and shifting gears with business. Obviously WordPress isn't going anywhere... where do you see opportunities for people in this space? What do you fee are some challenges with running a profitable business in the WP space? Where do you think the disconnect happens for people who are freelancing and decide they are DONE? Since you've been online for a while, how do you think the landscape has changed and is changing? Where do you want to take your business? Anything you'd go back and tell yourself, say 5 years ago if you wanted to dispel a little wisdom?

What You're Going to Learn 

Where the landscape is headed for opportunities in WordPress How to pick your own space within WordPress How funny Carrie is (yes, I thought that was worth adding here) Carrie's thoughts on marketing and where she can step it up How Carrie's podcast, OfficeHours.FM has helped her business The struggle of keeping sponsorship going with a podcast

To say I adore Carrie would be an understatement. I'm sure you can tell by listening to this show that it was a ton of fun and Carrie is a wealth of knowledge.

Where to Connect with Carrie Website | Podcast | Twitter

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If I could bottle up the energy of the Merrymaker Sisters I would do it in a heartbeat. I first discovered Emma & Carla Papas (aka, The Merrymaker Sisters), through Dan Norris. I had a feeling based on their name that they were going to be a blast to talk to  (which they were) and I loved what they were doing. I loved their story of getting out of dieting and how it changed their lives. They made a conscious choice to get off the merry-go-round and eat whole foods, stop pushing themselves at the gym and start enjoying their lives more. Novel idea, right? Their story into finding what was right for them (from a health perspective) really helped them shape their business in the process. Their story truly represents the saying "ignorance is bliss". They simply kept going with what was working and continued to share it. Their business continues to grow (cookbooks... a new book coming out in October! and a private membership). Emma & Carla are a huge inspiration and I know you're going to love the interview. Questions I Asked Carla & Emma

Before we get into your business today, can you share what you guys were both doing before launching The Merrymaker Sisters?  I'd love to hear more about your story of getting fed up counting calories & fad diets (amen!)... where did you go to start changing things? When did you decide to take your business online? Explain what your business is all about? Your blog & content seems to be a mix of lifestyle, health and business (which I love). How has that worked with your audience? You also launched a podcast... how's that going? What are some of the ways people can work with you? What's on the horizon for The MerryMaker Sisters?

What You're Going to Learn

How they went from government jobs to their dream business How they came up with the brand (the name took 5 minutes) but the brand took time to grow. What Merrymaker actually means How they've allowed their interests to evolve and shift their business in the process Why they let their audience change and grow with them What allowed them to stop dieting (stepping into Paleo), feel great and start shifting into a whole food diet How they found a new way of living... and how it created a business

Where to connect with The Merrymaker Sisters Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

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When I was coming up with this post title and I decided to go with 'Google Money' I had sort of a scary thought.

That 'Google Money' probably isn't as far fetched as that sounds, right? I mean... we have bitcoin (although I can't say that I totally understand bitcoin). Then of course if you're a fan of Mr. Robot there's e-coin (I think that's what they call it).

But since we don't live in the fictional world of Mr. Robot nor is Google creating its own currency... let's get back on topic.

If you've been listening to this show (and hopefully Freedom Papers), you know that one of the things I've been talking about a lot lately is the 'Acres of Diamonds' idea.

Meaning, what do you already have that could bringing you income but you're sitting on it or not even aware that it's there? I think as business owners we're so close to our own stuff that we forget to take a step back and look at what we've created or accomplished from a different perspective. I know I did that... and still do at times.

But not as often as I used to.

So what is Google Money?

In this case, it's Adsense revenue.

I finally took a harder look at my YouTube channel and have begun doing some tutorial videos again (I got away from them over the last year and a half because I didn't like Camtasia for the Mac and couldn't really get into Screenflow, until the recent update. Which I love). I had always put my videos up on YouTube but never dove into what I need to do to ensure they were optimized and working for me. The videos were working for me in terms of building an audience and people connecting with me but there was so much more I could do.

Which is when I reached out to my friend Steve.

Who I knew had a much better grasp on YouTube and what I should be doing. I knew I wasn't interested in becoming a 'YouTuber', nor did I want to go buy some huge YouTube course. I simply wanted to do a better job with what I had already uploaded and would be uploading. Remember, I'm not trying to create more work in my life... no more hustle for this chick.

So after having Steve take a look at my channel and what I was doing wrong (which was really more about what I wasn't doing) I followed a few simple suggestions of his and went about my happy way.

Then got a #notifcationofpayment from Google.

I had just received a $120 payment from Adsense for the month (i.e., Google Money).

Thank you more please!

I have a decent amount of subscribers and views. Of course now I have to go back and tweak all my previous videos, but that's O.K., that's the kind of thing I can do at night when I'm watching TV (I've gotten pretty good at knowing which tasks I can do when).

This is a perfect example of 'Acres of Diamonds' in action.

My Favorite New Tools

You guys know by now that I'm a complete geek about finding tools and plugins to use. As I write this I'm wondering if this is something I should bring up with my therapist?... kidding of course.

There are a couple new tools and plugins I've been using a LOT lately and decided it was high time I share them with you.

You'll be hearing more about each of these in individual posts or follow up podcasts (I have a couple interviews done with a couple founders), but I didn't want you to have to wait until those posts went live.

The first tool I'm having a ton of fun with is actually a WordPress plugin, by one of my favorite companies, Thrive Themes.

Thrive Headline Optimizer

This isn't a new plugin by any means (although it was released this year, so it's kind of 'newish'), but I've finally started using it more.

It's about as easy as it gets too.

You enter your headline, then you can enter additional headlines (you can split test two or as many as you'd like). Thrive Headline Optimizer will then alternate showing the headlines to different visitors. You get to decide how long you want to run the test for,

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Plugin development goes much deeper than the technical side of development. My guest, Gordan Orlic of WebFactoryLtd. went deep with me in this episode.

Gordan and I connected through something so simple... and yet not many people do it.

Email outreach.

Gordan and his team at WebFactoryltd. have been selling their plugins through the Envato Marketplace for a while now and they've made a decision to start transitioning out of that marketplace.

When he emailed me to see if I was interested in talking with him of course I said yes... I'm fascinated with the premium WordPress marketplace (plugins, themes and tutorials...it doesn't matter. And it's exciting to see it growing).

Gordan and his team have a bunch of plugins over at Envato (CodeCanyon... to be specific) and definitely have their work cut out for them (but it will be well worth it).

Questions I asked Gordan

Before we dive into WebFactoryLtd., can you share what you were doing before you launched WebFactory? When did you decide to launch WebFactory? What would you recommend to someone who wants to get into premium plugin development? Why are you and your team moving away from Code Canyon? How big is your team? How do you market your plugins? Tell us about the white label plugin side of your business?

What You're Going to Learn

How the pricing models are shifting in the WordPress premium marketplace Why Gordan & his team are leaving Envato Why paying for support is necessary Who should actually be using Code Canyon The real cost in keeping your plugins up to date and compatible What the process is for moving off of Code Canyon What Gordan really thinks about Code Canyon's support The new WordPress news site Gordan & his team has launched

Some of WebFactoryLtd.'s plugins:

Google Maps Widget Optin Ninja Security Ninja Super Agency 5 Sec PayPal buttons Core Scanner .... and more!

The first plugin that Gordan and his team have moved from Code Canyon is the Google Maps Widget... which makes it super easy (literally... you won't be banging your head against the wall trying to figure this out), to add a Google Map to your website.

Where to Connect with Gordan Website | Twitter | Facebook

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With my 'anti-hustle' campaign I kind of surprised myself with the title of this post. Well... the "Massive Action" part anyways. I knew I was excited about launching the new show (Freedom Papers Podcast), but I had no idea what that was going to be like. I'm writing (recording) this episode almost exactly a month after the inception of Freedom Papers and I'm floored at how much we've accomplished, which is also why I've decided that what I've learned from this experience over the past month is going to be my new indicator for everything I do online. From Idea to Production First, I apologize if you've listened to the Welcome episode of Freedom Papers, but this little story bears repeating. It's such a testament to trust and patience (something I'm constantly working on. The trust is easier than the patience).

I just looked up my initial interview with Jon (Perez) and it was almost 3 years ago exactly (bear with me, I swear I'm not a numerologist but I love these little synchronicities). August 15, 2013. And here we are three years later and we've found "it".

Jon and I hit it off right away (how could you not with him, right?) and stayed in touch. We would chat on skype, talk about our businesses and how we could support one another. We knew there was a great chemistry there and wanted to work together. We tried a handful of things to make that happen:

Here's the thing though...

None of those "felt" right.

And I'm here to tell you that what you feel matters.

We implemented and took action on each of those tasks, but somehow life always got in the way. Our course (Selling with WordPress) was great, but it felt like a struggle to complete and while I can't really speak for Jon (although clearly I attempt to), our hearts weren't into it. We were looking for that "thing".

The big payday, the solution... the ONE thing that would change our trajectory.

I have zero regrets about everything we've tried. I know without a doubt that we wouldn't be doing Freedom Papers if it weren't for having tried everything else.

Here's the real kicker.

If I were to break down each of those other things we did and step back for a minute I can easily tell you that I had a niggly feeling with all of them (in one manner or another). Not that it wasn't right or a quality product, simply that it didn't inspire me to do more, grow it or really stick with it. Those were all things that came after everything else (and trust me when I tell you that the podcast we were doing was a TIME SUCK... the concept was great but the chemistry with the 3rd person wasn't).

My guess is that you guys can all say the same thing.

Every time you did something that didn't work out you knew in your GUT that you should have let it go sooner.

O.K., back to idea to production.

We came up with the idea for Freedom Papers on July 18th.

When this episode airs it will be exactly ONE month later.

In that time frame here's what we've done:

Recorded 8 episodes Logo, website & branding: done Email list Produced the intro for the podcast (Jon was the creative brilliance behind that) Launched the show Mapped out our strategy for production (creating systems as we speak) Mapped out our monetization model (I could not be MORE exited) Tracking EVERYTHING we're doing Connected with an amazing transcription service and have transcripts already Are converting the transcripts into a physical newsletter... Freedom Papers (literal papers.. haha) Launching a GiveAway next week for the show ... and a few other things that are TOP SECRET

As you probably know by now, I'm not really one to shout from the rooftops "Look what I DID!" (although I have every intention of doing that more). I'm sharing this with you because doing this has been effortless. It has completely taken on a life of its own.

Remember when you were a little kid and you could get lost for hour...

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Dallas and I connected about a year and a half ago through the same mastermind.

I knew right away that Dallas was 'my kind of people'.... his energy is great, he's super positive and probably one of the most giving people I've met in a while. His story is a bit of a 'tears to triumph' story in that like many of us, Dallas hit rock bottom before getting clear on what he really wanted to do with his business. I hadn't heard Dallas' entire story before this interview. I was honored that he shared it with me (us) and think you're going to be inspired as well as interested in being an "Unlimiter" in your own life.

In the beginning of the interview Dallas & I talked about things we both learned through the mastermind together, the value we got and how we think things are shifting in that space. Questions I Asked Dallas

What were you doing before your current business? Can you share with the listeners what it is you do today? I know you had some personal struggles & challenges... can you share what that was and what has shifted for you? We all know mindset is important. What made you decide to focus on this? What are some of the challenges your clients face? What does it mean to be an 'Unlimiter'?

[Tweet "I lost complete and total control of my brain. @DallasHardcastle"]

Through his journey Dallas has created some rituals & daily routines. He has 8 things that he does everyday and he shared those with me during our time together.

Resist the interruption of your left brain ( don't let the analytical part of your brain analyze how you're going to do what you're going to do). Think more.. "what can I do"

Block out the distractions (more overwhelmed) -quiet your mind. Focus on ONE thing

Take & diversify different types of information (mentally rehearsing the days events)

Make time to exercise (physical exercise)

Exercise your imagination (take time out to do this)

Remain as relaxed as possible

Practice visualization

Become very detail oriented

Find out more about working with Dallas and becoming an Unlimiter

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E-Commerce is one of those things that I've thought about jumping into on and off since I started my business (in 2008), but never pulled the trigger. I started looking into more seriously this past year when I realized I needed to shift the way I was doing business. My overall arching 'theme' has been to stop trading time for money. I've already created some recurring revenue streams but they were more of an after thought than a well planned strategy. Then I hit a wall. I knew it was time to pull the plug on the amount of services I offered and provided (I still do them, but it's more about who I want to work with and whether or not I feel I'm the best person to provide the value someone needs). And then of course there's my motto...."If it's not fun, I'm not doing it." I found Chloe Thomas after getting her recent book, Customer Manipulation (which we talk about in the show). Of course I purchased her other books after getting this one. I'd love to tell you that I've started my new e-commerce site and store, but that's not happening yet. At this point in my life I've finally gotten smart about not taking too much on at once. What I can tell you is when I do launch my e-commerce store I'll be following Chloe's steps! Chloe went deep with me in terms of the brand [Tweet "I'm a big fan of keeping your e-commerce store simple @"] Questions I Asked Chloe

There are SO many places I wanted to start with for this interview... but I think it makes sense to start with your background because you have an extensive background in eCommerce. Can you share your background with the listeners? You've worked with people from solo entrepreneurs to big companies. This is a two-part question.... can you give examples of each and share a little bit of their journey/success? Shopify vs. Woocommerce or another self-hosted commerce solutions. Where do you begin? Who should do what? Dropshipping? FBA? Teespring? T-shirts? Gearbubble? Determining profitability of a niche? Is there such a thing as a crowded market? Subscription model? Customer Manipulation: Latest book, what it's about, etc. Best place to connect with you?

What You're Going to Learn

Where you should start if you want to launch an e-commerce store How the owner of an electronic cigarette e-commerce store has achieved massive success Why you need to have some level of passion for what you're selling (or you may struggle) Which platforms you can use for creating your e-commerce store Why you don't need to have an individual personality behind your store How you can bring in a personality to your store (be humans behind it) without having to be a personal brand

Where to Connect with Chloe Website | Podcast | Twitter | Facebook Links from this episode Chloe's Books:

Customer Manipulation eCommerce Master Plan eCommerce Marketing

Get the first chapter of Customer Manipulation FREE here!

CrateJoy

The Automatic Customer (book)

GearBubble

TeeSpring

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I've been thinking about doing an in-depth post on WordPress Visual Editors (besides Thrive Content Builder & Beaver Builder, which of course are still my favorites!) for a while now. I'm still planning on it, but thought I would do a podcast episode first to gauge the interest as it's probably going to be a pretty time-intensive piece of content (which is O.K. too, but nothing like getting a little validation first). There are a LOT of WordPress Visual editors on the market now and I expect we're going to see more. I'm going to skip any of the visual builders that have shown up in JV Zoo during the past year because I have no idea if they're going to be around or supported (not that I can guarantee this with the rest of these plugins, but more they'll more than likely be here longer than the JVZoo products).

What's interesting is that I've had this conversation a few times now (I think I've talked about this on the podcast before), but with the amount of new tools and options that are starting to show up I thought it was time to revisit this.

We'll start by addressing the elephant in the room.

Which is whether or not you should use page builders.

Obviously you know my answer, but before you write them off, let's talk about when and why you would want to use a page builder. If you look at why the team at Beaver Builder created their awesome plugin it was simple. They wanted to find a way to be more efficient with their client work. They were repeating tasks/work on their client projects and wanted to deploy the sites quicker. So they built the solution they needed.

Less time on a project does NOT mean it has less value. You're still providing the client with what they want and you're doing it quicker.

I know there are arguments out there about it not being as clean (referring to code here) or as light on the site... but I think we should look at this from the bigger picture.

First, most of these tools are getting better and better. Some use the WordPress customizer (for some reason this still isn't my favorite option... I don't know why. I probably need to spend some more time using it, which I will be with one of the latest tools, Elementor). Whether you're building sites for clients or for yourself, here are a few things to consider when deciding if you want to use a page builder:

That being said, here are the page builders I'm going to talk about today. Keep in mind this isn't a full list... it's simply the ones I've looked at, used or currently use. If you guys want me to do a full post / video review of these tools let me know. It will take a decent amount of time to complete it, but I'll make it as complete as possible.

Thrive Content Builder: O.K., I won't go into details here on this because I've written about Thrive a handful of times and am about to publish a new post with 4 videos on Thrive for you (which I'll link to as soon as it's published, but in the meantime you can checkout a recent post I did where I explained why I use Thrive & Beaver Builder). I primarily use Thrive for landing pages (sales pages, squeeze pages, webinar pages, etc.). But in the post I'm about to publish I used the Thrive Content Builder for the first time in a standard post. Pretty awesome!

Beaver Builder: See above. :-) I'll do an updated post on Beaver Builder in the coming months, but in the meantime you can checkout the recent post & video I did on why I use Thrive and Beaver Builder. I use Beaver Builder for creating site pages. One of the most amazing things with Beaver Builder is the community support. There are a lot of 3rd party developers creating add-ons (keeping the core plugin lighter and more streamlined). What I love about this is that the Beaver Builder team is completely supportive and is active within the Beaver Builder Facebook group.

Elementor: This is the newest page builder to hit the web and I have to say, I'm LOVING it. Oh...

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I had the great pleasure of being on Chuck's podcast after we had connected via social media (twitter I think).

Talk about a ton of fun (it was also mu first blab). I enjoyed it so much and appreciated how Chuck Wang shows up that I asked him right away to be on my show.

Chuck's story is one that I think many people can relate to. He started out on his entrepreneurial journey with a drive for the 'almighty dollar' (his words, not mine) and how he ended up losing it all and turned it around through serving others.

Chuck shared a real-life story of one of his companies (who creates podcasting software) and how he helped them streamline their process (most valuable process). I absolutely love the insights and step-by-step instructions Chuck shared with me. Questions I Asked Chuck

Before we get into MVP.Consulting, can you fill us in on what you were doing before your launched your current business and podcast? You share some really personal challenges on your About page... what made you decide to share at that level? What gave you the idea to start MVP.Consulting? What's your business model? Why did you decide to launch your podcast? How has the podcast shifted your business? What's on the horizon for you for the rest of 2016?

[Tweet "I would rather go small and live a big life than "go big" and live a small life" @TheChuckWang"] What You're Going to Learn

How Chuck figured out what he really wanted to do (we talked about passion and finding that) Why he decided to create a human experiment to change the trajectory of his life What it meant to Chuck to be 'soul poor' What his rock bottom was.... after he was chasing the almighty dollar When he had to file bankruptcy and how his life turned around after that Why he needed to hit the 'reset' button on his life How to create your most valuable process

Where to Connect with Chuck Podcast | Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook [Tweet "Inspired Works was my gateway drug to get out of that - @TheChuckWang"]

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This post may contain affiliate links This episode is proudly brought to you by my sponsor, Sitelock

Sometimes I wonder if I'll stop learning things the hard way.

OR... maybe that's simply part of my journey in this lifetime. This episode will probably be a mix of tangible with philosophical, so sit tight, it might be an interesting ride.

I've mentioned recently that I'm going through some major changes in my personal life and with my business. I've recently sold my house, which I've owned for 14+ years and was the house my husband and I bought together (he passed away in 2003). I was talking with my mentor/therapist about all these big changes and the attachments to the house and she asked me if it was because my husband and I bought this house together.

It wasn't.

It was really more that this was MY house. When we bought this house life was full of promises. We had two small kids (they were 4 & 1 when we moved in), I had a new career I was excited about and everything felt like it was in front of us. Fast forward a year and half later and my life as I knew it was gone. Turned upside down in with one tragic accident (stay with me here, it will get better, I promise).

This house represented me. My ability to survive... and... here's the kicker... getting to do things however I wanted to. It sounds so odd to say this, but I've often said that losing my husband was easier than a divorce. I've watched people I love go through a divorce and there can be soooo much pain, anger and resentment. And then you have to find a way to navigate a new path with the person you least want to engage with. I never had to share my kids or worry about how someone else was raising them.

Deciding to sell my house is sort of like closing a chapter in my life. We've created amazing memories here and it's been an awesome place to raise my kids. But I'm ready...

Ready for what?

I'm not sure... I will of course be sharing the journey with you.

All of this personal sharing brings me to the opportunities and income that are right in front of us, we just don't always see them.

I had something 'hit' me on the way home from my last trip up to my therapists and it was something that I think every single person listening can benefit from.

"Stop looking outside of yourself."

How many times in your business have you made a decision but somewhere along the way (or deep down), you had a niggly feeling it wasn't what you wanted to be doing? I'm not talking about doing things to pay your bills or take care of your family. I think we all get that when you start a business we all do 'what we don't want to do in order to do the things we DO want to do' (say that 10 times fast!). But we're subscribed to so many sites, marketers and people who are doing things bigger and better than we lose ourselves and keep searching for something else.

Then I had my HOLY MOLY moment.

Let me give you the scenario...

I check my email and get a notification from PayPal that Hatchbuck just sent me $70.42 (hatchbuck was my previous email provider prior to switching to Active Campaign. I LOVED hatchbuck... but switched to Active Campaign for a few reasons, which I should get into in another post or podcast). The same day I had shared on social media a new tool called 'Connect Retarget' by Wilco De Kreij. I have a few of his products (all lead gen / Facebook advertising related) and he's a great guy. His products are great, he sticks around (not a JV Zoo product) and continues to develop amazing software. Anywho... I knew I was going to get it (and will probably promote it more in the future, I just wanted to be able to test it and use it first) and thought I'd share it socially one day during the launch. I'm sitting in bed that night writing an email and get a PayPal notification that I just made $98.50 for Connect Retarget. No emails, no ads... just one simple share.

So total for that day was $168.92.

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Thanks to my podcast sponsor, Sitelock for sponsoring this episode!

If you've ever wanted to hang with the guys from Beaver Builder, you're going to love this episode!

I'm having a ton of fun doing these follow up interviews with previous guests and I feel like the team at Beaver Builder are old friends... (they're simply awesome people...  in addition to their tool being an amazing page builder). We started the interview off by catching up a bit with what has happened sine our last interview (which was March 6, 2015... btw, I recorded this interview with the guys a couple months before we published).

The cool thing about the timing of this interview is that it's right in line with some of the things I've discussed on my last two solo shows (where I discussed getting out of client services). If you haven't listened to the first interview, you're going to want to listen to that which will bring you up to speed on where things are today.

We caught up with some of the personal things happening with the guys... Billy and Justin have both moved into new houses a couple hours away from Robby, who is still in the South Bay.

A few months prior to this interview the guys made a decision to completely phase out of client services and focus solely on Beaver Builder. We talked about the transition, how they've supported their long-term clients during the transition and how long everything has taken. In April of 2016 Beaver Builder celebrated their two-year anniversary (and this is when they started completely transitioning out of client work... so for those of you who have a product or want to develop a product and get away from services, know that it's going to be a process. It might not take you two years, but it will probably take longer than you think).

[Tweet ""It's hard to focus on two separate things at one time... client services or your product" @beaverbuilder"]

What You're Going to Learn

How the company has grown over the last two years What goes into reaching a million dollars in sales When they stopped client work How the community has rallied around and supported Beaver Builder How they decide which features to add and when What the learning curve has been for them with marketing

Questions I asked

When did you transition out of client services? What would you recommend to someone who wants to get into the product side of things (themes or plugins)? Having a background in development & design, what was it like to start having to market yourselves? Can you share a tangible marketing experience that worked and one that didn't? How much time to you guys spend doing the different tasks/elements of the business?

[Tweet "One of our goals was simple but powerful" @beaverbuilder]

This is truly a behind the scenes look at what it's like to build a software company from idea, to minimum viable product to going full time with your product. They've added two full-time support people, 3 contract developers and a designer to the Beaver Builder family. I could not be happier for Justin, Billy & Robby with their well deserved success and growth of this amazing product!

If you haven't checked out Beaver Builder, you're going to want to.

It's an amazing tool created by even more awesome people.

Where to Connect with Beaver Builder Website | Facebook | Twitter Links from this episode Beaver Builder Plugin Beaver Builder Podcast Episode 53 Why We Ditched Our Silicon Valley Offices to Work From Home - Robby McCullough

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Nothing beats unsolicited validation when you're not sure about that feeling in your gut.

There's something inside of you that has become more of a push than a nudge, you know without a doubt that this is what you want to be doing... you're just not sure how to get there.

Then you take that leap.

You put something out there... a message, a post, a product (a podcast) and people reach out to you telling you they feel the same way!

That's what happened for me with my last solo episode which was milestone episode 100. I had been thinking about what I wanted to do for that episode for a while. Part of me thought do a big party, live stream, celebrate... whatever. But it's not where I'm at right now and it felt like that would be forcing something or doing something because I thought that's what I should be doing for the 100th episode.

I don't want to repeat everything I said in that post or episode, but the message that seemed to resonate with SO many people was when I shared that I was getting out of client services. I have to clarify also that I do have a couple clients I'm still working with and will continue to work with (in case they're reading or listening) but that's only because they're lovely people and I enjoy working with them.

Other than that?

I'm done.

Here's the truth:

I have yet to meet a freelancer who doesn't eventually want out of the client work.

And... that makes sense!

Not simply because there is a frustration level involved in working with clients (because we all know that could be a podcast in and of itself. That would also drain the life out of me and as much as my ego wants to rant, who needs more negativity, right?)... but because as human beings we're hard wired for more.

Gone are the days of doing one thing for 30 years (and my guess is that even for the people who did that there was a level of boredom that sank in. They just didn't think they had other options).

[Tweet ""I have yet to meet a freelancer who doesn't eventually want out of the client work." @kimdoyal"]

We have SO many more options today.

And maybe that's part of the problem?

Seeing other people going for what they want... doing business the way they want to do business... you question why the hell you're not there as well, right?

And I'm not talking about the side they share on social media (as someone who has actively participated in all of that I have to say I am really grateful to be on the other side. I still use social media but I don't get why people feel the need to broadcast every little thing they do. The armchair psychologist in me says there's going to be a bit of a crash for these people. What happens when the 'lights go down' so to speak. But I guess that's for another podcast as well).

I received a handful of emails and comments about what I shared in episode 100.

Which completely validated that I'm on the right path and headed in the right direction.

Even if I've got a nervous pit in my stomach on a daily basis.

I know this is something I've got to do.

[Tweet ""Seeing other people going for what they want... doing business the way they want to do business... you question why the hell you're not there as well, right?" -@kimdoyal"]

The Future of WordPress As A Business Let me get my crystal ball.

Can you picture that?

I've got my Madame Kim.... errr... Madame Chick turbin on, big chunky rings on my fingers and I'm gazing into a crystal ball. I rub my hands over the ball and give you a "hmm... very interesting"...

O.K., I don't know where the bucket that came from, but I had to run with it.

First, let's look at what I'm talking about when I refer to WordPress As A Business.

These are the business types I'm referring to:

WordPress websites WordPress maintenance / hosting WordPress training / teaching / documentation (general) WordPress specialty (think focusing on a specific aspect of WP, ex: Woocommerce, marketing, speed,

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You know how there are those people that when you talk with them initially you feel like you've known them forever?

And then every time you talk with them you walk away with a smile on your face and know your day was made better because they were a part of it?

Yea... that's Troy Dean.

Oh... and besides being a great guy and ridiculously fun to talk with, he knows how to create and scale a profitable online business.

Which is why I was super excited about talking with him about his latest venture, Rock Star Empires. Yep, a Course about Courses. Troy has plenty of experience (and more importantly data) on creating successful online courses.

Many of you probably know Troy from WP Elevation (which started as on open-ended community/membership and shifted to a course) or Video User Manuals (a WordPress plugin that you can install in your site with step-by-step WordPress tutorials).

Troy's focus these days is the online education space... and he explains how he transitioned into that (while keeping the other businesses running). And of course we had a ton of fun.

[Tweet ""You're constantly reacting to client demands" @troydean"]

Questions I asked Troy

You're still running WP Elevation & Video User Manuals: Why step into a course on courses? Time for Money Trap: Discuss What are some of the challenges you see people face when:

Taking a course Launching a course

What are some key components to creating a successful course? I love that you did a beta run of the program... how did that go? Can you share what's included in the course?

[Tweet ""How do you build your online empire by positioning yourself as the Rock Star in your niche?" @troydean"]

What You're Going to Learn

Why Troy took WP Elevation from an open-ended community to a course he re-0pens a few times a year The one factor that makes a HUGE difference in getting people to commit & complete a course The shocking statistic on course completion (this one kinda blew me away) Why Troy doesn't produce the course until he sells it (I've been there!) How you can successfully launch your own course What Rock Star Empires is all about...

Where to Connect with Troy Website | Facebook | Twitter

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The problem with referencing songs when you're writing is that they get stuck in your head.

Like... forever.

I just got done writing an email about my friend Troy Dean's new course (Rock Star Empires) and referenced a bunch of 80's music (more specifically, Van Halen songs... because I love Van Halen). Then as I opened my editor to start writing out this post and thinking back to when I launched the podcast, the song "Oh What A Night"... "(late December back in 63... what a very special time for me... " even though I wasn't even alive in 63, the 'Oh What a Night' popped into my head. You're welcome. And for those of you who don't know the song? Go to YouTube... it's by The Four Seasons and is just as awesome song).

So for whatever reason... when I start reflecting on the good things in my life, 'Oh What A Night' cues right up.

I'm always amazed at how music can transport me back to another time & place in seconds.

Or change my mood (lift my spirits, energize me, calm me down or even bring me to tears).

But it's not just the music... it's the lyrics. It's the 'why' behind the music.

Which brings me to my own 'Why'.

I think this is something that as entrepreneurs we find ourselves re-evaluating from time to time (which is a good thing). I am going through some major changes in my personal life (selling my house, probably the last summer my daughter will be living at home, my son has started working, is getting his drivers permit and I have completely closed the door on certain aspects of my business).

As my kids start taking off in pursuit of their own dreams, my why has totally shifted.

When I started my business 8 years ago my kids were a HUGE part of my 'why' (to provide for them, be home for them, etc.). They're still a part of my 'why' but more from the perspective that I want them to see that you can go for what you want... have dreams, ignore the herd and follow their hearts.

The Journey So Far

When I decided to launch my podcast a few years ago I did it for the SOLE purpose of wanting to have more fun in my business.

I don't think I had quite found my voice in my writing yet and was struggling with being the technician, which was NEVER a goal of mine when I decided to start an online business. I've done a lot of personality tests (one of my favorite tests for entrepreneurs is Roger Hamilton's Wealth Dynamics Test) and I'm never surprised when it reveals that I want to be the 'Star'. So being behind the scenes as a pair of hands (keep in mind this is what my perception was when I started this... and it's all about how you position something) has always been frustrating.

In the last three years I've...

launched an outsourcing company participated in a high-end mastermind (raced a Ferrari, went ziplining, snorkeling, ATV racing in Mexico, hot air balloon and connected with some wonderful people) gotten into paid advertising traveled more than I had in the previous 5 years (Hawaii a couple times, Mexico, Scotland, France, Las Vegas (not a fan), St. Louis, Park City Utah doubled my email list launched a high-ticket, done-for-you podcasting service done coaching (stopped for a while  and will be doing so grew my team to 12 people gotten one child graduated from HS and off to college (3 more years for the second one) had a friend live with me for a year decided to sell my house (recently) ... enjoyed it all and decided it's time for a new chapter

All of this has been a wild ride. Most of it amazing, some of it frustrating and exhausting.

The podcast, while not always as consistent as I would like it to be, has been the one constant (along with this brand).

And outside of the podcast, there are going to be some massive changes.

Massive Changes

The first big change is happening in my personal life.

I've decided to sell my house. It's a little sooner than I was planning (my son has 3 more years left in high school and I was plannin...

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I first met Giancarlo Barraza at a mastermind event in January, 2014. My first impression of Giani?

TONS of enthusiasm, passion and commitment (if you follow Giani on Facebook, which I recommend you do, you'll see what I'm talking about. Because his passion & commitment show in everything he does).

Giani left the mastermind we were in together and I've watched his amazing growth over the past two years (and quite frankly have been in awe). I've said it before on the podcast and it bears repeating here... if you can learn how to do paid traffic (and I mean learn how to do it correctly and be profitable), you can succeed online. You simply have to be patient, test and measure everything you're doing.

If you haven't heard of CPA marketing (and affiliate marketing), or aren't familiar with it, you will be after this interview.

I specifically asked Giani how someone could get started if they were totally new to affiliate marketing and CPA.

His answer?

You have to listen to the podcast... :-)

[Tweet ""You don't need a lot of money to get started, but you have to remember it's a business" - Coach Giani"]

Questions I Asked Giani

Can you fill the listeners in on what you were doing when we first met? Explain what it is you do (what your business is today). What are some of the challenges and struggles you've dealt with? What is something you see your students doing over and over again that gets in their way? Where would you suggest someone start when they're first getting into paid traffic?

[Tweet ""Mostly it's about mindset... it's about how badly you want it" - Coach Giani"]

What You're Going to Learn

What he sacrificed when he was building his business (everyone thought he was crazy) The one place Giani recommends you get started... and why he recommends getting started this way How he's built his team Why he believes mindset is the most important thing you need when scaling a business What Giani does on Facebook everyday to reach his community Where can someone start with their mindset?

[Tweet ""If you train your mind to believe, you can pretty much achieve anything you want" - Coach Giani"]

Connect with Coach Giani Website | Facebook | YouTube

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy It's Time to Hack the Entrepreneur with Jon Nastor From Prison to Prosperity - My Interview with Mike Pisciotta Growing a Business with T-Shirts - My Interview with Trey Lewellen

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Brandon Lewin. So much to say... so little time! :-)

I had the good fortune of connecting with Brandon about a year and a half ago. He reached out to me via social media, we ended up on a Skype call and periodically stayed in touch. We reconnected when I did my first Periscope and I mentioned on that broadcast that I was looking for someone to help me with SEO, backlinks, site optimization, etc. Next thing I knew we were on another Skype call setting up a mutually beneficial business arrangement. I would coach him and he would manage that stuff for me.

Best. Decision. Ever.

Not only because Brandon is brilliant at what he does, but because he's just a great guy and someone I'm honored to consider a friend.

I've referred to Brandon as my 'secret weapon' (on multiple occasions), because he's really helped me shift my content strategy and use of keywords. Now my challenge is simply getting clear on exactly what it is I want to be doing with my business, but we'll save that for another episode. Brandon made a big decision to move his family from Chicago to Austin, TX (yea... he was a little tired of the snow) and has taken massive action connecting and reaching out with other entrepreneurs (something I tend to stay away from where I live... I might head over to San Francisco once in a blue moon, but not often).

Not only is Brandon great at what he does (writing, conversions, SEO & strategy), he's a genuine connector. Someone who truly enjoys connecting other people (which makes it super easy to want to make connections for him as well).

Questions I Asked Brandon:

Before starting your current business, can you let the listeners know what you were doing and how you decided to venture out on your own? Can you share with the listeners what your current business is You work with both online & offline businesses, so this might be a two-part answer. Is there a common mistake you see people making when it comes to SEO or their SEO strategy? (beyond not having one) Let's talk a little about content & SEO. We both know people who spend a LOT on paid traffic, but don't see the value in content. What's your take on this? Where would you start with someone who had an online business but wasn't getting the results they wanted (or any results at all)? Can you give us one strategy that people can start implementing today that will set them on the right path? How can people work with you? What's on the horizon for you?

[Tweet ""It was the kick in the ass I needed to get me going" - @BrandonLewin"]

What You're Going to Learn:

How getting laid off was the best thing that could have happened Why I decided to move my family to Austin, TX from Chicago How he realized he was stuck in the time for money trap Why Brandon considers Austin the "mecca" of internet marketing Why SEO isn't just about looking at Google Analytics How you can take the data and drive it back to 'what the problem' is How you can identify 'low hanging fruit' on your blog and monetize it (or get better results) The role content should play in your marketing strategy

[Tweet "You need both content & SEO to be successful" - @BrandonLewin"]

Where to Connect with Brandon Website | Facebook | Twitter

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy

Cashflow, GooRoos and My First Post on Medium

Todd Brown & Conversions: SO Fly

Starting an Online Business Today: What I'd do Different

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In the last solo show I recorded I talked about what I would do different if I were starting my business today. I had also done a similar episode in the very early stages of the podcast (that's the beauty of this type of content, it's always relevant, even though certain elements may change). The one thing I don't think I talked much about (that's my brain for you)... was cashflow.

Not from the basic accounting side of things, because I think we all get that concept.

More about what you can do to keep if flowing and why it should be your absolute first priority... yes, even before doing the things you "want" to do.

Which is a tough one for this chick. Remember, one of my motto's is "If it's not fun, I'm not doing it".

But guess what?

Earning money IS fun... and creating cashflow in your business can fuel you to pursue more of your passions.

Here's where the GooRoo's go wrong... (and I have to credit Ben Settle with the 'gooroo' thing... I'm a fan of Ben's work and subscriber of his Email Players newsletter... and would LOVE to have him on the show. But that's another episode).

Having been in this business for a while now, I've seen a boat load of product launches, huge courses and high end masterminds (I've invested in all of them). What you DON'T see very often is the one thing that will help you get closer to being able to invest in all of those things. Creating consistent cashflow in your business.

Why?

Because it's not super sexy and most people don't focus on what they need (what would really solve their problems), they focus on what they WANT. And gooroo's and marketers alike know this. But that's where the magic really starts to happen. When you can give someone what they want while solving what they need, it's a win-win, isn't it?

Here's what I wish I had grasped early on. Get the cashflow set up FIRST, then pursue the fun stuff... the passion projects... whatever you want. Not that I necessarily would have listened. :-) I can be a little stubborn at times... but eventually I come around (ever wonder at what point we stop learning things the hard way?).

When the money obstacle is removed (meaning you can cover all your expenses and still have the quality of life you want), you're in a completely different mental space to produce the things that make your heart sing.

Before we move onto gooroos, let's talk a bit about what you can do to get the cash flowing.

And I'm going to be a little firm with you here... but trust that it's coming from the right place, O.K.,?

Please don't start with a bunch of "yeah, but..." reasons as to why you can't/don't/won't take the steps to get cash flowing in your business. Been there, done that. And it's bullshit. You absolutely can get these things going.

And I get it that there are a lot of different types of business models out there, but you'd be hard pressed to find one of these things below that doesn't apply  or can't be implemented in your business. Even it if requires a few tweaks. I'm simply going to bullet point them here but go into more detail in the podcast itself.

Cashflow opportunities:

Do all of these take time?

Absolutely.

But the time is going to pass whether you implement these things or not.

I have a friend who used to think of affiliate marketing from the perspective of "yea, but the money doesn't come in for at least 30 days". True. But in 30 days from now that is going to make a difference, right?

It makes me cringe a bit when I think of the amount of affiliate income that I've left on the table over the past 8 years.

It was that old, tired story of not wanting to offend anyone or seem cheesy because I was promoting affiliate offers. WTF?!

And all of this can be chalked up to perception.

Most people are too busy thinking about themselves to worry about what you're doing.

Moving onto GooRoos

The second I saw Ben Settle write that I was hooked.

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This interview is another testament to reaching out and making real connections online.

Paul and I connected through Facebook and went back and forth a few times via messenger, then set up a Skype call (I've made the mistake in the past of setting up interviews with people that I haven't had a chance to talk to prior... it doesn't always go so well. Not that the interview is bad, but it's not always the best fit for my show & audience). Obviously that wasn't the case with Paul Irvine. While WordPress Security is absolutely crucial... it's not always the most fun topics (or dare I say interesting? No offense Paul... because you certainly make it more interesting!). What tends to happen is that people get interested in security after the fact. As in, after they've been hacked, something has broken or things aren't working the way they're supposed to (nothing like a couple thousand spam comments, huh?).

[Tweet ""The corporate world decided I was going to be part of the implosion in 2008" - @paulirvine79"]

Like many of us, Paul tested a bunch of different things when starting his online business. The reason I always ask this question of my guests is because there is SO much value in hearing that you're not alone (we all beat ourselves up for the money we've spent on products, mentors or 'systems'.... and never got us the 'ROI' we wanted). The one common denominator in every story is that they didn't give up. They kept trying, testing and simply decided they were going to find a way to make this work.

That's where Paul Irvine comes in (thankfully).

What You're Going to Learn:

How Paul made the most of the financial crisis in 2008 Where the search for 'make money online' took Paul (the rabbit hole) How he leveraged his corporate skills into his own business The few things that Paul did when trying to get his online business going (affiliate marketing, CPA marketing, article marketing... you name it) How he got his adsense account banned What you should be looking for with hosting

[Tweet "There is a way to make money online, but there isn't a magic button. You have to have the drive to make it work" -@paulirvine79"]

Questions I Asked Paul

What were you doing before you started your current business? What made you decide to take the leap and go out on your own? You focus on WordPress & WP Security. What made you decide to focus on security? What are some common mistakes you see people making with security on their own sites? If you could get everyone to do ONE thing with their sites, in terms of security, what would that be? You have a course coming out soon. What's on the horizon for you this year?

Where to Connect with Paul Facebook | Twitter | Website Links mentioned in this episode

Wordfence

LiquidWeb Hosting

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy

Lee Jackson of WP Innovator & a Ton of Fun

Freelancing & WordPress - My Interview with Brennan Dunn

Building a WordPress Business through Community - My Interview with Brandon Yanofsky

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I've been following Todd Brown for a while now (I'd say I was stalking him, but that's just kind of creepy...and not really true).

One thing I think a lot of online entrepreneurs take for granted is the ability to learn from other people simply by subscribing and paying attention to what they're doing (note: that doesn't mean you never invest in tools and training... it simply means you can take your time to get to know what someone is all about before you make the leap & invest their products and services).

Todd is one of those 'funnel guys'.

Now, before you decide you've had enough of the word funnel, listen to this interview.

If you don't like the word funnel, call it something else (remember though, water isn't water because of what you call it... H20, aqua, etc. You get my point, right? It is what it is).

And funnels WORK.

Here's the awesome thing about Todd though... he's worked his arse off to master this stuff and is a true direct response marketer. We chatted at length about direct response marketing and why learning those principles is vital to the success of any business (especially an online business where you can track and measure everything you do). Enter Conversion Fly. Conversion Fly is Todd's new tracking software that is pretty friggin amazing if I do say so myself. As someone who is fascinated with the idea of a SaaS product (software as a service), I was super excited to not only connect with Todd but to hear his story of creating the product and how it's going so far.

I think you're going to love it... both the interview and the software.

Here's what you're going to learn: How Todd almost won a Ferrari (but didn't go away empty handed) What he bought on ebay when he was getting started (and why it made a HUGE difference) How he transitioned from working for a health club to his own business (Marketing Funnel Automation) What the difference is between marketing tactics and strategies Why Todd never reads books about marketing tactics (I literally just got rid of old social media books... because they're no longer applicable.... a couple years later)

[Tweet ""You don't get enamored with tactics" @toddbrown"]

Questions I asked Todd: Can you share your story of what you were doing before you built Marketing Funnel Automation & Conversion Fly? When did you launch Marketing Funnel Automation? What would you recommend to someone who wants to get started with funnels? What is Conversion Fly? And what made you want to launch a SaaS product? What was some of the feedback on the beta version of the product? Is Conversion Fly for someone who is just getting started with funnels? How can it help with lead generation? After the public launch of Conversion Fly, what else is on the horizon for you and your company this year?

Where to Connect with Todd Facebook | Twitter | Website

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy

Hani Mourra & Simple Podcast Press

Jason Drohn & Scriptly - Email copy done for you

What I'd Do Different If I Were Starting an Online Business Today

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As always, I'm SUPER excited to have Lee Jackson from LeeJacksonDev.com  and the WP Innovator Podcast.  I had a great time talking and laughing with Lee and found out some really great tips and well as his background on how he got to where he is today.  Don't miss this episode!

[Tweet ""Try and find that niche that you are passionate about." - Lee Jackson"]

Questions I asked Lee Jackson:

What were some of the things you did before getting into web development? Did you go to school for IT? When did you start your own agency? How did you approach increasing your prices so dramatically? How do you see yourself growing your business - where are you taking things?

[Tweet ""I quadrupled my prices overnight and have since quadrupled them again. - Lee Jackson""]

What you'll learn from this podcast:

The process of starting your own agency How Lee transitioned into consulting The drive behind Lee starting his podcast and how it's going How Lee differentiates himself from other development companies Recommendations from Lee about what to do if you started today Lee's best lead source

[Tweet ""Making sure we make products that are freakin' awesome is my goal." - Lee Jackson"]

Where you can connect with Lee Facebook | Twitter | Website  

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy:

Grow & Convert with Devesh Khanal & Benji Hyam

Content, Metrics & List Building

Interview with Jason Drohn

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I'm super excited about this post and episode because it was inspired from a listeners email to me (Thanks Jen!). I don't know about you, but I often forget that just because I understand and know something doesn't mean everyone in my audience does. I won't go down my armchair psychologist rant and self diagnose on that one, but suffice it to say I've gotten away from some of the basics of what I've learned while growing my business.

Which makes sense.

By now you guys know that I'm a bit of an information nut and love testing and trying new things. However, as fun as all that is, am I overlooking an element that can be serving my audience?

One of my first few podcast episodes I did was "What I Would Do Different if I Were Starting My Business Today". That was 3 years ago.  Holy moly have things changed.

Not just in my business, but in how I do things. Fortunately, the 7 things I listed in that post are still relevant, but I'd like to approach it from a little different perspective and include some actual step-by-step direction in hopes that this will help someone.

I'm going to use WordPress as the business example here but really you can use any niche or business, because most of this is going to be applicable across the board. Let's get into the updated version of "What I'd do different if I were starting my business today". While I'm a HUGE believer in jumping in and taking action there is something to be said for starting out with some sort of strategy in place. The challenge with this is that you don't know what you don't know, right?

What's fantastic about the internet today (as opposed to 8 years ago when I started), is that you can pretty much find someone who has done what you want to do. The not-so fantastic part of finding someone who has blazed a trail before you is that you can quickly lose yourself in the process but feel like you're doing everything right (copying as opposed to modeling).

Start with the end in mind

I did this recently when I was re-designing my site (which still has plenty of tweaking to do, but hey ho). I really took some time to step back and think about what my goals were with my site. Then I backed into it. I know this sounds really ambiguous, so let's start from a fresh perspective.

Let's say you're starting a new WordPress business. Maybe you're offering website services (new sites, hosting, maintenance). The bare bones minimum you have to start with is what your target income is (and while I am a HUGE believer in setting big goals and the right intentions, we're simply looking for your number here).

Are you replacing income from a job? Do you need to bring in X amount of money to cover specific expenses? Do you not have to cover expenses? (have a spouse or partner whose income covers everything) What business expenses do you have to cover?

Once you have your "number" in mind, then you can back into it. For me this was a little challenging because the industry was totally new to me and I did SO much second guessing because I wasn't a trained programmer or designer... thankfully those days are behind me).

Here's what I wish someone had told me when I was getting started:

"It's just as easy to find someone willing to pay what you're worth as it is to find someone who will negotiate the hell out of your value."

That's where the almighty "C" word comes in.

No, not that word you dirty bird.

Clarity.

I'm totally going to contradict myself here because you will constantly be getting clearer and clearer as your business evolves, so the things you're clear on today will be completely different from the things you're clear on 5 years from now.

You need to get clear on both the tangibles and the intangibles.

Here are some examples of both:

Tangibles

• Income / rates
• Business hours
• Communication (email only? phone calls? in-person meetings)
• Profitability
• Work you do (brochure sites? e-commerce sites? consulting?)

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To say I had a blast on this interview would be an understatement.

This interview came about from a Skype call I was having with a friend. We were talking about Pat's new book, "Will It Fly" and I thought, "duh! I should ask him to be on the show to share his book!"

I tweeted him and we had the interview a month later. :-)

Listening to Pat's podcast, The Smart Passive Income podcast, is the reason I launched my podcast. I loved the fact that I could take Pat with me when I went to the gym or grocery store. I've always been a huge fan of audio books so when I started listening to podcasts it was a perfect fit!

Initially when I started listening to the SPI podcast it was only once a month (yep, I've been listening that long) so I was thrilled when it became a weekly show. Pat Flynn & Will It Fly Regardless of whether or not you're just getting started in your business or you've been in business for a while, Pat's new book, Will It Fly, can help you determine whether or not your idea for growing your business is viable.

The book provides tangible steps (along with great stories) to see if what you want to do will work as well as being in alignment with your personal 'Why'. And because Pat tends to over deliver with everything he does, there's also a companion course (free) that will walk you through the book and steps.

Questions I Asked Pat Flynn: 

What compelled you to write the book?

What do the listeners get with the book? What was the plugin idea that you had? What would you recommend to someone who is starting out brand new to build their audience? How do you work through your own ideas to pick the 'right' one?

Things You’ll Learn from this Podcast:

How you can align what is going on inside with what you should be doing for a living How Pat approached writing his book Some exercises on how to get clear on your idea Pat's $15,000 loss/learning experience How to learn the three P's of your audience

Where to Connect with Pat Website | Twitter | Facebook   Other episodes you might enjoy Will You Make the Difficult Decisions When it Counts? - WPCP: 087 From Prison to Prosperity - WPCP: 089 Falling in Love with CoSchedule - WPCP: 084

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Today we have Jon Nastor of Hack the Entrepreneur on the podcast! To say I was excited to talk with Jon would be an understatement... and I just got more excited as the conversation continued. It's refreshing for me to find like-minded individuals doing cool things online that don't believe you have to sacrifice everything else in your life to make things happen.

When Jon was a teenager, way before he launched Hack the Entrepreneur, he spent a lot of time playing punk rock music. It was during this time he realized how much he loved “DIY” in the sense that if he wanted something, like making music, playing a show, etc. he had to do it himself to make it happen. He carried this with him into his 20’s and then in 2011 he discovered he could make a business on the internet. One of the biggest things he’s created is Velocity Page, a premium WordPress plug in. He created it with Bill, his brother in law, and Mark Jaquith.

Velocity Page is a way to create WordPress pages without the “techy” mumbo jumbo. It takes you out of the admin panel so you can live edit on your page so what you see it what you get.

Jon created this tool because a few years ago he needed something like this but he couldn’t find it so he went to Mark with this idea and they created it.

In 2014 he went to Chris Ducker’s conference called Tropical Think Tank where there were a lot of serious podcasters (Chris runs Tropical Think Tank once a year and it's in the Philippines... and event I plan on attending at some point!). He realized he had both the time and the resources to start his own podcast.

Even though he had little to no experience doing podcasts and interviewing people, he knew he just had to start somewhere.

So that summer he made a list  of about 30 people that he wanted to interview and he thought he would interview them over the course of a few months and then be done.

To his surprise, about 2 months later it got bigger than he expected so he ramped up production to 3 podcasts a week.

The same sort of thing happened to me when I started my podcast... not that I jumped into multiple episodes per week (kudos to you Jon... I love it!), but my podcast definitely shifted everything in my business.

For Jon he saw that there wasn’t really anything in the podcast space that he really like/captured his interest. So he decided to create it, just like one would create a product because they don’t see what they want out there already. He experienced the same sort of thing with Hack the Entrepreneur. With a little bit of help from a friend, Jon took the idea and ran with it.

After the success of the show and his 5 categories of hacks (Being Wrong, Fears, Habits, Mindset and Ideas), he brought the best of all of this into a book! (Hardly a guy to rest on his laurels, right?). I highly recommend getting the book (in addition to the podcast).

Questions I Asked:

How did Jon create Velocity Page? What was it like for Jon to reach out to Mark? How did Jon come up with Hack the Entrepreneur? What is his book about? How does Jon come up with each hack?

Things You’ll Learn:

How to figure the right format of a podcast for you and your audience. Commonalities that Jon sees in a lot of entrepreneurs. The biggest thing you need to grow your business. Why “the hustle” isn’t relevant anymore when it comes to making money. A few of Jon’s favorite hacks from his book.

Where to connect with Jon Website | Podcast | Facebook | Twitter Links mentioned in this episode:

Velocity Page

Hack The Entrepreneur

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Today I have a very special guest on the show, he's the first follow up interview with one of our guests!

Josh Haynam of Interact, a company that makes it easy to create quizzes as a lead magnet. It's a unique and fun way to connect with your audience in a way they enjoy while getting those leads you want. I love all of those quizzes on Facebook (What Disney character am I? What's my word of 2016? etc.) so to actually find a quiz where the result is lead generation is so awesome. Businesses are taking from the entertainment world in the sense that these things that have been working for say Disney, Buzzfeed, and NY Times, you can then tweak these things so they relate to you and what you're doing while you create fun and entertaining content that will get you those leads. Ex. "What's you content marketing personality/superhero?"

Hayman talks about how they have a "Shaq rule" (named after Shaquille O'Neal) and he says that 75% of all content you create should be for entertainment, 15% should be to educate, and 10% should be to sell... which actually ends up being the perfect ratio for a quiz.

He also explains the significance of creating content, like a quiz, to use your own personal voice no matter how silly it may seem. Do you use funny/silly words or sayings? Use them! Humanizing your brand will keep you from sounding boring and will get people more interested and involved.

[Tweet ""75% of all content you create should be for entertainment" @tryinteract"]

Business really aren't the way they used to be.

We're moving towards driving content through entertainment and then using that to gather information that is more relevant to your business.

Josh team have done so and now help their customers figure out how to cost effectively generate leads from social media.

It's always been pretty hard to really know how to use all the different types of social media ads and it sort of ends up being a "test and spend," "test and spend" situation for many people...

But, by using a tool like a quiz from Interact, one can easily use entertainment and fun to capitalize on social media content.

Whether or not it always converts, the engagement is huge. The entertainment part of your content will make people more inclined to share it which will bring you more likes, shares, etc.

[Tweet ""Humanizing your brand will keep you from sounding boring and will get people more interested and involved." @tryinteract"]

Questions I Asked:

How did Interact come about? How does Josh drive revenue through entertainment? What types of quizzes besides personality quizzes do Josh and his team create? What is Interact's content strategy? What has Interact's journey looked like since we last talked a few years ago?

Things You'll Learn:

Why it's important to use your unique voice when creating content. How exactly these quizzes result in lead generation. How an entertaining quiz can be relevant to any type of business. How to drive traffic to your site after creating a quiz. What the optimal format for a quiz is.

Where to Connect with Josh Website | Facebook | Twitter Links from this episode

Interact Quiz Builder

Easiest Quiz Builder - My Interview with Josh Haynam of Interact WPCP: 027

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Lately I’ve really been talking about content, and a huge piece of content is stories. Today’s guest is Mike Pisciotta and he’s going to share how his story drove him to get his business going. At the young age of 18 years old Mike woke up in a jail cell with no idea of what happened or why he was there. I had a Skype call with Mike before we did our interview and the second we started talking I knew I wanted to be a part of sharing his message. Mike's energy is infectious to say the least... and his enthusiasm for making the most out of his life will definitely light a spark in you! Growing up Mike experienced a lot of negativity at home, dealt with drugs,  and there really wasn’t any positive success that he could look to. At 18 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and he felt overwhelmed at the idea of going away to prison while everyone else his age passed him by while they started their lives and their careers. Mike spent a lot of time reflecting on his life and looking at what was ahead of him. He accepted that his choices and his actions put him where he was and he fully realized that he would give them 10 years of freedom, but he decided that he would not give them 10 years of life. At that moment he made that internal commitment that he had to focus on every single day because he knew he still had life. He knew he had 10 years to continue to live life and better himself in everything from exercise to foreign languages to business skills so he could prepare himself for life when he was done serving his time.  [Tweet ""Working hard isn't always working right" @freedomcatalyst"] That choice to continue to live his life to the best of his ability was a constant struggle that was challenged every single day, but his commitment to change everything that he was removed anyone’s excuses and/or doubts. Mike explains that we all live in little prisons, whether it’s a cubicle, excess weight, etc. we always have a choice to let that thing define us, break us, and hold us back, or we can let that thing be the catalyst that pushes us into success.  Often times we assume that we’re the only ones dealing with that little prison. We think that we’re the only one’s struggling, but we need to realize that there are so many people struggling with the same things too. So instead of continuing to let it pull us down, we need to let it fuel us and allow it to push us forward. Learn how to enjoy the small victories instead of always looking at what the next thing is.  Questions I Asked: 

How did Mike transition from prison to life outside of prison? How did Mike start working online? What did Mike and his wife do to find clients online? What was it like to move into a consulting business?  How does someone go out and make a name for themselves?

Things You’ll Learn

You are not your experiences.  Why “working hard” isn’t always “working right.” The importance of a traffic strategy.  Why content is such a crucial part of being online.  The biggest thing Mike doesn’t see people doing online. 

Where to connect with Mike Website | Facebook | Twitter Other episodes you might enjoy  The Truth about Facebook Advertising - My Interview with Jason Hornung Breaking the Perfectionist Mindset - My Interview with Bob McIntosh Gratitude & Retiring the Hustle WPCP: 081

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Every now and then you come across a tool that is a massive game changer.

And you wonder "where have you been all my life?" ... That's how I felt when I found Scriptly. Email Marketing isn't as easy as you think it is (or should be). I have an old story in my head that I need to stop telling myself, and that is "I'm not good at copywriting". I love creating content and writing in my own voice. Once I stepped into that fully and owned that that was how I wanted to write, content became a piece of cake. Over the last couple of years my content has gotten better, I enjoy writing and take more time to provide as much value as I can.

Here's the deal though.

It's taken a LOT of practice.

I don't know why it never occurred to me to apply the same principle to writing copy (slow learner much?).

Kind of comical now that I think about it and put it out there.

The cool thing is that all of that has changed over the last couple of months and I've started investing more time into understanding copy and testing what works and what doesn't. It started with using the free headline analyzer by CoSchedule (which is now built into the app so you don't have to go to the tool on the web to analyze your post headlines). By inputing my headlines, getting a score and re-writing the headlines to get the best possible score I could, I started to understand copy a little more. AND... it started feeling 'fun' to write headlines. Whaaaaaatttt????

I know.

I kind of surprised myself too!

One HUGE piece of online marketing and copywriting is email copy.

I don't necessarily mean a broadcast email that you send out to your list... but email sequences. I'm O.K. if someone gets me started. As in, email #1 should be this, email #2 should be this, etc. And note that I said "I'm O.K.", that doesn't mean it's done really well or converts really well. I think in my head I had this aversion to 'writing copy' because it felt like I was being less than genuine. Which is kind of silly. As long as what you're writing is honest, all you're doing is crafting the words in a way that makes the reader think differently (you're appealing to something inside of them).

Which is why I fell in love with Scriptly the second I saw it.

I was introduced to Scriptly from a good friend in his Facebook group. I checked it out and knew INSTANTLY this was a tool I needed!

You're going to hear more about Scriptly in the interview, but to cut to the chase - Scriptly writes your email copy & sequences FOR YOU.

Naturally when I find a tool I love and become a little obsessed with, I dig a little deeper (do a little more research on who is behind the tool) and ask them if they'd like to be on the podcast.

To say I hit it off with Jason Drohn, the founder of Scriptly, would be an understatement.

We had an initial skype conversation that lasted at least an hour, then scheduled the interview.

Jason is a breath of fresh air when it comes to the internet marketing space. Mainly because he's been in the trenches and gotten out. You'll understand what I mean when you listen to the interview.

The Questions I asked Jason:

Before we talk about your current business, can you share with the listeners how you got into online marketing & what brought you here? What was your first piece of software? What made you switch from what you were doing to creating software? What were some of the challenges you faced while building your software company? I have fallen in LOVE with Scriptly.... fill the listeners in on what it is and how it works What would you recommend to someone who wants to get into software / SaaS model? What's coming next?

[Tweet ""Software isn't easy. You have to do a really good job marketing it" @JasonDrohn"]

What You're Going to Learn How Jason got into Internet Marketing What he did to build a great income with affiliate marketing Why he left affiliate marketing When he stepped into software development

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We're going to go in a little different direction today.

I thought about doing a 'Kim Snippet' version of the podcast for this topic but then realized this would probably end up being a full length episode. Not really a snippet.

(Clearly I'm not great at keeping things short & to the point).

I'm going to try with every ounce of my being to share the story of what brought me to this difficult decision without being too ambiguous (because I'm not interested in sharing names or making anyone or anything 'wrong').

I mentioned this in my year in review podcast,  The Truth About 2015, Showing up in 2016 and WAY More Fun. Last year was amazing, but it was also really, really tiring.

So I sort of took December off.

When I say sort of I mean I took the month off from the mastermind I was in (note the past tense, which is where this is going). My year was up at the end of November and I was just fried. I wanted to simply do my thing, trust myself and work at a pace that worked for me.

As opposed to what I was committing to in the group or from a public accountability perspective.

I wanted more 'ease' in my life and less 'hustle' (we all know how I feel about the word hustle, so I won't go into that again).

During that time I had also made the decision to hire Jason Hornung & his team to help me get my Facebook ads dialed in and running. After a couple years of just hopping in and testing Facebook Advertising (with some direction), I wanted to do it correctly.

I wanted to run paid advertising based on data (novel idea, huh?).

I had NO idea that my decision to hire Jason & his team would completely turn my world upside down (in a good way). I don't want this episode to turn into another 'Jason Hornung FanClub' episode (you can't really blame me though... he's just that good), but you can't un-push a button.

Once you've seen what's 'behind the curtain' you can't un-see it.

[Tweet ""Once you've seen what's behind the curtain you can't 'un-see' it" @kimdoyal"]

Not only did I get the support and feedback I was so desperately needing, I also got the step-by-step system.

Which unfortunately put a spotlight on the areas where I wasn't getting what I needed.

Hence the difficult decision.

It was time for me to leave my mastermind. 

I felt this in my gut when I took December off, but I was afraid.

This is the EGO not only riding shotgun, but driving the car.

FOMO (Fear of missing out for those of you who haven't heard the term).

What if? 

What if I can't do it on my own? Will I lose relationships (inevitable when people are involved)? Will there be any backlash? Regrets (no matter how much I try to stay out of that place, it still shows up)

But then there's the side that really matters.

How I want to FEEL.

The gut instinct. The truth about how I want to move through the world and how I want to show UP!

I'm not sure when this hit me, but all of the sudden I realized that I was trying to do things one way with my brand, but then another way when I was marketing.

Let me see if I can explain that better.

Last fall I started getting a little obsessed with content marketing. I dove into content marketing with the same fervor I had when I realized I wanted to build a business around WordPress. Something finally 'clicked' for me with content marketing and I was having a ball.

Because of this new found passion for content marketing I started looking at everything I was doing through new eyes.

A different perspective if you will.

None of my mentors were content marketers.

They were all great at what they did, but they didn't have the experience (or knowledge) to help me drive what I had spent almost 8 years creating.

Which was a brand.

With an audience.

And a message.

They also didn't see the value in content marketing (which is not an argument I feel any need to go into... to each his own).

Something inside me was screaming "TRUST YOURSEL...

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I seem to be on a kick lately of paying attention to tracking and numbers and along those lines you are going to love my next guests!  Benji Hyam and Devesh Khanal started a blog site about content marketing and converting call GrowandConvert.com.  These guys have an amazing blog that you should subscribe to! Before even interviewing these guys I realized what a goldmine their site was. If you want to get more traffic to your site and don't know how to do it... follow their journey with this blog. Every. Step. Of the Way. My guess is that even if you implemented one or two things you'd see a noticeable difference. It will probably also help you step back and look at your blog & business with a different perspective.

[Tweet "We want marketers to take OUR concepts and apply them to THEIR businesses - Benji Hyam"]

Besides running this blog, Devesh runs a conversion optimization agency called Devesh Design to help companies increase their conversion rates and email list size.  Benji is the Director of Growth for a company called Everwise in San Francisco and also has a company in San Diego called Founder Insights to learn about how founders grew their businesses.

*Quick update since the recording of this episode: Benji has 'quit his life' (his words) and is going full time with GrowandConvert.com. You can read his post on 'Why he quit his life' in the link below on his personal site.

I have to tell you too... I probably could have stayed on the interview for hours with these guys and will definitely get them on individually. It's probably also the quietest I've ever been on an interview. Questions I asked Devesh & Benji:

Before we get into "Grow and Convert", can you fill the listeners in on what you do outside of this project?  How did you guys connect?  Explain to everyone what Grow and Convert is.  What are you guys doing to grow it? Meaning, can you share some of the strategies you're implementing to take Grow and Convert to 40,000 visitors in 6 months?  You have until April 17th to reach your goal, how's it going so far?  Based on your background & experience, what are a few common mistakes you see people making when trying to grow a blog and get traffic?  If you could suggest ONE strategy that people could implement today, what would that be?

[Tweet "If you start something and it doesn't work, it doesn't mean it won't work with some tweaks - Devesh Khanal"] What You'll Learn in the Episode:

The book Devesh recommends for a quick read that will have a big impact.  The formula for developing a good content strategy for your business.  Some good distribution tactics for sharing your content  Some of the challenges they've faced in their own businesses

Connect more with Devesh & Benji:

DeveshDesign.com

BenjiHyam.com Other Episodes you may enjoy: Viceo, Advertising & Creating Connection - WPCP:080

Visual Content Builder - WPCP:052

List Building & Starting Over - WPCP:073

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This is now the second post (actually it might be the third?) that I've talked about Jason Hornung. The difference with this post and podcast episode is that it is solely about Jason Hornung. This interview is also what led to me hiring Jason and his team to get a solid strategy in place for my Facebook ads. Instead of guessing what I thought would be the right message or right target audience, Jason and his team actually developed a real strategy for me based on data and KPI's (key performance indicators).

I recently came back from an accelerator workshop in Madison, Wisconsin at Jason's and to say my brain was on overload would be an understatement. All in a good way of course.

I'll continue to talk about my experience with Jason and his team as my ads start rolling out and I have actual numbers and data to share with you (I know, shocking. I'm not a huge fan of collecting and managing data, but there is no doubt it will be at the core of everything I do from now on). We launched a couple ads last week and I'll be launching more this week as well.

One thing I do want to say, and this is kind of a bold statement, is that working with Jason and his team has probably been one of, if not the best, experiences I've had since I launched my business almost 8 years ago. They've set the bar pretty high and I'll be using them as my standard now when it comes to investing in my business.

O.K., onto the interview!

Questions I asked Jason

What were you doing before building your Facebook Ad Agency? What is the Jason Hornung Agency? Can you share your journey into internet marketing? How did you transition into Facebook advertising? How should someone get started with Facebook Advertising? Where does content come into play with a paid traffic strategy? How do you work with clients? Agency? Products?

[Tweet ""You buy one of these things and thinks it's going to magically start working for you." @JasonHornung]"]

What You're Going to Learn

How Jason started making money online as an affiliate marketer How a Google slap forced him to look at another way to grow his business How he built his team, after working 15 hour days  How you can profitably scale your offers online with Facebook Doing the RESEARCH! How Jason sets the foundation for their ad campaigns using a tool called 'The Inception Campaign Planning System' Who Jason studied in direct response marketing and advertising so he could apply the same strategies to Facebook Advertising

Retargeting & Metrics... No doubt you've heard the term retargeting and you already know what metrics are.

I'm pretty familiar with retargeting, but never have I heard it explained to the degree that Jason explained it. He talks about backwards engineering the process so you can get to your numbers before you even begin advertising. You need to know your numbers. Most people want to skip over this stuff because they're anxious to get ads up and think it's as simple as creating a headline, a graphic and a landing page.

If you take that approach, you're going to set yourself up for a world of frustration.

I'm going to stop attempting to share all the amazing knowledge Jason shares so you can get it directly from the man himself!

[Tweet ""You need to establish what your numbers are going to be before you do anything." @JasonHornung"]

Where to Connect with Jason Website | Facebook | Twitter

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If you haven't heard of CoSchedule, let me give you a little rundown of what it is and why I continue to fall in love with it a little more EVERY single day.

CoSchedule is to content marketing what peanut butter is to chocolate (yes, Reeses is my favorite candy bar and I love me some peanut butter & chocolate ice cream).

But I know, that's not really telling you what it is, right?

I signed up for CoSchedule immediately when it first came out but didn't really give it the attention it deserved. After having worked with a social media person for a year and using another tool (Edgar, which was O.K., but truthfully I didn't see the ROI for it. You can create a library of categories and a schedule, but CoSchedule does SO much more) and not seeing enough 'results', I went back to CoSchedule and started consuming all of their training and content (their blog is FABULOUS!).

Once I decided to 'overhaul the WordPress Chick' site and my content strategy I knew that I would need a solid editorial plan as well as a better promotional schedule. Which is where CoSchedule sort of 'starts' (because again, it does WAY more than provide you with a simple editorial calendar).  First, here's a brief look at what CoSchedule does, then I'll get into each element a little deeper:

I'm in the process of creating a complete CoSchedule tutorial & review post, so I won't go into every single detail in this post but using this tool has been a game changer for me and I think it will be for you too.

I had made numerous attempts in the past to use an editorial calendar but without having a solid content strategy in place (or working on one), it just took up space on my site. All of that changed when I drank the content marketing Kool-Aid. Kid you not, it's become such an obsession of mine that I'm seriously considering taking a speed reading class or course so I can consume more content.

O.K., not really, but you get my point.

Like I mentioned above, I originally went back to CoSchedule for the social media calendar aspect. When I started using it again I simply added my social media person as a user to my site and she went in and scheduled all the content to be shared in my dashboard (which was also great because I could see exactly what she was doing. Not that I couldn't before or that I didn't trust her, but since I was logging into my dashboard everyday I could see what was being scheduled without having to log into a separate site).

After using it for social media for a while I started diving a little deeper into the editorial calendar, headline analyzer (which is probably one of my MOST favorite online tools EVER) and the data within the CoSchedule web app (btw, did you know you can use CoSchedule without WordPress? Although my guess is if you're reading this or listening to this podcast you're a WordPress user). What CoSchedule has done for me that I DIDN'T expect... Helped me create a content marketing plan that has made content fun, engaging and strategic (and yes, even the strategic part is FUN).

The Best Business Investment I've Made In A Long Time I've mentioned this in a recent podcast episode, but since I'm deeper in the process of working through this I really wanted to give you an update.

If you're new to what I'm talking about, I'm referring to my recent decision to hire Jason Hornung & the Jason Hornung Agency to help me launch a new campaign on Facebook for my podcast offer (I go into a little more detail on that in the episode, but this is really more about my decision to hire Jason and his team, what the process has been like and why I'm starting the "Jason Hornung Fan Club".. kidding. Maybe).

As your business grows and you start scaling what you're doing you need to partner with the right people to help you grow. I've done some Facebook advertising and have had some success...I've also had horrible results, which is why I went looking for help. From the moment I first talked to Jason (for a...

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I had the good fortune of being introduced to Brock Cannon through a good friend.

I'm SO glad he introduced us.

I'm definitely a fan of The Switchback Approach.

You might think I sound a bit like a nutty fan or over-zealous reader, but I absolutely LOVE Brock's approach to helping people achieve their goals. I often waffle between goals and intentions. I totally get the value in setting a concrete, tangible goal. I also know the value in setting intentions (which to me is a gentler approach and implies a lot of TRUST).

Brock's approach to goals has totally shifted that for me.

Questions I asked Brock:

What is the Switchback Approach What made you decide to write a novel (as opposed to a business book) What is your current business? How do you work with clients? What are your plans for taking for your business this year?

What You're Going to Learn:

Why Brock has his clients ADD something into their lives first as opposed to taking something away How he helped a client lost 30 lbs. with this method Why I became a super excited fan of Brock & The Switchback Approach How you can apply the Switchback Approach to your own life to reach your goals How you can get a FREE copy of the book!

Where to Connect with Brock Twitter | Facebook | Website

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I'm kind of tripping out right now that I'm doing another "year in review" podcast episode.

Where is the time going?! Do you feel like you say that every year? I do. The odd thing is that with the day-to-day it doesn't feel like time is flying by. I've made a very conscious effort to be present with whatever I'm doing so for that I'm grateful. I just can't believe we're about to enter another New Year.

O.K., enough of my wonderings about time passing quickly... let's get onto the year in review shall we? The Truth About 2015 When I was thinking about the title for this post (and yes, I totally used the CoSchedule Headline Analyzer which I LOVE) I started laughing to myself because it almost implies I've been lying (or have lied) about the past year. Fortunately for me I think you guys know me well enough to know that it simply means I'm going to share it all... the ups AND the downs. No sugar coating here, although you don't have to worry about me being a negative nelly either. That's not how I roll.

I'm going to structure this post a little different than previous 'year-in-review' posts I've done. Instead of going through the year in chronological order I'm going to start at the end. As in December of 2015.

Why?

This year kind of kicked my butt.

I have a tendency to go and go until I hit a wall, then I crash, then I recuperate. This used to bother me until I realized that this was my process. Now when I feel the crash coming I honor it and check out for a bit. It works better for me to keep going when the inspiration is there (I don't really push myself anymore because that tends to backfire) and then when I can't go anymore I take the much needed rest. This usually happens for me around Christmastime but it hit me earlier this year.

By mid-November I was FRIED.

I needed to slow down, put the brakes on a few things and listen to what I needed most, which was simplicity.

I decided to take the month of from my Mastermind, made sure I wasn't over scheduled and canceled any webinars or major promotions for myself or other people.

I actually said No.

A lot.

And it felt great.

The time away from the external influences allowed me to get really clear on what I'm doing and where I'm going. Before I get into where I'm going, I want to look back at 2015, the experiences, the lessons, the successes, all of it. This is going to be a mix of business and personal for me because I can't necessarily separate the two. I am my business and I love what I do. Travel I had some great trips in 2015, both for business and personal. I went to all 3 of my mastermind trips (Vegas in February, where we raced Ferrari's, Maui in June where we went snorkeling and Orlando in October where we went to Universal Studios). I brought my dear friend and project manager to Maui with me (that was a blast) and brought my son & niece to Orlando. Maui was probably my favorite because it was a great combination of relaxation and work (inspiration/motivation). While the kids were great in Orlando, I don't think I'll be bringing family on any of those trips again. I don't want to feel responsible for anyone other than myself when I go away for business and there's no way around that when you bring kids (of course The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was awesome).

I also went to Vegas in May for the first Click Funnels event and then onto the south of France with my daughter in July for her graduation. I actually ended up canceling (rescheduling) a trip to Ireland for the beginning of November because I was simply done traveling and wanted to be home.

What I learned:

While all the trips were great, I need more down time for myself. I made a commitment to myself a couple of years ago that I wouldn't go to conferences or on business trips that weren't relevant to what I was working on at that time and it's made a huge difference.

For 2016 I'm carrying that theme into the New Year but I'm going to take it a little fur...

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As soon as I heard the title of this book I knew I wanted to speak with the author. I would bet that at one time or another most entrepreneurs have dealt with the 'perfectionist' mindset (and this is by no means exclusive to entrepreneurs). It's easy to get caught up in things being 'just so' before we launch, ship, publish and share our message with the world. If you've ever done this (or do this? Maybe you find yourself taking longer to complete something than you should?), then this interview and book are for you. Before we get into the interview itself, I want to make sure you have the details to get a copy of the book yourself. Get Out of Your Own Way!: How to Break the Perfectionist Mindset and Unleash the Floodgates of Prosperity in Your Business by: Bob McIntosh I recorded a solo show earlier this year titled, "You are the obstacle in your business"... so clearly this book and interview resonated with me. Plus, Bob is just a great guy!

What You're Going to Learn in this Episode:

What Bob was doing before he started his current business How he went from Real Estate to online business and Author That we're all at different points in our business and lives... we even discussed one of my least favorite words ('hustle') What you can do to achieve excellence in your own life & business How to identify your core values

[tweet_box]"Perfection is defined by our internal standards, Excellence is defined by everyone else's perception of what we're putting out there." @thebobmcintosh[/tweet_box] Questions I asked Bob

Is there a story behind the title? Where did the perfectionist mindset come from? What are some of the things we can do to get out of our own way? What were some of the things you learned from your mentors? What are some of the ways we can achieve excellence without worrying about being perfect?

[tweet_box]"You VIBE attracts your TRIBE" @thebobmcintosh[/tweet_box] Where to Connect with Bob Book Website | Facebook| Twitter  

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy:

YOU Are the Obstacle in Your Business - WPCP: 051

Gratitude & Retiring the Hustle :WPCP 081

Not Another Friggin Idea! :WPCP 071

Leave me a comment and I will randomly choose one person who will receive a free copy of Bob's book!

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As you all know, I am such a geek when it comes to the visual side of the web. I LOVE graphics, icons, info graphics, and tools and all that awesome stuff. So I’m super excited to be able to talk to Ching from Piktochart today. Before Ching founded Piktochart, she studied experimental psychology and worked at Procto and Gamble where she found that she really like info graphics. She looked to see if someone had created a tool that she could use to make them, but there really wasn’t anything out there. After talking to the now co-founder of Piktochart, Andrea, she decided that she wanted to create something people could use to create graphics they needed. Andrea was her then boyfriend, now husband, and he was more of the tech side of the team because he was very involved in the Wordpress framework and PHP; Ching was more of the creative/marketing side of the team so together they worked on their idea then they brought it to an Excelerator in China. 30 days after they pitched their idea, it took only about 30 days for them to step into the Excelerator.  Questions I Asked Ching:

How can someone use Piktochart? What tips would Ching give to someone who wants to start making info graphics? What kind of people use Piktochart? What’s coming in the future for Piktochart?

Things You’ll Learn:

What differentiates Piktochart from other tools and programs. How Ching and Andrea make sure that Piktochart is always benefiting their audience’s needs. Different ways to use Piktochart without using data.  The importance of info graphics. 

[tweet_box]“You’re not just creating a visual piece for a post, this is a way to generate traffic and connect with your audience…” - @piktochart [/tweet_box] Where to Connect with Ching Website | Facebook| Twitter Links Mentioned in the Podcast:

Piktochart

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy:

Video Advertising with Gideon Shalwick

Clammr for Content - Interview with Parviz Parvizi

When it All Comes Together and You Still Feel the Doubts

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It's about that time of year again. No, I'm not referring to the holidays, even though they're quickly approaching.

I'm referring to that time of year when I need to take a step back, take some time for myself and do a little reflecting. In the almost 8 years that I've been doing this 'online thing' this feeling hasn't ever hit me until after Christmas. That time between Christmas and the New Year when rest feels like a reward (as opposed to a necessity). The excitement of the New Year starts kicking in and you feel like anything is possible (again, I think I really was Pollyanna in a previous life).

For some reason though it's hit me much earlier this year.

I found myself really overwhelmed, which then lead to frustration, tears and a little bit of a collapse.

Fortunately I know I don't stay in that place for very long, even though it feels some what debilitating when you're in it. I'm on the tail end of that now so it's much easier to share this with you (I'm not much of a sharer when I'm in that space). I've gotten much better about making decisions when I'm in that space... as in, I don't make decisions when I'm there. I'm grateful to have my therapist in my life still to turn to when that overwhelm kicks in as well as great friends and family. So before I get into my little 'collapse' and much needed time for reflection, I'm going to start this episode with some gratitude. First, a VERY Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S. I hope you get some quality time with family and loved ones. Even though I adore Christmas, the lack of pressure on Thanksgiving is sooooo appreciated!

I want to give a shout out to some of my recent reviewers (listen to the episode) and promise to be better at these acknowledgements in the future. Truly, it means the world to me to hear from you that you like the show and appreciate what I do. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this on the show before, but public speaking (more specifically, motivational speaking) is always something I wanted to do. I was a speech major in college for a little while (long story) and have always loved getting in front of people sharing from the heart. I truly believe podcasting has given me the ideal platform to do this from (and stay tuned because I AM launching another show, #justshowup).

I'm so grateful to all of you who continue to read my content, listen to the podcast and attend my webinars. It feels a little hokey to say this but my audience really drives me to create more of what I love doing, so Thank You.

Without writing out lengthy, mushy sentences, I'm going to bullet point the things I'm grateful for:

My kids My family My dogs My friends My business The quality of my life Baths WordPress Books My mastermind & mentors My clients Noise canceling headphones The Noizio app Laughter Podcasting Green juice Coffee Travel My therapist / mentor My home The rain... that is supposedly coming to California this winter (I'm setting the intention that it does)

Seems kind of basic, huh?

I am SO all about simplifying my life... seeing that in writing actually makes me really, really happy.

Which is part of what has help me move through whatever it is I've been going through the last couple of weeks. Retiring the Hustle I literally put that under my Skype name.

I'm SO over the push, the fight, the intensity of "getting shit done".

It's not how I move through my life. I've done that and I have to tell you it doesn't work for me anymore. I used to be SO 'type A'. I took pride in being busy and have a ton on my plate. Need something done? I'll do it! I never, ever stopped. When I look back to certain periods in my life after my husband passed away I wonder how on earth I did what I did! In many ways I know that who I was then is exactly how I got through the darkest period in my life. I think if I weren't busy I would have wanted to just check out for a while (and there were times w...

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I have Gideon Shalwick on the podcast today! Get a pen and paper because all this information that Gideon Shalwick provides is going to blow your mind! Tons of knowledge bombs in this one!

Gideon's entrepreneurial journey started about 9-10 years ago. He had a great job but something wasn't feeling quite right. For several reasons, he decided to quit his job and work for himself. Gideon and his wife moved to Australia on a whim to 'start over'. They thought it would be easier to do something new in a new place, and it worked! It helped them focus on their relationship and their business.

The first thing Gideon did was he wrote an ebook and it sold extremely well in 77 countries. But once the excitement of his book died down he realized that his site traffic was gone, his sales were gone and his money was gone. He knew he needed to research and learn how to drive traffic. After interviewing several experts, his started to figure it out. After each success, he just kept learning and building from there.

[tweet_box]"I wanted to drop out of the system of limitations inside my head and break free" - Gideon Shalwick[/tweet_box]

Questions I Asked Gideon: I know your business today is primarily around video marketing and advertising. Can you share with the listeners your story and how you got here today? What was the ebook that you wrote about? What made you decide to move into video advertising? What is the biggest mistake you see people make with video? Whats the best way to get started with video advertising? How hard is it to get into a subscription model?

[tweet_box]"Instead of designing technology, I prefer to play with it" - Gideon Shalwick[/tweet_box]

What You're Going to Learn: The reasons behind Gideon deciding to start over What his first successful case study was based on What his background is in technology What is Veeroll and how it works Some guidelines that will help you be successful with video

[tweet_box]"I realized there was such a massive audience to reach with video but the trouble was with MAKING these damn little videos" - Gideon Shalwick[/tweet_box]

Where to Connect with Gideon Website | Facebook | Twitter Check our this amazing tool:

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy Scaling Your WordPress Business My Interview with Kai Davis When it All Comes Together and You Still Have Doubts Passion Into Profits, My Interview with Tony Teegarden

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Today I have the pleasure of chatting with the team from Peepso: the founder, Merav, Eric the project designer, and Matt the lead developer.

I'm going to be completely transparent and tell you I was SUPER thrilled to talk to Merav not only because she's awesome (as is Peepso), but because it was great to talk to a woman who has founded a software company and is doing it well ( of course Eric & Matt are awesome too :-). Next time I'll have to interview them in person, since they're in Indonesia!)

Merav, Eric, and Matt worked together on Jomsocial over the years so the transition to working together on Peepso.  Merav had been involved with Joomla since around the time it started. Right after Merav discovered Joomla, she bought the domain name iJoomla.com where she has been creating extensions for Joomla ever since. Eric originally got a BA in English in college, then worked his way up in IT. He then started working for Jompsocial where he became project manager. Matt used to be a freelance developer for years, then he got involved with Joomla during the first few months it came out. He then met the owner of Jumpsocial and began working there, where he met Merav. When Merav saw how well Eric and Matt worked together she knew that the three of them would make a great team on Peepso.

Peepso allows people who use word press to have their social media inside their own site. So instead of sending people to your Facebook to connect with you there, they can connect with you on your website.

Questions I Asked:

What is Peepso? What made Merav decide to launch Peepso? Why did Merav choose to use the "free-mium" pricing model instead of a full fledged suite? What challenges did Merav face when creating her business? What has been the response in the WordPress community? What advice would Merav, Matt and Eric give to someone who wants to have their premium developed?

Things You'll Learn:

Why it's important to keep people on your site to connect with you instead of sending them to other sites. How Merav overcame working with a community who expects most products to be free. The many features of Peepso. How different companies have been able to use Peepso. The value of community sites opposed to Facebook groups.

[tweet_box] "It's great because it's not free" - Merav Knafo[/tweet_box]

Where to Connect with Merav Website | Facebook | Twitter

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy Interview with Shane Melaugh of Thrive Themes Interview with Matt Medeiros - Creator of the Conductor Plugin Beaver Builder- My Interview with the team at Beaver Builder

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I cannot seem to get enough content about content! (say that 10 times fast)

It's as if I turned on a light switch in my head and I realized there's SO much more that I ever imagined.

Bear with me here because I'm going to get more specific and promise I won't be talking in circles (and I'll do my best not to repeat what I've discussed in my recent posts about overhauling my site and content as the foundation of your business. I may however repeat a few points because they bear repeating).

Back in my Overhauling the WordPress Chick post (Part 1) I mentioned the book Content Machine by Dan Norris (which by the way is absolutely fantastic). I've been working my way through the book and accompanying resources while I craft my new content strategy for my site. Even if ALL you do initially is start looking at content from a different perspective, then the book is worth every penny.

The goal of course is to implement what you read and learn (I know, novel idea, right?), but for me it took a little percolating to really "get it".

Trust me, I'm all about doing the work but I've also learned that I set myself back a few steps whenever I try to force something. It just doesn't work, I waste time and end up really frustrated.

It's not like content is new, right?

And it's not like I haven't been creating content since I launched this site.

I have.

Where I missed the mark though was that I never created a content strategy.

I know, part of me thinks "should I be saying this out loud?"... but I kinda sorta had a content strategy. It was just that I only had a few pieces to it. Now I'm creating the entire map, GPS and all. My 'kinda sorta' strategy was to check keywords, comments and feedback from my audience and create content from that. I also created content around what I was loving at the time and why. Then I'd make tutorials or share it in a way that was easier for the everday user to understand (no boring code snippets here! :-) ).

Then I realized what the problem was.

I never sat down and started with the end in mind.

Not the end of my business, but what was the ultimate goal of my site. What was I trying to DO with my business?

What did I want to create?

Who do I want to serve?

All of that is changing now... and I couldn't be more excited. I can't quite reveal what this all means, but I'm crystal clear on one thing... my content strategy is at the core of everything I'm doing moving forward.

Here's the beauty of creating a solid content strategy.... you can measure it's effectiveness and tailor it so it meets your objective.

When I decided to fully step into this I started working with my 'secret weapon' (you'll hear more about him this month, I promise) before I created any new content or spent anytime deciding if I wanted to re-do my theme (which I've since decided I want to update my theme... originally I wasn't goiing to. It wont' be a totally new look, just a little different style) we got on a skype call and started with the end in mind. What do I want to do with my site (products and services) and who am I serving? How we approached this:

After our initial skype call he went and did some analytics digging and keyword research (the stuff I hate but know is ridiculously invaluable). From there we started a notebook in Evernote and started digging in. You can see in the screenshot below some of the notes and areas we're focusing on:

And we're just getting started (kind of fun, huh?). Now let's talk a bit about Metrics It's no secret that I'm not a fan of doing this myself, but I know it needs to be done. I like knowing the numbers, I just don't want to have to go in and collect them and analyze them.

Hence my 'secret weapon'.

In order to grow your business and proivde value to your audience you have to track and measure what's working, what's not working and what they want more of.

I've had Google analytics and webmaster tools set up (although something...

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I think at this point this is something we can all agree on.

Although I do think there are people who see podcasting as the 'latest bandwagon' (we're just going to go on my hunch on this because I can't quite fathom the idea of trying to find facts to support this opinion. I know that there are people out there who take that opinion whenever a new platform rolls out... they take a stance as to why they're not getting all hot and bothered with the latest 'thing'... think Periscope or Blab).

Of course podcasting is hardly new. The more people that start podcasting the more it feels like people are jumping into it (although isn't that point when something becomes mainstream? The weird thing is that people don't really do that with mainstream media, have you noticed? No one complains because other TV Networks outside of the big ones are launching their own series. Something to ponder...) Back to Podcasting I know that saying podcasting is content isn't revolutionary, but it seems like it often gets overlooked.

I adore podcasting because I can take it with me anywhere (I was a listener of podcasts long before I started my own). I often joke that I've become a very anti-social shopper because I tend to have headphones in listening to podcasts when I'm out and about running errands... actually it makes me a much calmer shopper (for what it's worth). Here are a few things to keep in mind with Podcasting:

Because we have SO much content available to us we automatically filter out what works for us and what doesn't.

I know for myself that there have been bloggers or people I've subscribed to that at one time I ADORED what they did and what they said. Now? It doesn't quite feel the same. It doesn't hold the same draw as it did a few years back in my business. Which is a good thing if we're all growing, right? Ideally your business evolves and grows as you do so your ideal client or target audience is going to be different.

Which is why content is SO crucial when your goal is to create a real business and are in this for the long haul. One of the things I hear most often from people when they're considering creating and launching a podcast is that they don't have the time. I won't go into some long drawn-out preachy paragraph about how we all have the same '24 hours' a day. You know all that already.

What I will tell you is that it's a form of content that can get you a much faster return on your investment of time and energy.

Your podcast listeners are YOUR people.

[Tweet "Your podcast listeners are YOUR people."]

They're not cold leads and they're not occasional readers.

They DIG you. They appreciate you. The CHOOSE you.

If you've been thinking about podcasting, start looking at it from a content creation and connection perspective.

AND... really think about whether or not it's something you want to truly #showup for. If your heart isn't into it (and into it for the long term), then find a form of content that you can stick with and is feels right for you. I've said this over and over again, and yes, it bears repeating. I believe every niche can be served from a podcast, but I don't think everyone should podcast.

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Today I have Parviz Parvizi, one of the founders of Clammr on the show. After meeting in law school, Parviz and his co-founder David were both admitted 'slow readers' so they were always big audio users.  After completing college they both got blue chip jobs to pay down some of their school debt - one  in consulting and the other in banking.  Parviz and David always knew they wanted to work together so they were always throwing around ideas, and many of these ideas were shared via audio.  During this process, they both became frustrated with how clunky it was to share that 'golden nugget' in an audio file with each other.  From that challenge came the idea and creation of this amazing tool called Clammr! And you know what -  it's totally FREE!

Questions I Asked Parviz: What is Clammr? Tell us the thought process behind redirecting the audio snippet to a link and what is the value in it? If you were launching new podcast today, how would you use Clammr to drive traffic? What is the value in using this amazing tool on Social Media?

[tweet_box]"We thought of Clammr as a lead generator for audio." - Parviz Parvizi[/tweet_box]

What You're Going to Learn: Some new opportunities for podcasters Interesting ways people have used Clammr What's on the horizon - what's coming next Parviz' experience and advice with launching a software company

[tweet_box]"With Clammr, your audience can become marketers and promoters of your podcast." - Parviz Parvizi[/tweet_box]

Using the Clammr Button with Simple Podcast Press

Where to Connect with Parviz Website | Facebook | Twitter | Private FB Group

Register for Webinar

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy Simple Podcast Press Plugin- Interview with Hani Mourra Visual Content Builder – My Interview with Shane Melaugh of Thrive Themes Interview with Ray Ortega of The Podcaster’s Studio

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So excited to have Christine Sheehy on the podcast today! Christine and I met about two years ago through a Mastermind course and we really connected.  She started her career as a lawyer, but always found herself drawn to the writing aspect of law.  After having her daughter, she got into working with corporate clients with their communication needs and helping them focus on creating impact in their businesses.  She soon realized what she really loved was connecting with the individuals within these businesses.  Christine then moved into copywriting coaching - helping her clients identify their unique skills and communicate their ideas and value on their websites. 

Questions I Asked Christine:

Was there a struggle when she decided to leave her legal work? What are some common mistakes clients make when it comes to writing? What work do your clients have to do when working with you? How does someone begin to share their 'business' story? What is one thing she wishes people would do when it comes to writing for their business? What are some different ways someone can work with her?

Things You'll Learn:

Why it’s important to not only be professional, but to also be yourself. You don’t need to be 'bigger' than who you are to have credibility. The importance of being clear about exactly what you do. Why you just need to show up and do the work. How to be confident in what you're doing and understand how to differentiate yourself from other people in the same field. 

[tweet_box]“If you are the face of your brand, BE the face of your brand.” - Christine Sheehy[/tweet_box]

WEBINAR REPLAY   Where to Connect with Christine Christine's Website Write to the Heart of Your Business on Facebook Christine on Twitter

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy Interview with Julie Harris Interview with Marianne Manthey

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Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Brennan Dunn. Back in 2008 he started freelancing full time after he gathered a large client base. He realized he was losing a lot of opportunities by staying small so he decided to grow his business. Brennan learned how to sell, market, and how to price what he was doing and then he was able to build a team. He opened an office and hired 11 full time payroll employees. He eventually exited that company he created but he still consults and does similar work.

His main focus is to help freelance consultants grow their businesses without going through all the the troubles he dealt with. The biggest thing was that he didn’t just become better at what he did overnight, he really figured out how to do what he wanted and how to do it well which made a night and day difference when it came to how much money he made. He now provides software and products to freelancers and consultants with the luxury of doing it all from his home! (Gotta love it!) Questions I asked Brennan:

What was it like to have employees and be responsible for people’s livelihoods?  How did Brennan go about becoming a full time freelancer? What are some common obstacles people have when they jump into freelancing? How does Brennan help his clients realize their worth? Why don’t people market their own business? What makes people more likely to refer you to others?

Things You’re Going to Learn: 

What Brennan’s biggest business shifting event was. How Brennan was able to shift from selling himself as a commodity to selling a solution and how it helped his business.  Why it’s so important to understand your client’s business model and what relationship their website has with their business.  Why you should sell yourself as a positive addition to your client’s business rather than an expense.  How Brennan was able to provide value to people without them being a client.

[tweet_box]“The code, the business, and the design are all means to an end...”[/tweet_box] Where to Connect with Brennan  Website | Facebook | Twitter

Links Mentioned in the Podcast: Doubleyourfreelancing.com freepricingcourse.com planscope.io Other Episodes You Might Enjoy: WordPress Business - My Interview with Troy Dean Interview with Carrie Dils - Genesis in the house! My Year in Review - A Look Back at 2014

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Ever had "One of those days?"

Yea, me too. That's what fueled today's episode.

I hit a wall of overwhelm which has made me really step back and take a hard look at where I'm at and WHY I'm feeling so frustrated.

It's time.

Something has to give.

I'm really tired of the message "JUST DO THE WORK!" This clearly strikes a nerve in me, so hear my heart when I tell you that I KNOW this triggers something in me. I'm really tired of the message that the ONLY way to get ahead in your business is to aggressively do the work. Yelling and screaming or going at everything with aggression doesn't work for me.

It's time.

It's time to ONLY do things that work for me.

If I can't take in someone else's message (in this case, "DO THE EFFING WORK!") then it's my responsibility to NOT read those messages. Unfollow those people or hide those posts.

That's MY responsibility.

I know this is a super short post (the written version), but I really want you to listen to this episode.

It's a bit of a tangent but I needed to get this off my chest.

Thanks for listening!

xo Kim

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Today I have Maritza Parra from MaritzaParra.com on the show.

Martiza has been crazy about horses her entire life. Growing up, she spent all her free time with her horse and other horses from the local barn. Once she got to high school, she needed a way to pay for her riding gear, toys for her horse, and lessons with dressage instructors so she got a job at a laundry mat. It wasn't long before she realized she hated it and just couldn't do it anymore. That's when she choreographed her own Dancing Stallion Horse Show with her brother and some of her friends. She choreographed the dances, planned the costumes, and found gigs for them.

Not only was Maritza doing what she loved, she was also getting paid for it! Eventually people in the show started settling down and focusing on growing their families, but such wasn't the case for Maritza and her husband. Her doctor recommended stopping riding so she could have a better chance of conceiving so her business quickly came to a halt. A few years later, Maritza found herself in a divorce... ending up with no business, no husband, and no baby.

Panic set in.

She had to go back and get a job.

Then she realized that she still had a website she had created about horses many years before, which still had a decent sized list. Maritza wrote weekly emails to her list, building her relationship with them.

One day, she thought, "hey, what if I could offer a product to my list?" She sent them a survey, they told her what they wanted, and she delivered! That moment shifted her perspective because she found something that gave her the maximum leverage (high results and profits with little effort). She then took this skill and began teaching other people how to maximize their list's effectiveness.

Today we touch on why having a list is so important. More often than not, trying to build one's list is looked at as a negative thing. It shouldn't be...

Questions I Asked Maritza:

Can you share a little bit about your journey before getting here? Is there a higher conversion when a customer receives a physical note rather than just an insert? Why is having a list so important? Why does trying to build a list have such a negative connotation?  Why are people so hesitant to building a list? What’s the one thing Martiza thinks people should know about building a list?

What You're Going to Learn:

How Maritza built her list at a young age.  How Maritza was able to sell $29,000 of product to her list by going back to her business.  Why everyone should have a list.  The benefits of building your list the right way.   Common mistakes made with lead magnets. How Maritza figured out what her list wants. Different ways to drive people to sign up for your list

[tweet_box]"List building… it’s a relationship that’s made even better when you use technology to give value and make offers."[/tweet_box] Where to Connect with Maritza Website | Facebook | Twitter 

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy Passion into Profits, My Interview with Tony Teegarden Don't Be a Buttso and Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone Racing Ferrari's, Zappos and Game On!

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Kai and I connected through an awesome mutual friend, Mary Lou Kayser (awesome person btw and I will definitely have her on the podcast! I'm so grateful when people connect with other people they know! You just never know where that connection may lead (for both parties!) - Kai was no exception.

Kai used to work as a director of marketing for a large construction company in Oregon. He managed requests for their proposals and large bids for projects. From there became a front end word press developer, working as an independent consultant by helping people build their websites and solve their marketing problems. He then realized he wanted to help his clients work on a higher value problem that they wanted to solve, such as getting more traffic and help them build relationships online. Questions I Asked:

Why is there consistently a progression to higher end consultations for front end developers? What challenges did Kai go through when he began his business? What common mistakes do people make with their websites? What is Kai’s “Website X-Ray?” How does someone drive traffic to their website? Where does social media sit in relation to SEO? What are some important steps to take to get a better result with link building?

Things You’ll Learn:

How important it is for consultants to always be looking forward to a new area to drive or deliver value in.  How to give your client not  only what they want, but also what they need.  There’s a difference between just being a tool to a client and helping them achieve what they need.  Why working it’s important to just be the working help, but the partner on a project. What the best approach to SEO is. The importance of connecting on site and off site optimization. 

[tweet_box]“There’s a difference between asking say, an architect, for a really nice hammer, and asking the architect to help you build the house of your dreams...”  

Kai Davis[/tweet_box]

Where to Connect with Kai Website | Facebook | Twitter

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy Interview with Troy Dean Interview with Matt Medeiros Interview with Brandon Yanofsky

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...And Content and Metrics. In my last solo show I shared with you guys that there were a couple of opportunities for me to collaborate with people. Well... I almost jumped the gun on yet another collaboration with someone else!

I know, I know.

We both got caught up in the moment, sat with it for a few days and when we had our next call both decided that it was a complete distraction and NOT the direction either of us wanted to be heading in. Which brings me to the  IDEAS part of this episode. As an entrepreneur we're NEVER lacking ideas... in fact, there's often a plethora of them that tend to be more of a distraction than anything else. The crazy thing is that for me, I allow these distractions in, even though I know in my GUT that I need to stay focused. What I've learned about these distractions lately is that it's more a part of my process than anything else. And I don't buy into every distraction.

I usually have a few different things going on at any given time.

I've read all the books (The ONE thing, Essentialism, etc.... which btw are GREAT books), but I also know myself and how I operate. I have two VERY clear priorities in my business right now. And then there are a handful of 'side' projects that I have going for me. The difference with the side projects for "me" and the collaboration projects is that I'm not responsible to anyone else for the work that does (or doesn't) get done on these side projects. They're something I play with when I need a break from everything else I'm doing. When I want to 'play' with something that doesn't require me showing up as Kim Doyal. Part of my journey in ALL of this is to genuinely show up as myself, which I love (as scary as that can be). But it can also be a little tiring at times. When you make a conscious decision to put your name and face on things you want to do it in a way that serves your audience AND you. No one can do that 24/7.

So what do you do with all these fantastic ideas?

That's up to you.

You need to figure out what works best for you and run with it.

Here are a few things I do with these ideas:

Here's what I DON'T do:

Shift my priorities so any of my new 'ideas' overtake my focus and before you know it I'm exactly where I was a few months ago.

I see this happen over and over and over again with people.

What they're doing isn't working the way they want (hear producing the income they want) so they jump ship too early. Instead of tweaking and measuring what they're working on, they give up and jump into something else.

There's also that entrepreneurial rush that kicks in when you come up with an idea that lights you up!

And it's pretty addicting. Which is where the Content and Metrics come in. Unless you have an unlimited budget for advertising, you're going to have to create content.

[tweet_box]"Unless you have an unlimited budget for advertising, you're going to have to create content."[/tweet_box]

It's not just that 'content is king', like we've all heard over and over again. Content is REQUIRED.

Content isn't just about SEO, indexing and keywords. It's about building relationships and trust in a way that makes people want to do business with you. It's providing value before people hand over their hard earned cash.

Lately I've seen a LOT of discussion around people who aren't going to keep giving things away. Some think the 'free model' doesn't work anymore, do people really care about opt-ing in for your free guide, ebook, cd, audio, course, etc.? I don't have the answer to that (nor do I care to get into a discussion or debate around it. Not because it's not a worthwhile topic, I simply don't have the energy). What I DO know is that people who do content marketing RIGHT are killing it.

Take a look at Dan Norris as an example (founder of WP Curve and author of The 7 Day Startup and newly released Content Machine).

Dan literally is a machine when it comes to content (I'm hoping to have him...

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Julie Harris from Julie Harris Design has joined me for today's podcast. Julie is a creative business consultant and brand designer. Before she started her current online job, she had a day job in a bank in Hawaii. Julie didn't know what she wanted to go or what direction to go in. She studied more to do with design and got heavily into social media. She got a degree in marketing and started blogging to share her thoughts.

Julie now has Julie Harris Design which is a digital creative studio that she built herself and it's also an online business platform. She aims to work with bloggers, creators, small business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and individuals who are looking to create a digital platform to share their thoughts, ideas, businesses, wisdom, just to create a space that looks, acts, sounds and feels exactly like they do. Julie also helps her clients better define who they are and what they do. Coming up with strategies to get them be more productive and proactive with their time online. She further helps to reach their target audiences, providing value to their followers, and creating something authentically them that they can maintain and manage and grow within the future. [tweet_box] "When somebody is investing in your services, make it the most exciting investment it could possibly be so that they're no longer worrying about the financial investment but just excited about the outcome of what they're going to be getting from that investment." - Julie Harris[/tweet_box] In this podcast we touched on many things including human connection - sending out cards, postcards, or newsletters to clients. Going out of your way to make that personal connection to show they're important to you beyond an email. It doesn't have to be expensive at all, just a simple 'thank you' card. Everyone feels special when they receive something like this!

Questions I Asked Julie:

What brought you here? What were you doing before you launched this?

You were not specifically trained in design at all?

What are you thoughts on businesses evolving as the web does? What is Julie Harris design all about? When you were starting your business, what were some of the challenges that you faced when you decided to launch Julie Harris Design?

What You're Going to Learn

The human connection strategy Julie uses when working with her clients on their branding and positioning Two common mistakes that Julie sees people making, what those mistakes are and how she would fix them The guidance and/or direction she gives to her clients Her thoughts on clients wanting the branding to be perfect and using that as an excuse for not launching Her perspective on her clients fear of showing up uniquely as themselves Something fun that people may not know about her

[tweet_box]"For anybody who is interested in this development, the resources are there to educate yourself. It's committing the time and diligence to make it happen." - Julie Harris[/tweet_box] Where to connect with Julie Julie Harris Design Connect with Julie on Facebook Branding by Julie on Pinterest Julie on Twitter julie@julieharrisdesign.com

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy Interview with Marianne Manthey of Design Your Own Lovely Blog Interview with Hani Mourra of Simple Podcast Press When it All Comes Together and Your Still Have Doubts

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I had one of those moments today. When you realize that everything you've been working towards is all coming together. And not because something specific happened or even something 'BIG' happened.

It's more like a series of small things that simply validate that you're on the right path and somehow, all of the sudden, you just know.  You've Got This. And then you wake up the next day and all those doubts, fears and frustrations. Again.

This is what separates the hobbyists from the enterpreneurs.

Do you have the strength and conviction to move through whatever you're feeling? Will you focus on the big picture or feed the fear?

[tweet_box]"Will you focus on the big picture or feed the fear? The choice is yours." - Kim Doyal[/tweet_box]

So You've Made a Decision Time to shake things up and move in a new direction.

That's what I did this year.

It's been both amazing and scary at the same time.

And I feel this on a daily basis.

I've talked a LOT about the mastermind I'm in over the last year (mainly because it has changed my life and forced me to look at things in a completely different way). One thing I see people doing over and over again in my mastermind is moving in the direction they're being called to. It's not just about what everyone else in the market is doing or what the latest guru is preaching about. They go with their gut, they implement and then they measure what's working. Novel idea, right?

I wouldn't say I've half-assed my business, because I know I've worked really, really hard to get where I am today.

BUT.. I also know that I am STILL playing it small. What do I mean by that?

Let's look at a few things that need to be done in my business:

(By the way, that list is not in any particular order. Just sayin.)

One of the things I've tried to be very consistent with in my business is making sure that the first part of the day is spent on my work (in other words, no client work). This isn't because the client work isn't important, it's because I know myself well enough and the first part of the day is when I'm most creative, which is when I need to create content (or creat anything for that matter). Yet somehow that seems to have gone to hell in a handbasket these last couple of months. As I started writing this I realized why that's happened... and it's really not as big of a deal as I've made it out to be in my head.

I don't know if I've officially mentioned this here or not but a lot of my energy is being put into podcasting. Not just my own podcast, but a new division of my company, INFLUENCE Podcasting. INFLUENCE Podcasting is a done for you service (right now, I have more plans for it). It's for the entrepreneur who has a successful business, wants to start a podcast (because of the value, leads and traffic it generates) but doesn't have the time. They simply record and we do everything else.

I started this venture in February of this year and it's really taking off. We've been working on onboarding, branding, processes, marketing, all of it. And this was after we did a handful of case studies (for free mind you) to get everything set up. And when I say 'we' it really is a team effort. I have an amazing project manager, a couple of editors, a blog post writer, developers and designers.

And that's been going on while keeping The WordPress Chick going.

But something has to give.

First let me say that it's not The WordPress Chick, so no worries there.

In fact, I have big plans for this site and brand. I miss creating videos and content for this site (I haven't stopped, it's just less) and know there are a few things I could implement instantly to kick things up a notch. But I can't do that and everything else I'm doing.

So what's the solution?

I need to give a few things up.

Which doesn't mean they stop altogether, it just means I stop doing them.

One of those things are websites.

Yep,

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I’m joined today by Josh Denning from Tropical Entrepreneur. Before Josh moved to Thailand to set up his very own digital agency, he spent the last 12 years in the marketing industry. He worked with a lot of companies and he managed to launch a product himself. Josh took a couple of years off to figure out exactly what he was going to do and moved to Thailand. He found a digital agency there and worked his way up in that job. 18 months ago, he moved away from that business to set up his own, new digital agency. Josh had a great experience doing this as he had previously worked over seas. He also watched training videos and read blog posts about setting up companies in other countries, so he was mentally prepared for this next step. [tweet_box]"There is no better way to learn than to closely observe what the experts are doing." – Josh Denning[/tweet_box] We touch on authority in this podcast and Josh did the consulting for Authority Factory. He was reading books such as “Think and Grow Rich” and “See You at the Top” and that started him on a journey to studying authorities. A tip from Josh about authority is that when you're starting off it helps a lot to use your personal authority and pass some of that over to your enterprise.

Questions I Asked Josh

What were you doing before you started Tropical Entrepreneur? All of the internet marketing you were doing with the product launches, you were doing whilst you had a full time job? So you got a taste of the freedom that working for yourself really brings you? What was that like creating your own company in another country? What is the name of your agency? Were there any challenges you faced when launching this? Fill me in on how you came to doing the consulting for Authority Factory? What brought you to that place? What would you recommend to somebody who wanted to get started in that authority piece and building their brand that way? Do you have any client stories? What's the most fun thing for you in getting these people launched with their authority? What's the time frame on writing a book? Do you think there is a base foundation? Or what would be the criteria that you look at for somebody who wants to step into the authority marketing piece? Is there anything fun that you'd like to share that maybe people don't know about you?

[tweet_box]"I think having a team is the key to growth and scalability." - Kim Doyal[/tweet_box]

What You’re Going to Learn

How Josh managed to start his own digital agency in another country The challenges he faced whilst setting up his digital agency Some tips on how to build up your authority A couple of Josh’s amazing client stories and how they got to where they are now

[tweet_box]"One of the fastest ways you can accelerate your authority without a shadow of a doubt is starting a podcast and also a book." – Josh Denning[/tweet_box] Where to connect with Josh Smart ROI Authority Factory Tropical Entrepreneur josh@tropicalentrepreneur.com

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Today I'm joined with the amazing Marianne Manthey. Marianne is a designer and has her own blog where she shares tips on how to make your site just that little bit better. As well as having design tips on her blog, Marianne also has a book out called:

Blog Beautiful: 50 Tips + Fixes to Make Your Blog Glow!

Marianne started a Facebook page early in 2013 for her blog to share things whilst her blog was being set up. She was doing her Facebook page for six months before her blog launched in July, and she gained 100 followers in this time.

designyourownblog.com's aim is to teach women how to design their own blogs. Also to show people how easy it is to do customizations, learn design, learn more about different styles, ect. Marianne wants to share all of these things with her readers and that's why she created her book. Blog Beautiful has all of her thoughts on design inside. She needed a place to pull all of these thoughts into one and put them in order and work through with people - where to start, what's next. [tweet_box] "There's a lot of people who want to learn how to do things themselves. They're in the DIY mindset." - @marianney [/tweet_box]

Questions I Asked Marianne 1. What made you really step up before your site was ready?

1. Before we get into the site and the blog, fill everyone in with what you do during the week? 

2. When did you officially launch the blog? 

3. What's the premise behind it? And when you launched it, what was the plan and direction you wanted to take it in?

4. How do you manage all of this? 

5. What were some of the challenges or obstacles that you faced in growing this? Any advice? What would you recommend to somebody? 

6. With the writing, did you use a tool like Scrivener or Evernote?

7. Have you thought about publishing it as a physical? 

8. How long did it take you from concept to sale?  What You're Going to Learn

[tweet_box]"You don't need to wait for everything to be ready or perfect to get started, you just need to take action." - Kim Doyal  [/tweet_box] Where you can connect with Marianne Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Welcome to 'Kim Snippets' #2 Before I get into this episode of the podcast and my second official 'Kim Snippet', I want to point something out to you guys (which is simply a reminder).

Content is EVERYWHERE and ALL AROUND you ALL THE TIME! (excuse the crazy caps here, but there's a method to my madness, which is emphasis, not shouting per se).

This episode was inspired by something I saw on social media recently and has been something I've thought about often. It's one of those things that once you start thinking about this and REALLY look at the reasoning behind this (assuming of course this resonates with you), you're going to be amazed at how often people do this. AND... you're going to be very conscious that you don't become one of 'those' people.

Let's start with the post I saw on Facebook that inspired today's snippet.

Someone posted a little bit of a 'rant' (and hear my heart, I love a good rant as much as the next person... but remember your rant says a LOT about YOU, not just what you're ranting about) on Facebook about someone who had started a crowd funding campaign to start a blog. The tone of the rant was one of "why should you get crowd funding instead of doing the work? Where's the hustle? The rest of us had to work hard and hustle to get our blogs launched"... a little bit of a "who do you think you are?" slant.

You might be thinking, big deal... someone ranted about something. I get it, really I do.

But let's break this down a bit shall we?

First of all, there was zero context or explanation about the crowd funding campaign referenced. I would be curious to see what the campaign was all about, the reason behind the crowd funding and what the blog topic or niche was that the person was trying to launch. As an example, if the blog was going to be about finding housing for the homeless in the United States (I just read a statistic this morning that there are over 4 million homeless people in the U.S and there are over 18 million homes sitting EMPTY), what would your initial thought be behind the crowdfunding campaign? All of the sudden there's a different feel or vibe to it isn't there?

Mind you... I'm not saying that crowd funding needs to be for non-profit, charity or social change (it's awesome when it is but it's just as awesome when it's for something we don't need and simply want. Case in point - the crowd funding for the Exploding Kittens card game), but you get my point.

Would you like to know what my FIRST reaction to this little rant was? "Wow. Someone's bitter." I stated this in a recent guest post over at WP Elevation and it bears repeating here:

[tweet_box]"When you love what you do and get paid what you're worth you don't waste time judging what other people do."[/tweet_box] When you rant, bitch or vent on social media it speaks VOLUMES about you. NOT what you're ranting, bitching or venting about. I'm so, so, so very tired of people using social media to tell the world what they're AGAINST.

Start sharing with the world what your are FOR.

Let's look at the recent passing of gay marriage in the United States (and if you comment about gay marriage one way or the other here it will be deleted. I will NEVER get into a politcal or moral debate with anyone. #justsayin). The difference between people posting their beliefs for LOVE vs. people who posted beliefs for HATE (and this occurred from both sides of this issue) was fascinating.

It makes me think of a quote by Mother Theresa (and I'm paraphrasing here) about the Vietnam war.

She was asked if she would march against the war.

Her answer was No.

But she said she WOULD march FOR peace.

See the difference?

If you believe strongly in something or have an opinion, share the 'for' side, not the 'against'.

It's much more powerful and says SO much more about who you are.

All of this ties directly in with the 'vulnerability movement' that Brene' Brown started a few y...

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For today's podcast I have Brandon Yanofsky with me! Brandon is building an amazing presence in the WordPress community. He is currently working on My WP Expert and WP Radius.He's in forums, answering questions and helping solve people's problems as much as he possibly can. He also goes to meetups, speaks at events, networks with people and writes guest posts.

Before WP Expert and WP Radius, Brandon's first business was in college and it was a clothing company. He realized he needed a website for his business so he played around with some website builders. Someone recommended WordPress to him and he really liked it! He got the hang of it and started helping others with the site online.

[tweet_box]"Just because one person is doing something or there's a company doing something well, doesn't mean you can't do it in a way that works for you and serves your audience." - Kim Doyal [/tweet_box]

Questions I asked Brandon:

1) Your background? What were you doing before you launched WP Expert? What got you here?

2) Is WP Expert all your running from that site?

3) Is WP Radius a similar support model?

4) What were some of the struggles and challenges you had when stepping into this and starting your own business?

5) How did you go about creating a name of yourself?

6) What are your thoughts on "online business is easy"?

7) What would you recommend to someone to help them find out where their clients are? 8) What are some of your best tips on Lead Generation and list building? 9) What are the top 3 things that you'd tell someone with a WordPress site them they should be doing in order to drive business to their site? 10) What are your thoughts on investing in your (online) business? 11) What are your thoughts on opportunities in the WP base? What do you see are some great business opportunities in WordPress? 12) What is in store for WP expert and WP radius?

13) Is there anything fun about yourself that maybe people don't know?

[tweet_box]"If you have a really good product or service that people want, it basically will sell itself." - Brandon Yanofsky[/tweet_box]

Brandon explained how building relationships is key. Find your audience and clients, and reach out to them. Learn about them to understand what they like. Think about what you can give them and what they actually want!

What You're Going to Learn

1) How building relationships play a big part in an online business

2) How creating and sustaining an online business isn't as easy as everyone thinks

3) How to find your audience and customers

4) Some of the best strategies for your website

5) How reading the 4 Hour Work book will help you understand time worth

[tweet_box]"If it makes it cheaper, easier, faster then definitely invest in it."- Brandon Yanofsky[/tweet_box] Where to connect with Brandon

Website: My WP Expert - WP Radius -  Twitter Other episodes you might enjoy: Sidekick for WordPress: My Interview with Ben Fox Conductor Plugin: My Interview with Matt Medeiros WordPress Business: My Interview with Troy Dean

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Yep, Happy Birthday to Me! Kind of a crazy way to start a post, but I'm all about celebrating the good things in life, and yep, that includes birthdays!

ALL of them.

Getting older doesn't bother me... aging, well, that's another story. But the truth about aging is we have some control over the quality of our lives as we age (as in taking better care of ourselves, honoring who we are and making the most of our lives). Which is why I thought it would be a great idea to record a podcast on my birthday, especially since it's mid-year and I can check in with how the year has been going and what's in store for the rest of the year.

So today is my 45th Birthday (see, told you I didn't mind getting older). And here are a few things that make this birthday awesome and why I don't mind getting older:

The first half of 2015 The first part of 2015 has been amazing!

I put the intention out there a couple years ago that I wanted to travel more and each year seems to bring more travel (something magical happens about putting the intention out there, letting it go and continuing to work with inspired action). So far this year I went to Vegas in February (EMPIRE Mastermind), Vegas again in May (Funnel Hacking), Maui in June (EMPIRE) and am heading to the South of France in FOUR DAYS with my daughter! WOOHOO! I've loved every trip but think I'm looking most forward to France since it really is a vacation as opposed to a 'business trip' (even though these trips hardly feel like business when you love what you do and the people you do it with).

My business has grown exponentially. Both financially and in terms of taking things up a notch, which I know is kind of vague, so let's see if I can bullet point some of what has happened:

Hired a new project manager who has absolutely made my life easier in terms of what I can focus on and keeps things moving. She also happens to be one of my very best friends and being able to share this journey with her is a blessing I finally feel like we're getting systems and processes down in a very structured way so I can focus on what I love doing most and is the best way to serve the people I work with My project prices have gone up My Coaching fees have increased and I'm coaching a little less I've launched a whole new division of my company, INFLUENCE Podcasting, and it's taking off in ways I never dreamed! (more on that later in the year) I've stopped doing things I don't want to do The podcast is still rocking (and still one of my absolute favorite things to do) I've connected with some amazing people and am grateful for all the new friendships Had a $24k week! WOOHOO! I'm starting to love the sales and data side of things

And that's why it's time to Celebrate.

There was a time in my life (not so long ago, and really, I still struggle with it), where I had a hard time really celebrating what I've accomplished or how far I've come. Somehow it felt like I was bragging. Then it hit me, with the help of a mentor (a few of them actually), that if you don't celebrate where you are and what you've achieved how will you go further? How do you accomplish more?

Being authentic and transparent means sharing BOTH sides of the coin. The difficult times AND the fantastic times.

And here's the kicker... when you show up as yourself, all the time, people will be there with you through it all. I'm not talking about the trolls or the haters. Why on earth people choose to expend energy to be nasty or negative is beyond me. One thing I've learned is that people who are living in their own truth, are happy with what they're doing and are earning a good living with what they do (yes, money gives you that freedom), don't waste anytime berating, bitching or judging other people.

They don't have time for it.

They also understand that everything they do is energy. When you put negative energy out into the world that's exactly what you get back...

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When it comes to podcasting I have a few personal rules after the basics are met (best audio quality and valuable content come first). We all know I'm a huge geek about the visual side of things so after having had my podcast for a while I knew I wanted to put a better looking player on my individual episodes than the default player from PowerPress (no offense to them, they pretty much keep everything going with their plugin, but the players are a little dull). Enter the Simple Podcast Press by Hani Mourra. Could it be more Awesome? :-)

Yes, that's the fantastic player that you're looking at below the image in the post.

What I love most about the Simple Podcast Press is that it's geared towards marketing with your podcast. It's not just a good looking player, it takes everything one step further by adding buttons, opt-ins and reviews on your site. What you might not know is that before launching Simple Podcast Press Hani created and released Simple Video Press (which I've also purchased but haven't gone through my site yet to swap out videos. I'll get to that later this summer, so stay tuned for videos on that as well).

[tweet_box]"I love that feeling of solving problems." @hanimourra http://thewpchick.com/63[/tweet_box]

Questions I asked Hani:

1) What's your backstory? (What brought you to WordPress Plugin development)

2) What are your thoughts about the premium WordPress Plugin space?

3) What have been some of the challenges you faced when launching the plugin?

4) How did you decide to do a podcast plugin?

5) Do you have your own podcast?

6) What were some of the features that people wanted that surprised you? (for the plugin)

We went a little sideways in our discussion about podcasting and what you can do with it (which I think you'll enjoy as well), which is one of the things I love most about these interviews (letting the conversation flow organically and see where it takes you). Hani also shared what his plans are for launching his upcoming podcast and why he wants to do an audio and video podcast (something I want to add to my podcast as well, may as well record the video at the same time, right? More on that front coming soon too).

What You're Going to Learn

1) How to keep podcasting SIMPLE

2) Why you should focus on content

3) Why you still need PowerPress (by Blubrry)

4) The different ways you can pull your reviews into your site with Simple Podcast Press

5) How Hani's initial focus for the plugin was automation... then his customers dictated what they really wanted

6) How you can grow your subscriber list with the Simple Podcast Press

[tweet_box]"I just listened to what people wanted and gave them that. You have to listen to your customers." @hanimourra http://thewpchick.com/63[/tweet_box]

Where to connect with Hani Facebook | Twitter | Website  

Links from this episode

Simple Podcast Press

Simple Video Press

Other episodes you might enjoy

Interview with Matt Medeiros of Conductor

Interview with Aseem Badshah of Socedo

Interview with Shane Melaugh of Thrive Themes

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I have a tendency to go through spurts where it seems like I'm traveling a lot or attending a lot of events or I'm doing nothing.

Maybe that's just me. :-)

Lately it's the traveling a lot (which fortunately I love) and I'm excited to share my 'take aways' and event recap of the first annual Funnel Hacking Live event that I went to at the end of May in Las Vegas. Funnel Hacking Live Funnel Hacking Live was put on by Russell Brunson & his team at Click Funnels. If you're not familiar with Click Funnels, you will be. :-) I'll be doing some free 'funnel training' via hangouts with a private group (no idea what this looks like just yet but I'll keep yo uposted). I figure I may as well share what I'm doing while I do it, right?

Click Funnels creates, surprise...funnels. Everything you need is built into Click Funnels. It truly has a drag & drop customizable interface where you can create any type of page you want (again, think marketing pages here - which are listed below). You're not limited to what you see on the template (which is one of the things  I've always disliked about LeadPages. You can change colors or hide elements but that's it). Here's a list of the type of funnels you can create within Click Funnels:

O.k, let'e get back to the event.

The event was 3 days and completely jam-packed. The first day didn't start until 1pm (which was kind of nice after travelling the day before) and went until about 6pm. They had some 'round tables' after the first day where you could talk to the 'Inner Circle' members (Russell's coaching program members). We hung around for a bit to go in then changed our minds (I love meeting new people and networking but I also appreciate the downtime in between sessions).

Here are some of the topics that were covered by the speakers:

Book launch Free plus shipping Webinars High tickets services Physical products

All of the speakers had great content and great value. No one sold from the stage, which was refreshing and they all 'taught' something. Awesome.

The two announcements Click Funnels made during the event were:

1) Affiliate program (where you can run your OWN affiliate program) called Basecamp

2) Email Marketing called Actionetics

Both are launching soon (I think Basecamp will be available this month and Actionetics is coming in the next month or so).

The topics covered by the speakers ranged from book launch funnels, to webinars, to affiliate programs to nutritional supplements. There was something for everyone - and even if your business wasn't covered there was pletny to take away from watching what other people were doing with their funnels and how they were making Click Funnels work in their business.

Click Funnels Next Year Yep, I already bought my tickets for next year at this years event (which fortunately will be in San Diego next year as opposed to Las Vegas). I hope to see you there! :-)

disclaimer: I am an affiliate of Click Funnels

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ANYONE who has wanted to take their current business to the next level with high ticket offers needs to listen to this interview.

I was fortunate enough to connect with Tony through a mutual training we took and instantly knew he was someone I wanted to connect more with. Needless to say he didn't disappoint. :-)

Like many of my guests Tony has an interesting story that brought him to where he is today. With a background in classical music (violinist, pianist) and then moving into music in metal band (there are some awesome pictures of Tony with the 'oh so awesome' hair of the 80's, but I promised I wouldn't put them in the post, so you can do some Googling yourself if you want verification of his band days) to landing in network marketing.

Not a traditional path by any means.

The interesting thing about Tony and Network Marketing is that he didn't like the industry, yet he ended up building a profitable business.

[tweet_box]"The good news is they can help everybody. The bad news is they can help everybody." @ateegarden http://thewpchick.com/61[/tweet_box]

Questions I Asked Tony 1. What were you doing before starting your current business?

1. I love your tagline - Turn Your Problems Into Profit. How did you come up with that?

2. Explain your current business and who you work with?

3. What are some common challenges you see your clients face?  (biggest obstacle)

4. What would you recommend for someone wanting to step into coaching & high ticket offerings?

5. What's coming for Tony Teegarden?

6. Anything fun about yourself you'd like to share?

Where you can connect with Tony Website | Facebook | Twitter

Check out Tony's BRAND NEW Podcast: Turn Your Problems Into Profits

Click here for a Special Offer from Tony Teegarden

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Lead Generation is something we ALL need. All the time. I honestly don't remember exactly how I found 'Socedo', but am SO glad I did. I think it was through Twitter (which makes sense because that is one of the key elements of Socedo). The funny thing is that I went through their lead generation process without even realizing it! (That tells you a lot about how good the system is, right?)

Socedo also has one of the BEST onboarding systems I've come across as well. As soon as I signed up for the trial I was contacted by a rep to see if I wanted to go through a walk through of the features, how it works and what it could do for me. In the past I tended to pass on the walk through because I was afraid of being 'sold' into something (duh!). Now I look at it as an investment in my business and if it is in alignment with what I'm focusing on now and can help me achieve my goals (and I have a way of keeping up with it consistently) then it's kind of a no brainer. The Questions I asked Aseem

Like I mentioned above, you'll hear me talk with Aseem about how I didn't even realize I was going through their process when I signed up for Socedo. You're also going to learn how Aseem came up with the name "Socedo" (which totally makes sense when you hear him explain it because for the life of me I couldn't quite figure out where it came from :-)).

I would highly recommend signing up for the 14 day free trial of Socedo, setting up your filtering criteria and looking at your stats as you go along. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the engagement, connection and leads that come from using Socedo.

Links from this episode

Socedo

Aseem on Twitter

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Have you ever had one of those moments when a thought comes to you and you feel like you're in a V8 commercial? (getting bonked upside the head like "DUH!")... that's what happened to me with this idea (and for anyone outside of the U.S., V8 is vegetable juice and the commercials are always about people getting bonked on the head after they realize they 'could've had a V8').

I used to like the "fake it till you make it" idea. It always seemed like it went along with intention, right use of will, law of attraction... all the things that are near and dear to my heart. But then I realized what a disservice it is to 'fake it till you make it'. Bear with me on this because it might not be as easy to explain in writing (which is why I did the video) as I think it is or make as much sense as it does in my head.

First, let's look at what 'fake it till you make it' is all about (or at least my interpretation). Let's say you want to be a successful online entrepreneur (like how I dug deep to find something unique for that example? Although hopefully I can be more clear in using this as an example).

When you're first getting started you're super excited and everything seems full of possibility. You absorb as much information as you can, ideally you implement on some of the ideas you're learning and start seeing some results, regardless of how big or small the results are.

If you were to 'fake it till you make it' you might decide that you shouldn't share the frustrations, challenges, weepy moments, pissed off at everyone you know moments or even how many times you thought that maybe a getting a job would be easier. Instead you paint a perfect picture of how effortless it is to build an online business.

(Note I also had an 'a-ha' moment last week about "doing the work" and "hard work". For me, "doing the work" to build my online business has NEVER been as "hard" as some of the long, physically demanding and frustrating days I spent in retail management. Start thinking about 'doing the work' as opposed to 'hard work').

You only share your successes.

You're thinking that if you were to share those 'less-than-perfect' moments it would hurt your brand and business. People might not hire you because you're not quite the expert they thought you were. Does any of this sound familiar?

OR... maybe instead of only sharing your successes you keep everything very 'safe'. You create content that probably appeals to your audience, are nice about everything and never take a firm opinion on anything if it differs from the masses (or more importantly, your community).

The problem with this second scenario?

People become indifferent. They don't love you OR hate you.

They simply don't care.

Ouch!

Just the thought of that makes me cringe a little bit.

I know I played it very safe for the first 5 years I was in business. I didn't want to ruffle any feathers (which might seem odd to those who know me personally, although I think it depends on the subject and our comfort level) or take a strong stance on anything.

And quite frankly, it was a little boring. 

Not that I'm going to start writing controversial posts or going out of my way to piss people off (mainly because I have made a conscious choice in my life NOT to focus on the negative... ever). It's actually kind of funny when I think about it... I mean how pissed off can you get with WordPress? 

Recently a mentor of mine asked me what it would have been like for me had people that I looked up to and respected had shared some of their struggles? (not my current mentors, this is going back a few years).

My answer?

It would have been HUGE!

It would have made a significant difference!

During those times of frustration I wouldn't have felt like I was alone or like I was doing something wrong (which I wasn't, but you don't know what you don't know, right?)

So.. what does all this mean?

SHOW UP!

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After having talked to Matt a few times (we had a 'hey, how's it going' chat on Skype first, then we recorded the podcast... which didn't record! So we did it a second time), I kind of wondered what took me so long to get Matt on the show (my doing, not his!).

No complaints here though that it didn't record the first time because that simply meant I got to talk to Matt again (and I'm sure it comes as no surprise to tell you that Matt was a total champ about having to do the interview a second time... and he recorded it also, just in case! You gotta love interviewing other podcasters and tech savvy people!).

While I'm sure Matt doesn't need much of an introduction, I'm going to give it to you anyways .

Matt Medeiros founded & runs "The Matt Report", Slocum themes and the uber awesome Conductor Plugin. The Matt Report is a WordPress Podcast for Digital Business Owners. Slocum themes is the theme shop he founded (with his Dad... how cool is that?) and now the Conductor plugin, which is a visual page builder for WordPress (but not like some of the other visual page builders I've discussed on the show. But we'll dive deeper into that in a bit).

[tweet_box]"I was really trying to figure out where I could make the biggest impact in WordPress"  @mattmedeiros[/tweet_box]

We talked in depth about what makes the Conductor plugin a unique page builder (it focuses on content and uses the built in WordPress Customizer). What You'll Learn in This Episode

Questions I asked Matt

[tweet_box]"For me, having my ear to the ground by doing client work is what helps me improve my product."  @mattmedeiros[/tweet_box]

I think once you hear what Conductor can do for your clients you're definitely going to want to see how powerful this tool is and what it can do for YOUR business as well! Be sure to register for the webinar training on April 28th, 2015 at 5:00 pm PST where Matt is going to demo the power behind Conductor and show you exactly how you can create amazing sites by focusing on the content (and increase conversions!).

Where you can connect with Matt Conductor Plugin | The Matt Report | Slocum Themes

Links from this Episode Conductor Plugin Matt Report Slocum themes

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There's something about hearing the story behind the business that makes things so much more relatable.

Starting a business is both awesome and hard. Sometimes you feel like you're on an island by yourself, even if you have people you connect with regularly (daily) or even have someone who works with you (or for you). Hearing how other people have managed all of this is a great reminder that you're on the right path (or maybe that you've accomplished far more than you give yourself credit for). That's how I felt after talking to Dan Norris of WP Curve. If you haven't heard of WP Curve, you will (and not just from this podcast). WP Curve is a service that provides unlimited WordPress support and small jobs, 24/7 from $79 a month (if that sounds awesome, it's because it is... and is their explanation of what they do!)

As someone who has made a conscious choice to stay away from maintenance and support (that's for another conversation), I LOVE that this is an affordable and amazing solution for my clients.

Dan is one of those people that you talk to and wonder if he ever sleeps ... not only is he the founder of WP Curve but he is also an author (The 7 Day Startup: You Don't Learn Until You Launch) and a microbrewer! Yep, he's starting a microbrew too (I know, I totally want to hang out with him too). What You'll Learn in This Episode

[tweet_box]"We're focused on rising above the competition in terms of building a better team." Dan Norris @wpcurve[/tweet_box]

Questions I asked Dan

Connect with WP Curve Website | Facebook | Twitter  

Links from this episode - WP Curve - The 7 Day Startup - Facebook group Content Machine - How to build a scalable WordPress business in 1 week (WordCamp Sydney slides)

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This episode is a little 'Out of the Box' to say the least.

I was joined by Trey Lewellen, aka, Mr. ON IT ... or maybe I should say I joined Trey (at his offices in St. Louis, Missouri to get his upcoming podcast rolling). I decided to do a podcast episode with Trey while I was there because this trip was part of a new venture for me (and the first of many I'm sure) and it was simply an amazing experience.

This episode was really about stepping outside of my comfort zone in SO many ways!

I could go on and on about this episode, but I really think to get the most out of this episode you need to listen to it.

Here's what we talked about in this episode:

You'll have to bear with me because we went in a WHOLE bunch of different directions, but this is one of those conversations that took on a life of it's own and there are a BUNCH of gems nestled in our crazy tangents.

[tweet_box]We should nickname them "buttso"... or is it so, but? - Trey Lewellen[/tweet_box]

You're also going to get an update on Trey's business, where he's going and what his intentions are for scaling his business to a 12 million dollar a year business.

[tweet_box]Are you willing to #stepup and say "Call me out?!" - @kimdoyal[/tweet_box]

Links from this episode

Hatchbuck

My first interview with Trey

Trey's ILMG Facebook page

University of Guns  (Trey's gun website)

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy

You are the Obstacle in Your Business

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Yep.

I literally raced a Ferrari in Las Vegas a week and a half ago.

HOLY MOLY it was friggin OFF the charts fun! I knew I was going to enjoy it and was excited about doing it but had no idea how much fun it was really going to be. Once we got to Dream Racing we had to sign our lives away, watch a video and then try out driving in the simulator. I have to say that driving the car felt easier than the simulator! It also made me a whole lot more nervous than I thought I would be.

Next it was time to suit up, pose for pictures and off to the race track.

We each had 5 laps around the track and just like they told us, it was by lap 5 that you started to feel like you were starting to get the hang of things and before you knew it you were done. I felt like a little kid who just had a brand new toy taken away from me!

What a RUSH though! I ran up to one of my mentors and just said "THAT WAS AWESOME!" OMG!!! After that I also decided that I want to bring my son back when he turns 16 and we'll make a family trip out of it (bringing my kids, parents, siblings & their kids, aunt & uncle... the whole clan!). My take aways from Ferrari racing:

Here's a group picture pre-racing (I'm in the back):

After racing we had a great lunch and headed off to Zappos for a tour!

Which was also pretty awesome (although it's hard to beat racing a Ferrari. Just sayin).

The Zappos tour was pretty amazing. The founder, Tony Hseih (who I bumped into and grabbed another selfie with.. see below) decided to move Zappos to downton Vegas after the company took off so he could support the community better. Their offices are in the old City Hall building, which is downton (old Vegas, not the strip).

Zappos has an amazing culture, people who are passionate about working there and tons of perks for employees.

It was also validation that I could never work for anyone else again. Even a company as cool as Zappos (as our tour was winding down our guide asked how many of us wanted to work at Zappos? No one responded so I jumped in with "you're talking to a group of entrepreneurs!"... to which he asked if we wanted our own companies to have cultures like Zappos. :- ) ). I also prefer less 'chaos' when I work. Zappos allows all their employees to decorate their cubes anyway they want, they've painted hallways, have unique artwork everywhere (and product) and even a small ball pit in the Human Resources department (and a cool roof top deck, cafeteria and ping pong table).

It was still a little too much for me (and most everyone else as well! You have to be somewhat organized to run a business, right?). Regardless, it was a great tour and wonderful day!

And then there was the meeting.

EPIC.

Yes, I just used the word epic (I'm calling myself out more on that one than anything else).

Our Mastermind meeting days are always structured in a similar manner: the first day is more of the "big picture" thinking and the second meeting day is our strategy and implementation. What I love about this is that it helps me get out of my head. It's so easy to get caught up in (and stay in) the day-to-day dealings of running a business that if I don't step back once in a while I lose site of the overall purpose and my 'why'. Which, I can tell you that for most entrepreneurs that I've talked with part of their 'why' is always freedom.

Freedom is hard to attain if you're stuck in the minutia of the tasks in your business and the basic daily operations.

And because I want you to listen to the episode I'm going to save the juicy details of the meeting for the show... but I promise it's worth it!

The BIGGEST take away for me from the entire meeting was to step things up AS MYSELF!

It's easy to get caught up in the tasks that are part of our business but sometimes the only way to get where you're going and figure out exactly what you SHOULD be doing is to show up and do the work.

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It's no secret that I have fallen in love with WordPress page builders... every time I see one that I haven't tried I simply can't resist. Which is what happened with beaver builder. As someone who started an online business with no intention of ever getting into web development or creating websites for clients, I love hearing how other web developers have scaled their businesses and stepped into something outside of client sites.

Which is what the guys over at Fastline media have done with beaver builder.

What I love about their journey to creating the plugin is that they were their own ideal customer. They were solving a problem for themselves and realized that this was an ideal solution for creating and deploying quality websites. I literally fell in love with this WordPress page builder the first time I tried it (you can test the plugin on their site. You gotta love live demos, right?).

I had a ball talking with Robby, Justin & Billy (the 'guys' behind beaver builder). What You'll Learn In This Episode

[tweet_box]"Agency businesses and product businesses are two different beasts"  @beaverbuilder[/tweet_box]

Questions I asked the beaver builder guys:

Links from this episode

Beaver Builder

My previous post & video on Beaver Builder

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Let's take a quick stroll down memory lane for a minute, shall we? I remember a cold winter night in early 2014 where I was hanging out in my family room with my laptop, the fire roaring and a cozy blanket. I'm lazily going through Facebook when I come across a video for something called the Thrive Content Builder... and within about 30 seconds of watching the video I knew I had to have it.

Since the very first time I installed and tried the Thrive Content Builder I have been in love with it. I've done a handful of videos on using the Thrive Content Builder for content, sales pages and the built-in landing pages. Yep, you read that correctly! You can create a funnel with the Content Builder: Optin page Download page Thank You page [tweet_box] We wanted to build WordPress themes that were built for businesses. - Shane Melaugh @ThriveThemes[/tweet_box]

What You'll Learn In This Episode:

[tweet_box] I wanted to remove the disconnect between the editing of the content and the content itself - Shane Melaugh @ThriveThemes[/tweet_box]

Questions I asked Shane:

Links from this episode

Thrive Themes

Thrive Content Builder

Thrive Leads

You may also like these posts & episodes:

WordPress Visual Editor

Thrive Content Builder Update & PDF

Thrive Landing Pages

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There is NO way someone could have told me 8 years ago (HOLY MOLY where has the time gone!) that I was the obstacle in my business.

Well... I guess they could have told me but I probably would have told them off (seriously, I was a bit of a hard ass in my previous life. ooh the stories I could tell!).

But I digress.

I've worked really hard to be a kinder, gentler version of myself and my life flows SO much better when I come from that place.

Let me give you a little background about how I came to this conclusion of YOU being the obstacle in your business, because it wasn't like a light switch went off (it never is, is it?). As my mentor recently pointed out to me, it's more like a dimmer switch. In my case it was a very slow dimmer switch that I think I intentionally shut off at times (no idea what's up with all the light metaphors here).

You may or may not know that I am a HUGE reader. I spent about 10 years in the book industry when I was a young adult. I started as a clerk in a bookstore and ended up as a district manager in San Francisco at a young age (yes, I've always been a dog with a bone ready to take on the next challenge). I loved reading before my bookstore job but once I started working in the bookstore and was around books all day it seemed like there was never enough time to read everything I wanted to read. In my early 20's I discovered the Business & Self-help sections and it all went to hell in a hand basket from there. I quickly became a consumer of books on tape (yep, physical cassette tapes) and was constantly trying to put something good into my mind (and I can honestly say now that it helped prepare me for where I am today. Kind of reminds me of Napolean Hill's "Think & Grow Rich", which, if you haven't read it, you should. Long story short is that he spends 20 years working for FREE so he can learn from one of the 'greats' who helped build this country, Andrew Carnegie).

Which brings me to the book that has really struck a chord with me (and has quickly become one of my most favorite books of all time!)

It's called: "The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph", by Ryan Holiday I like this book so much that I had to order the hardback so I could take notes, put sticky notes in it and use the quotes as reminders for myself (I highlight stuff via Kindle all the time but there's something about writing & highlighting in the book that makes me feel like I'm literally consuming the content).

I want to give you a brief overview of what this book is about and who it's for and then I'll dive into how YOU are the obstacle in your business.

First, let's start with who this book is for:

If any of those bullet points struck a nerve with you, meaning you found yourself feeling defensive, you probably won't like this book (even though you need it the most!).

I'm not one for sports metaphors or references (and that's only because I'm not an athlete. I do however appreciate what sports can do for an individual),  but this excerpt from the book is SO spot on I had to share it. There's a chapter in the book called "Follow the Process" where he tells about Coach Nick Saban (who apparently is the head coach of the University of Alabama) and what he considers is responsible for his success, and that is, The Process. He teaches ALL his players The Process:

"Don't think about winning the SEC Championship. Don't think about the national championship. Think about what you needed to do in this drill, on this play, in this moment. That's the process: Let's think about what we can do today, the task at hand." - Nick Saban

And to summarize Ryan's chapter on the process - Follow the process and not the prize (yes, that's totally tweetable! Go ahead, you know you want to).

Here's my tweet out to Ryan when I was writing this post! :-) Just for fun!

[tweet_box]Follow the process and not the prize. @RyanHoliday #TheObstacleIsTheWay [/tweet_box]

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The term 'consulting' has been around for a LONG time and is something we're all familiar with, but you don't tend to hear the term online as often as you do offline (well, at least in the space I'm in). My guest on the show today has managed to do a phenomenal job of building a hugely successful consulting business working with clients all over the world and helping them focus on what really makes a difference in your business. And he started in the web development and design side of things (which you'll hear I didn't know about him until this interview). Which is why I wanted to bring Michael Zipursky of Consulting Success onto the show.  

Having worked with businesses all over the world Michael and his team stepped into coaching and working with other consultants. One of the biggest challenges Michael sees with the consultants he works with is that they rely on referrals and don't know how to land the bigger projects and bigger clients to scale their business to the next level.

What works for one person won't necessarily work for YOUR business. "Is your Value Proposition aligned with who you want to attract?" Some questions I ask: - What were you doing prior to launching ConsultingSuccess.com? (I love hearing the 'before' story of the entrepreneurs I work with) - How & when did you take your business online? - Can you share some of your client success stories? (how about adding 3 million to your business in one year?) - How do you help the consultants you work with get over the challenges of charging more? - Do you run into issues where people are afraid to really narrow down who they work with? Who is their "Ideal Client" In this episode you will learn: - Why you HAVE to start with your value proposition - Why charging hourly is a disservice to your clients and your business - The challenges of charging more - Why you always need to focus on value & ROI - Why you have to focus on your IDEAL market and why casting a wider net isn't a smart decision - When you're getting started you need to invest your time and money targeting your right clients - Go fast & deep into YOUR market - The value of spending time with like-minded people (referring to our Mastermind)

"Authorities are able to demand higher fees"

Ready to step up your Consulting & Coaching Business?  

Consulting Success Website | Consulting Success on Facebook | Consulting Success on Twitter

You may also like these episodes:

Your Mindset Matters: My Interview with Andrew Sparks From 6 Figures in Debt to 6 Figures a Month: My Interview with Adam Spiel Ready to write your book? My Interview with Joshua Sprague WordPress Business: My Interview with Troy Dean Growing a Business with T-Shirts: My Interview with Trey Lewellen

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I debated on whether or not I should do a 'Year in Review' post this year. For like, a minute.

Of COURSE I wanted to do a year in review post!

It's been an amazing year and I have a lot to be grateful for as well as share the things that didn't go as planned and what I'll be doing differently in 2015.

I've also decided there are two words that I will be my 'words of the year'. I thought about picking just one word but then realized that I wanted to focus on two words and they really go hand in hand.  This will all make more sense when I get to what's coming in 2015 in a bit. Let's start with looking back on 2014 One of my intentions for 2014 was to travel for business.

And travel I did!

I started the year off with my first live mastermind event in San Diego with my EMPIRE mastermind at the end of January (I'm a member). This event shifted SO many things for me - as well as some things that didn't shift the way I had hoped they would. I wrote a post & recorded a previous podcast episode about this trip because I went to my mastermind event and then piggy backed that with tickets to Traffic & Conversion Summit - which was just too much for me after a few intense days and I ended up heading home early.

Shifts for me:

Paid traffic is essential Making offers has to be done consistently Spending time with people who are where you want to be is crucial to your success Stepping outside of your comfort zone won't kill you (atv racing with the boys?)

Things that didn't change the way I had hoped:

It took me until this past summer to really get clear on what I was doing and where I wanted to take it I had a few personal "a-ha" moments on that trip that I thought would have stuck but didn't... and I'm still working on that (I talk about this in more depth in the episode) My comfort level with promoting myself (again, more details in the episode)

The next few months had some ups and downs as well as another business trip to Arizona for Infusioncon with @DeannaFenton. I had decided to make the switch to Infusionsoft after my trip to San Diego (again, my second time with Infusionsoft and have since moved on to my MOST FAVORITE email marketing & sales company EVER... hatchbuck, but more on that later too).

The trip with Deanna was great and we both left excited about what Infusionsoft could do for our businesses.

Unfortunately all it did was cost me more money and aggravation and we've both moved on to #hatchbuckhappiness (yes, I'm totally going to coin that term and make it a legitamate hashtag).

Maui in May

This was one of those trips that I debated on whether or not I should go, but then decided to just bite the bullet and go (I don't know if you do this or not, but I have a tendency - or use to - to waffle back and forth  and then am always grateful I went).

The waffling was for a bunch of different reasons - but if this trip taught me ANYTHING it was that when in doubt- suck it up and make it happen. Period.

This was my second #EMPIRE mastermind event of the year (we do 3 each year) and it was another game changer. I had a ball zip-lining (it wasn't the heights that did me in, it was one of my landings), an amazing evening at a Luau with everyone and two intense days of brain work and big picture thinking.

Oh.

And I got upgraded to first class on the way over! 

BOOM! (that was validation enough for me that I was supposed to be on that trip).

I recorded one of my first 'in front of the camera' videos with my friend Trey Lewellen - and had a BALL! I wanted to do more of those but just never quite got around to it (more on that later too). That will definitely be changing in 2015... in a big way.

Summer

Summer seems like a bit of a blur- not sure why (maybe because my kids are out of school? ) I participated in the 'ice bucket challenge' (brrr..) and hosted a wonderful 70th bday celebration for my Dad.  As I'm thinking about last summer and the fact that it ...

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One of the BEST things I've done for my business in the last year is to spend time with people who are already where I want to be. Whether that's in business or my personal life (health, spirituality, attitude, etc.) it's absolutely one of the smartest things I've done.

Today's guest is a perfect example of someone who has an amazing story, has taken plenty of risks, went down the wrong path and then pulled himself out of that (he started his first business at 15). Meet Andrew Sparks of Sparks Elite Before we dive into the show notes, I have to say that one of the greatest things about this interview was how vulnerable and transparent Andrew was. He shared how he dropped out of high school, started in plumbing and construction, moved overseas and then ended up in the wrong crowd where his life was consumed by drugs and alcohol.

Hitting "rock bottom"

While it may not have been rock bottom for him, Andrew hit a point where he knew something need to shift - drastically. Which is when he realized that the problem was his own mindset and how he pulled himself out of where he was and completely shifted the direction of his life.

The turning point or moment when things shifted.

Being the ever-so-curious person that I am, I asked Andrew if there was a moment, book or incident that shifted things for him, and he didn't disappoint. He shares a great story about a fight in pub which made him step back and look at things from a completely different perspective. He realized how much he cared about people and then asked himself what made him respond in a way that other people hadn't?

An excursion to Patagonia

One thing with Andrew is that when he goes in he goes ALL in.  After the fight in the pub he decided to take an 8 week trek to Patagonia for a survival excursion and ended the trip with a 'now what'? And that's when everything shifted (spending 8 weeks in the wilderness where you have to rely on yourself for food, water and survival is bound to do that, right?) Living an Extraordinary Life Living on the beach, working with 7 figure businesses, having a quality of life most people only dream of... that's where Andrew is today.

But not without a lot of hard work and persistence. Would you be willing to sell something near and dear to you to keep the dream alive? Andrew did.

We also talked about  FEAR. How entrepreneurs completely prevent their own success because they're afraid of rejection, fear of people saying no and taking everything personal (I did this for a LONG time). Our own limiting beliefs get in our way EVERYDAY.

We talked about over-promising and under delivering.

I swear I felt like he was talking about me every time he mentioned the fears and limiting beliefs.

And of course Andrew shared a current client story about the 24 year old who went from $700 a week to $5000 a week (and added an extra $3000 in one week).

"There wasn't a magic bullet. She worked her ass off!"

You're going to have to listen to the interview to get the full story on all of this - and of course if you need a mindset shift reach out to Andrew today for a free strategy session.

Links from this episode

Andrew Sparks of Sparks Elite

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Today's episode is long overdue (as many of them seem to be the last couple of months! Things will get back on track in January, just bear with me).

I've tried my hand with a few different email marketing options - Aweber, MailChimp and Infusionsoft. I'm currently using Infusionsoft (although I still have my Aweber account, but that's another story) and am actually looking at a new option that I don't think many of you have heard of (I hadn't heard of it until someone recently mentioned it to me), but more on that in another post.

Of the three options I would have to say that Aweber is still my favorite.

While I love the way MailChimp looks, I don't think the dashboard is as intuitive as it could be. Both Aweber and MailChimp lack the functionality of Infusionsoft (being able to tag and segment subscribers. The closest they come to either of those options is creating multiple lists, which gets tedious after a while).

This is my second time around with Infusionsoft and it's still as frustrating as it was the first time, even with the campaign builder. I don't understand why the emails aren't responsive (seems like this would be a priority and while I know Infusionsoft has grown tremendously over the last few years this needs to be addressed) and why the drag & drop builder is so clunky. The dashboard is also not intuitive... but I digress. My love / hate relationship with Infusionsoft is not what this post is about. Erin Howard  of Streamline Internet Marketing I connected with Erin earlier in the year when she reached out to do some coaching with me. We set a 3 month period to work together and then Erin extended it for another three months. One of my absolute most favorite things to when working with coaching clients is to figure out where they have a passion, skills and knowledge to create value for their audience.

That's the role email marketing plays in Erin's business.

Having spent time working for a large corporation managing their email marketing Erin knows a thing or two and this subject AND... manages it for many of her own clients. Having used MailChimp for multiple clients I knew there was an opportunity to dive a little deeper into providing something that people really needed... a step by step guide to using MailChimp!

In this interview I asked Erin about her journey in building an online business as well as some important things everyone needs to know when it comes to email marketing (I swear it's almost a part time job in and of itself when you're getting started!).

Erin has also offered my listeners a special offer on her MailChimp Essentials book... something you definitely want to take her up on if you're using MailChimp or thinking about making the move to MailChimp!

You can get the MailChimp Essentials book here

Links from this episode

MailChimp Essentials book

Streamline Internet Marketing

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Yep, I was actually 10,000 feet off the ground a couple weeks ago!

The photo isn't actually from my flight, but the #selfie of me below is (we were squeezed pretty tightly into the balloon and I happened to be on the side where the sun was coming up, so I couldn't get that great of a picture with my phone). I was pleasantly surprised that being so high up didn't make me nervous at all. I think because there were so many of us in the balloon (12) and we were instructed not to move, so it was simply peaceful & serene (even with the scorching flame above my head that propelled us!). I've gone parasailing a couple of times and it's a little more nerve wracking than the hot air balloon. A Different Perspective I was in Park City, Utah for another mastermind event (which was awesome) and the day after we had two days of 'masterminding' after our adventure day (we also did a GPS adventure which was a blast) and on our first day of meetings we talked about some take aways from the adventures we did. One of my take aways was the value of getting a different perspective.

When we're doing "our thing" we caught up in the day to day of growing our businesses and we don't always see the opportunities that are right in front of us. If you don't change the view you miss out on opportunities. That's what I had been doing for the first few years in my business. Staying busy with the day to day minutia and tasks... missing opportunity after opportunity.

Not anymore.

I got crystal clear on the opportunities I've been missing and how I can connect the dots between what's working and what I want to do.

I've talked a lot about the shifts I've been making in my business this past year and sometimes I feel like it's taking forever and then of course there are other days when it feels like it's moving too fast (I know, sounds exhausting, doesn't it? Yea, I wear myself out too). Regardless of the speed at which this is happening, I trust the process and truly feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. If I want to move things along quicker then I need to focus and be much more strict with my time. That means blocking specific time and days for me to work on things that require my full attention (i.e., not something I can delegate).

Taking the time to plan

Isn't it weird that taking the time to plan out how you want to get where you want to go feels like a luxury? Somehow it doesn't feel like 'work' so I put it off until I realize I had better stop what I'm doing and plan out the details. We did this in Park City. The entire first day of our Mastermind was spent doing this. We talked about how things were going, the bigger picture and how we were going to get there (Be, Do, Have: What is it we want to have, who do we have to be and what do we need to do to get there). The value in doing this is beyond anything I can put into words here, but suffice it to say it's part of my routine now. Effective immediately. Scaling A Business Let's start this segment with a question.

Has your business consistently grown or has it been stagnant? If you have grown your business, have you done it strategically or would you say you've gotten 'lucky'?

Most of my growth the first few years in my business was because I worked hard and stuck with it, not necessarily luck, but I can't say that there was a ton of strategy behind it either. Over the past year as I've invested in coaching, mentoring and focusing on getting myself off the hamster wheel strategy seems to be at the core of everything I do.

Especially scaling my business.

Enter the new division of my business: The WP Team

The WP Team is an outsourcing company solely for WordPress web developers. I've toyed with the idea of doing this for a while and after having opened this up to my coaching clients realized that I was missing a huge opportunity by not opening up the doors, strategically, to other WordPress web developers.

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This interview has been a long time coming.

Mainly because we did the interview a few months ago! Don't worry, I won't use this space to whine about how busy the last couple of months have been because well... it is what it is and I'm back and moving forward! Nick Davis, Italy and Pricing Themes Another reason I love what I do... Nick was in Italy when we recorded this interview (how awesome is THAT?). Like most interviews, we started with Nick's backstory and how he ended up starting Lean Themes with his business partner, Derry Birkett (the designer behind the clean design & awesomeness of their themes).

We talked about how they connected and decided to partner on Lean Themes and why they went with a Genesis Child theme company (as opposed to doing a stand alone theme). Like any other new business they faced challenges when starting and launching (although one of the 'challenges' was the blessing of his first child).

I've talked a few times about pricing - whether it's your product or your services and Nick and I discussed this in length. When they launched Kickstart to their subscribers (people who had signed up for early notification), they offered a lower price for the first version. It wasn't a 'discounted' price- think first offering. They were looking for validation and for people to get their hands into the theme. I absolutely loved what Nick said about 'discounting' and that it's something they wouldn't do because it devalues the product. If you're solving a business problem by providing a solution, what is the value and ROI for the individual who buys your product?

What does Seth Godin have to do with WordPress?

We went in a little different direction when we started talking about how to be yourself, branding yourself and simply showing up. Nick shared how he's taken his company from an agency feel to branding it as himself. We talked about the need to show up as yourself and really put YOU into your brand. You know I'm a fan of 'showing up' and it's awesome to see people behind themes and plugins showing that side of themselves as well. What's in store for Lean Themes Perfection.

Kidding.

They want to continue focusing on Kickstart and making it the best theme possible as well as getting more involved in the WordPress community.

Before I post the links we mentioned in this episode, check out a customization of the Kickstart theme I've done for a friend & mentor below:

Links mentioned in this episode

Leanthemes.co

Velocity Page  ENTER TO WIN THE KICKSTART THEME  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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After I started writing the first post on 'The Social Side of WordPress' I realized there was no way I was going to cover it in one post, so here we are again. Part 2 (and who knows, maybe there will be a part 3... let's see how this one goes). I'll be the first one to admit that my social media efforts have been less than consistent until a few months ago. I always shared my content when I wrote new posts or published a new podcast episode, but I can't say that I was really great about engaging.

All of that has changed. And it's been AWESOME! My decision was sort of organic in a conscious way (does that even make sense? :-) ). I started doing some Facebook advertising last fall and then helped a coaching client with her ads as well. I realized that the more activity and engagement I had on my page the better it was for my ads (kinda makes sense, huh?). The beauty of all of this is that on one hand it was a strategy and on the other hand it has created some amazing relationships. I knew if I was going to increase my engagement I had to do it as MYSELF. (click to tweet) I would find things that I thought were helpful, funny and inspiring and share them in a way that supported who I am and what kind of business I'm building. What I wouldn't do was just share my own stuff along with a handful of friends or big names.

I LOVE finding uniqe and cool things that will help my audience as well as asking a question or starting a conversation. The BEST thing about this is that people have taken the time to tell me they appreciate what I'm sharing and have noticed the increased engagement.

Exellent.

I had an interaction on twitter recently that made me realize it was time to go a little deeper with the social side of WordPress. I think I tweeted something I was looking at (an analytics tool for measuring social engagement, I think... don't totally remember) and someone responded with a question as to whether or not sharing on Facebook for business was icky. It was a genuine question and I responded with a genuine answer.

I simply said that I had noticed the connection and increased engagement since I stepped up my activity on my Facebook page (when I see it in writing it seems so obvious, doesn't it?). The thing is... I used to feel the same way. Until I realized that if I'm not going to promote my own content I can hardly expect other people to promote it, right? AND...

People are more inclined to share your content when they know who you are and trust you.  (click to tweet)

I know, I know. Nothing new.

Yet it's still something people struggle with.

O.K., I have yet to talk about WordPress... so let's shift gears here. It all begins with your WordPress Site EVERYTHING you do should be do get people back to your site and engaged with you and your brand, which is why you want to make sure that everything you do socially is congruent with what is on your site. And I don't mean just your branding. Your Voice and Your Message. Who you are on your site is who you should be socially. Personally I'm pretty much the same person everywhere. Who you see online is who I am in my personal life (of course I have a more private side, but you wouldn't meet me and wonder if I was the same person you saw online. Just the thought of being one way online and one way offline is exhausting). This is the ONLY way you're going to succeed. Let's start with the fundamentals.

Social Sharing plugins I've tried a bunch of social sharing plugins and written posts about them as well. Now it comes down to: - what it looks like (of course) - is it lightweight (doesn't slow my site down) - easy to use - doesn't get in the way of content - doesn't automatically add a zillion social sites I've never heard of

What I'm using now:

• Floating Social bar (this sits above the post and scrolls with the post, which you can turn off if you want - this is currently not activated because I'm testing something else and the...

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You probably know by now that I'm a TOTAL geek about finding cool tools and resources to make online business and WordPress easier (and sometimes it's just about finding something cool, because really... I probably have more tools than I have time for), so to say I was absolutely in AWE when I found SIDEKICK would be an understatement.

I was FLOORED. SIDEKICK is a game changer. And that's being conservative. I think the day I found it I must have told as many people as possible about it, then every time I talked to a coaching client or fellow WordPress business owner it was like I was 5 years old and someone had just told me I was going to Disneyland.

I found SIDEKICK via Twitter, which is one of the ways I find cool new tools & resources (and trust me, it's not rocket science, I just click through to websites from people I follow or are following me when I go to follow them back. We all know my activity on Twitter needs a little help). I think the day I found SIDEKICK I asked to interview them for the Podcast. Fortunately Ben Fox followed up with me to make that happen (why I need a project manager to help with my schedule).

I want you to listen to the entire interview, but I have to at least explain what SIDEKICK is.

SIDEKICK is a set of interactive walkthrough  tutorials for WordPress and WordPress plugins (although the platform is available for non-WordPress websites or web-based platforms, but we're just going to talk about WordPress).

How it works (this is the free version- for the paid version you'll need to add your activation code):

• Install the plugin like you would any other plugin

• An orange bar appears at the bottom left of your Dashboard menu that says 'HELP ME'

• Click the 'HELP ME' button and the SIDEKICK menu of Walkthroughs appear.

• Select the walkthrough you want (ex: How to Create a Post) and the animated walkthrough will be begin. Step by step instructions telling you how to create a post WHILE you create the post!

BOOM! Enter Composer for SIDEKICK In case you were thinking you might be interested in creating your own guided walkthroughs, you can.

SIDEKICK just opened their beta for Composer which allows you to create your guided walkthroughs (I'll let you know how my first run at it goes. I'm in the beta and will be working with it this week). You can get in on the beta for Composer here. Like my other interviews, I asked Ben about his life pre-SIDEKICK (he's been involved with WordPress for a while) as well as the development of SIDEKICK, his partnership and how they funded their business (the good ol' fashion way... simply through hard work and determination).

Listen to the entire interview to get the inside scoop on Ben, the entire team at SIDEKICK and they're growing an amazing tool through an awesome company culture (look at the footer on their website and then you'll hear in the interview how this one fun thing is bringing everyone at SIDEKICK together).

Links from this episode

SIDEKICK.PRO

SIDEKICK WordPress Walkthroughs

SIDEKICK Composer

Enter the Contest to win one of THREE great prizes from SIDEKICK! a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Ready to share your Message with the world? That's one of my favorite elements to having a business today. The internet, social media and technology in general has given everyone the same opportunity to get your message out into the world. The trick is that it's up to YOU to make it happen.

About a year or so into my business I already knew I wanted to write my story. Share my journey. I haven't started this yet, but I will in the next year or so. I'm not putting it off for any reason other than I know now isn't the right time, but it's coming.

My guess is that there are some of you out there who ARE ready to write your story and get your message out to the world.

That's where this podcast interview can help.

I met Joshua Sprague in my mastermind earlier this year at our event in San Diego. As the mastermind has grown and evolved I've been able to connect more one on one with people to dig a little deeper into their businesses, how they got to where they are and what they're doing today to grow and live the lifestyle they desire.

Like most of us, Joshua went through some personal struggles which ended up being the catalyst for what he's doing today (you have to listen to the interview to get the full scoop). What I LOVED about this interview was that Joshua was how he was able to step into his 'purpose' with his business as opposed to just trying to create something that would make money.

We've all been there.

Doing it just for the money will NEVER work.

Which is when Joshua realized he needed to create his 'MESSAGE' and help others do the same... and then help them spread their message to the world.

A few days before our interview Joshua and I had a chance to catch up and talk about where things were in my business as well. I shared some of my frustration (I'll get into more of that later) and he said a few things that really resonated with me.

One of which was not to be afraid to "Dominate your market". What does that mean exactly? For me it means to start using my voice more. On my KimDoyal.com site I have a free report on 'Unleashing Your Voice + Vision"... but I don't think I've stepped into that quite as fully as I want to. I'm sure there are a few reasons... fear being one of them.

Which is also something we discussed in this interview.

When it comes to writing a book and getting their message out into the world fear is one of the biggest obstacles Joshua helps his clients through. Which is brilliant. I truly believe that you have to do the personal work while you're doing the business work... especially because they tend to go hand-in-hand for most entrepreneurs.

I won't give too much more away here because you need to listen to the full interview, but if you're ready to get your book written and share your message with the world NOW then you can join Joshua for his live event in San Diego in early August (next week actually).

There are a few spots left for this event where you're going to get your book written in 3 days.

Not too bad, huh?

Details 3 Days Live in San Diego  - August 4-6 Breakfast & Lunch Included

Click the button below to get more information to attend Joshua's Messenger on A Mission Bootcamp.

Links from this episode

Messenger On A Mission

Joshua J. Sprague

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Before we get into the heart of the interview, let me just say that you might want to have a pen & paper handy (or Evernote...) to take some notes while you listen! I've been a fan of Pinterest since I joined a couple years ago. Part of me is quite proud of the fact that I was sort of an 'early adopter' (in my humble opinion anyways), but then I have to fess up to not really using Pinterest to its full advantage and understanding how it works as a search tool (yea, I had NO idea about this).

Cynthia and I had connected some time last year and then I decided I needed to follow up and get her on the show.

Not only is her story amazing but it is SO full of valuable information you may need to listen a second time. :-) From Nurse to full time Pinterest Coach, Speaker and Consultant Like many other online marketers, Cynthia was inspired to start her online business after finding Pat Flynn's podcast, Smart Passive Income (who doesn't love Pat, right?). The best part about her decision to start a blog was that she decided to pick something that would be fun and let it evolve. She originally thought she was going to set up an online business relative to her career as an oncology nurse but decided that learning how to do it with something fun would be smart. Starting with Pinterest Deciding to start her online journey with something 'fun' was not only smart it clearly was 'meant to be'. To anyone who is even considering something online this is something you should really take to heart... it's O.K. to approach it in a way that feels right for you.

Cynthia is also a wife and mother to 4 kids... so having a full time job on top of life at home didn't make starting her online business easy, but she stuck with it.

Before she knew it she was asked by a local business to help them with Pinterest marketing.

Then asked to speak at Social Media Marketing World as a Pinterest expert (Michael Stelzner & Social Media Examiner).

And did I mention that Cynthia has a Podcast? Her podcast is also one of the reasons she was invited to speak at Social Media Marketing World. Not too shabby for a new business, huh?

Pinterest is a Search Tool  - Not A Social Media site What floored me the MOST about my interview was the education I got on Pinterest and that they consider themselves a search tool, not a social media site! Cynthia shared her favorite WordPress plugin for Pinterest, the Pinterest "Pin It" Button by Phil Derksen (link below as well) and why she likes this plugin the most. side note With the sharing of content via social media being able to dictate meta information for your images is HUGELY valuable!

I don't want to give away the full interview in the post, so be sure to listen to the entire show for all of Cynthia's fantastic tips!

Links from this episode

Oh So Pinteresting

Cynthia Sanchez on Pinterest

Oh So Pinteresting Podcast

Pinterest "Pin It" Button WordPress Plugin

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The term WordPress hosting isn't something you would have heard 4 or 5 years ago. It was just 'hosting', not WordPress specific hosting.

That's changed dramatically in the last few years as WordPress has grown and become the powerhouse that it is today (I could throw in a statistic for you but then this post might not make it out this week, because once you start 'researching' things the rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper. You know what I'm talking about, right?).

I debated on talking about WordPress hosting because, well, frankly it's not the most exciting topic (no offense to all the amazing WordPress hosting companies, mine included). We know I get more excited about fun graphics or cool plugins. But I digress.

The trick with choosing a WordPress hosting company is that you need to find one that's right for YOU. If you're just starting out with your WordPress site and online business, it doesn't always make sense to jump into the the high end hosting option, because when you're starting out every $15/mo. subscription counts. And not just because of the cost involved. You need to work with a hosting company that fits what you're looking for and suits your needs. When you're just getting started online there are a few things I would look for when selecting WordPress hosting: - Support: First and foremost! Make sure the hosting company you select offers the kind of support that YOU prefer. Personally I love live chat support... please don't make me call you.

• Dashboard: If you're a visual person then Cpanel is a great choice (control panel). If you're technically savvy then you're probably fine with a company that provides FTP or SFTP access (and if you don't know what those are, then go with cpanel).

• They keep things up to date: Because WordPress updates often and there are SO many 3rd party tools for WordPress (plugins, themes, etc.) you want to make sure that your hosting company keeps EVERYTHING up to date (ie, the latest php too!).

• Who is behind the company? Never something I thought I'd consider, but as WordPress hosting is getting more popular you have the opportunity to host your site where you know who the people are who are running your hosting company. My Hosting Company I've been hosting The WP Chick on Flywheel for a little over a year now and I'm THRILLED with their services and support. I have also set up multiple client sites on Flywheel for the exact same reason. I love that I can set up a client site then when it's done simply click a button to send an email to a client to take over the billing. Easy Peasy.

My only complaint with Flywheel (and it's really not a complaint, it's more like a 'whine') is that they don't have an affiliate program or referral program up yet. I know they're working on it and plan to have one, so I won't be a complete 2 year old and throw a fit. :-) Two New WordPress Hosting Companies So these probably aren't new to other people, they're just new to me. The first hosting company is Cloudways I was introduced to Cloudways by their WordPress Community Manager , Syed Wasseem Abbas. Syed sent me a msg via Twitter asking if they could interview me (written interview) and of course I said yes and I would be honored. They sent me a link to checkout their new cloud hosting called 'Cloudways' and I recently did a new WordPress install and set up a site for an event I'm hosting (by the way, other than an affiliate link there's no other incentive here). I wanted to check them out because I wanted to have other options for people if they didn't want to use Flywheel.

The installtion and set up was a breeze and it was easy to find everything I needed (including a link to a tutorial on how to set up your ANAME record to point your domian name. Great instructions every step of the way). Keep in mind that Cloudways does not have cpanel if that's something you're used to. So far so good! I'll let you know if I run into any snags or issues,

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I had the good fortune of being on the WP Elevation podcast a couple of months ago and after talking with Troy I KNEW I needed to get him on my show (which, FYI, the interview was recorded before 3.9 was released).

I have to warn you though.

There is a TON of information in this episode. Information that you can take and apply to your WordPress Business immediately.

I love that Troy takes a business approach to WordPress (of course while loving it and working with it all the time). As someone who isn't a coder or programmer but has built a thriving business with WordPress I was thrilled to get Troy's insights and experiences on building a successful business with WordPress. From Voice Over artist and Musician to WordPress Like many other people with WordPress, Troy started building websites for friends and once he found WordPress he never looked back. He did a lot of client sites for people in his industry (voice over / music studios) and began his freelance design. He looked at his journey as a paid education and from day one approached it as a business and knew the key to growing his business is leverage. "One of my passions is leverage" - Troy Dean Building the platform for leverage. Troy knew something early on that took me a lot longer to learn... it's NOT cost effective to do little support jobs for clients. Which is what inspired him to create a 'user manual' for a client of hist (over 100 pages, printed and delivered  to his client, which allowed the client to manage their site and kept him free from niggly support calls).

Video User Manuals is Born Realizing he created something that gave him massive leverage, Troy took his PDF to his friend and now business partner, who said "we need to turn this into a plugin".

You'll hear how Troy and Bryan have built a team that keeps Video User Manuals up to date (in different accents even! AND.. it will shortly be launched in Spanish!).

Building a Team

I loved that Troy approached building a team from a perspective of value. Meaning, if he brought on more people to his team could he then provide more value to his audience? Would the team allow him more time to create content, connect with his audience and grow his business?

Brilliant. WP Elevation WP Elevation was born out of necessity. For the audience.

They asked their audience why they hadn't purchased the Video User Manuals and the answer they got was overwhelming.

"We don't have enough clients! How do we get more clients?"

You're going to have to listen to how they approached the launch of this, met the demand and their business blew up. I don't want to give too much away (truly, the interview is great!). They launched WP Elevation to a limited number of people, closed it for a couple months, got their systems in place and re-opened the doors.

And haven't looked back since.

Make sure to check out WP Elevation, Video User Manuals and connect with Troy, you won't be disappointed.

Links from this episode

Video User Manuals

WP Elevation

Troy Dean

Troy Dean - The Voice Over artist

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I kind of surprised myself when I realized that I hadn't done a podcast episode about WordPress themes.

Seems like a little bit of a 'duh' moment, right?

I'm going to approach this from a little bit of a different angle than simply discussing different theme companies and the pro's and con's of each (and not just because we know all I use are Genesis themes).

When I first started working with WordPress and doing client sites I just went with what the client wanted to use. As soon as I found StudioPress and purchased the Pro Plus All theme package I stopped looking around at other themes and stuck with what I knew and what I loved. Once Genesis was released I knew that was all I was ever going to use. And not because there aren't other WordPress themes and frameworks available that are good, I didn't have the time to dive into other themes or frameworks (of course that doesn't stop me from looking at other themes for inspiration, design, styles, features, etc.). Why I use the Genesis Framework It's no secret that my favorite themes for WordPress are by StudioPress and are built on the Genesis framework.  I started using StudioPress themes pre-Genesis so needless to say when they launched Genesis I was in for the ride. There are a few reasons I use Genesis.

Good themes, great code

Constantly improving and stay up to date with WordPress

Flexibility for content (I'm all about content formatting)

Updates don't effect the way the theme look

The selection. There are a ton of great third party companies developing Genesis child themes

Fast forward to today and there's an additional reason I use Genesis.

A much less sexy reason I guess but it's the truth.

I simply don't have the time to try another framework or theme... and the few times I've done this I instantly wonder what the bucket I'm doing.

But this episode isn't just about Genesis, so let's move on. Picking the right WordPress theme for your Business This is something that took me a while to grasp because as someone who tends to get overly geeked about the visual side of things I had a tendency to approach theme selection based on what I liked and what I wanted.

What's missing here?

How about the user /reader / visitor?

Duh. :-)

Before you begin doing ANYTHING about the design and what theme you're going to use, take the time to outline a few things:

• WHO is your audience?

• What do you want to happen when people come to your site? (opt-in, watch a video, etc.)

• What do you want them to do after landing on the homepage? (start here, watch this, etc.)

• How do you want your visitor to feel?

• Are you an agency, individual or brand? Does this personality come through?

These probably seem like sort of obvious questions, but you'd be surprised how many people don't think about this or don't address these questions when choosing a WordPress theme.

Once you've answered all these questions I would recommend visiting as many sites as you can and take some notes. Pay attention to why you like the site outside of the visual appeal. Is it easy to navigate? Is it clear what the site is about? Do you want to spend time digging around on the site and exploring?

SIDE NOTE

Always try to think from your visitors perspective but don't get caught in the trap of asking everyone and their mother for an opinion... nothing will make you crazier than the opinions of the peanut gallery.

And if you're a web developer or are planning on having yout site re-done, there is a HYSTERICAL comic over at "The Oatmeal" about how a web design goes straight to hell.

Don't work with those customers or don't be that customer.

Links from this episode

Genesis Framework

Divi theme - Elegant themes

Divi tutorial by Keith Davis

How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell - The Oatmeal

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I had the good pleasure of meeting Ozzy Rodriguez in person at WordCamp San Francisco 2013. We had connected on Twitter prior to meeting in person and I thought he was just a great guy, then when I met him in person it was confirmed. :-)

Like many of the other web developers, Ozzy's journey into WordPress wasn't anything he saw coming. His background is technical and the evolution into creating websites kind of happened by accident. He started doing it for fun, then for friends and pretty soon he had website clients, AND... he's totally self taught. Love it. I asked Ozzy if he went to school or took any classes in programming or design and his answer: "I learn by doing"  

Which I love because when you see some of Ozzy's work (which is brilliant) it shows you that if you WANT to get really, really good at something you can.

Because our businesses are so different (mine is still evolving... what can I say. Eventually I'll figure out what I want to do when I grow up) it was fascinating to discuss blogging, marketing, list building and social media. The night before our interview I had hosted a webinar where I talked about list building and the importance of growing your audience (always providing VALUE of course) and Ozzy had attended. We continued the discussion about blogging, marketing and growing your list.

And then I asked Ozzy why he doesn't have an About page on his site (yep, you have to listen to the interview to get his answer).

This was also the first time an interviewee turned the tables on me and asked me a question (which of course, I didn't mind). One of the things I loved most about my interview with Ozzy was that he shared his own doubts about things (like blogging) as well as the fact that he doesn't really market his business (because he provides such a great product that his work speaks for itself and he gets tons of referrals). Challenges and Obstacles This is always one of my favorite questions (probably because it reminds me I'm that I'm not alone in my struggles) I ask every interviewee. Ozzy said something that most people don't address, and that is that it's great to have big dreams about your business but you also need to keep it real. Pay attention to the day to day, stick with it and be prepared to FAIL... a lot.

We also talked about starting a WordPress Business.

What to do.

What NOT to do.

And more than that... WHO to be.

Ozzy gives some suggestions on what he thinks are some good opportunities for building a WordPress business and shared that he has a theme coming out and possibly some plugins (I'll keep you posted on the release, they're not out yet but will be available on WP Bacon).

Links from this episode

OzzyRodriguez.com

WPBacon.com

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Am I right?

Are you tired of this discussion too? I know, kind of ironic that I say it's "time to retire this discussion" through writing a post about it (kind of like needing to get the last word in, huh? This is pretty funny as I write this. Guess we know what direction this post is going in). To be quite frank, I really don't know why this continues to be a discussion. There are so many factors that go into someone's choice to use (or not use) a plugin that I really think it's best to try to stick with a 'best practices' for plugins and do what you feel is right for you, your site and your business (if in fact your WordPress site is for your business also).

Before we get into the 'For' or 'Against' plugins discussion (note I didn't say argument, because really... why argue, right?), here's a few things I cover in the first part of this episode:

My trip to Infusioncon (what I learned, what I thought of the conference and why I'm going back next year)

What I'm going to be focusing on in my business moving forward

Why I'm not going to do website development work anymore Using Plugins First, because this is how I roll, I want to give a little disclaimer.  I FIRMLY believe that the decision to use or not use plugins is a personal choice. One that's based on someone's individual skills, knowledge and desire (because let's be honest... no matter how much we love WordPress we don't all want to get into the code, right?). That being said, there are some best practices.

Most people install plugins because they're looking to add additional functionality to their site. Something they need done and don't know how to do without coding it (ie, learning to code it themselves or hiring someone to do it). Of course there are also those people who just love plugins and install and try anything they come across. :-)

And guess what? That's O.K. too, just know there may be consequences for doing that.

My rule of thumb for using plugins is to always stop and ask yourself if the plugin you're installing and the functionality it adds is an added value to your reader / visitor (and I'm not referring to plugins that are good for your site like WordPress SEO or a database backup plugin). If it's not something that adds value or makes it easier on your visitor (like a social sharing plugin - which makes it easier for your reader to share your content), then is it really something you need to install?

The podcast goes into more detail on this so we'll move onto the argument for NOT using plugins. Not using Plugins This argument is going to be less wordy because it really comes down to just a couple things:

Site load time

Having a clean & efficient running site

Both of which are extremely important and of course help in your SEO, stats, visitor engagement and bounce rate (how long someone stays on your site before they 'bounce'). But the idea that everyone who uses WordPress is capable of coding in the functionality that is created by plugins is pretty ridiculous. I'm going to bet that it's safe to say that the majority of my audience isn't interested in coding. Even those of you who have a WP Web dev business. Many of you are great at customizing WP and giving the client a great product but you also want some leverage in your business and the time for money thing gets old sometimes.

Links From this Episode

RODE Recorder App for iOS

Infusionsoft

Seth Godin

Simon Sinek

Peter Shankman

Plugins I mentioned

Gravity Forms

TinyMCE Advanced

Shortcodes Ultimate

WordPress SEO

And.. like I mentioned at the end of the episode, here's the link to support the WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast! Rate the plugin or make a donation.

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One of the things I love most about connecting with new people online is that it reminds me that there are a multitude of different ways to create and build a profitable online business. Of course there's potential danger in this as well... it's easy to get distracted when you see that what one person is doing and it looks like they're making progress faster than you are, even though your business is completely different.

Today's episode is with another one of my fellow Mastermind members in Adam Spiel's Facebook Mastermind group, Trey Lewellen.

Trey's business model is not like anyone else I've had on the show. Also known as "Mr. ON IT", Trey has grown a very successful business through selling T-Shirts, creating membership sites and coaching people to do the same. I've watched Trey grow his business in a HUGE way in a very short period of time and am in awe of the massive action he takes on a consistent basis. From selling tea (yes, loose leaf drinkable tea) to creating an empire, Trey's story is inspiring and the interview is packed with a ton of valuable information you can implement today. Trey's Business Model Using Facebook as his platform:

Build a successful Fanpage in a specific niche (driving the fanbase up to 10k - 30k fans)

Sharing valuable content with that audience

Engaging with that audience to see what they want (and then determining how you can provide it)

Using TeeSpring to create t-shirts for that audience (using the scarcity model because the t-shirts are only on sale for a limited time)

Moving the fans off of the Facebook fanpage into a membership site

Creating and providing valuable content for members On Facebook: Trey and his team have a very strategic method for growing their likes for their Facebook pages. They start with 5 different images and the same copy, run the like campaign to see which image is the most popular. Once they've determined which image converts the best, they then test different headlines. From that test they're able come up with the winning combination of the right image and the right headline.

BOOM!

Sounds so simple yet it's not something that most people are willing to do (the testing part I mean).

Trey walks you through the exact process I mentioned above for growing your Facebook fanbase. He gives a great example of having a conversation with a particular audience and how he was able to drop the price of his likes from $.40 to $.04 by making one simple tweak that his fans shared with him.

Moving those fans into Membership Sites

You may or may not have heard people saying "Membership sites are dead"... regardless of whether or not you've heard that, Trey proves that membership sites are alive and well!

They have an automated process where they drive their fans into an opt-in offer, have a follow up email sequence that delivers valuable content and within a certain period of time offer them an opportunity to join the 'private community' at an average price of $10 a month (a price point most people will at least try out and is low enough to have high retention, assuming of course you provide valuable content as well).He's also built in an amazing upsell for a higher end membership where they provide multiple formats of content (think an interview converted to a transcript, then converted to a PDF) as well as physically shipping something to members every month (where they don't actually have to do any of the fulfillment).

You will get SO much value from this interview and the BEST thing you can do is implement something... today!

Be sure to listen to the full interview and check out Trey's offer just for my audience.

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Before I get into the details of this interview, I want to share something that a friend said to me over a recent Skype conversation. He's been listening to the podcast and the last couple of interviews have been with people in my Mastermind (Adam Spiel and Troy Broussard). Both have very profitable businesses and are running their businesses in a completely different way (there are definitely some methodologies they both use, but the model is different). He said something that made me realize I've been feeling something similar.

I'm going to paraphrase what he said, but here's the jist of his statement:

"There are so many different ways to do things and they all sound good, now I'm more confused as to which way I should build my business!"

Wow.

This totally struck a nerve with me because I realized that recently I'd gone off my own path.

It used to be that I would distract myself by buying information products (i.e, shiny object syndrome). But instead of the "shiny object syndrome" of buying products (I rarely buy things online for my business anymore unless they directly relate to what I'm currently doing) I'd become a collector of 'methodologies'. Instead of focusing on what I know in my gut I want to do and build (and how I want to do it), I was becoming distracted (and frustrated) with the way other people were doing things. Which brings me to my interview with Tea' Silvestre of Story Bistro. Tea and I connected at a WordPress meetup in the Bay Area a few years ago and I'm SO grateful we did. I don't go to WordPress meetups very often (I've spoken at a few) because it's not really my audience and there aren't any that are close enough for me to pop into. Needless to say connecting with Tea was a huge bonus (especially since her business isn't really about WordPress, she was going to the meetups to connect with people). Before I even had the pleasure of really getting to know Tea I instantly felt at ease with her and knew how she went about building and growing her business resonated with me.

You'll hear Tea's story of what she did prior to Story Bistro, how she decided to move from "The Word Chef" (although she's still 'The Chef') to Story Bistro and why she's so committed to doing things in a 'real' way.

We talked about doing things in an authentic way and without the Hype.

Tea shares her story of getting fed up with the corporate world, moving into local government and then the non-profit sector with her own business. Even then she was driven by doing good things and with integrity (and because of that Tea' has a high bullshit detector - my words, not hers, and is quick to call out what she feels isn't right. One of the things I respect most about her).

We talked about her move from The Bay Area to Oregon (I'll be trekking up this summer to visit her) and her contemplation of moving to Detroit (housing is really affordable in Detroit).

Tired of all the hype and feeling like there was no where to go, Tea created Story Bistro because she was drawn to the Story Telling of marketing and the real connection that can be created when you do things with intention, skill and integrity.

And I LOVE it!

BUT.. just to be clear, as much as I'm talking about authenticity and non-hypey marketing, Tea is brilliant at what she does and has the skills to back it up (hence the integrity).

Oh, and she mentioned cooking rabbit and how it relates to marketing.

Really.

Enjoy the interview and be sure to connect with Tea at Story Bistro and the Digital Dining Room.

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By now it's probably pretty obvious that I'm fascinated by people's stories and the path they took to get them where they are. Today's interview with Troy Broussard is no different. Having lost everything TWICE (yes, I said twice), to where he is today was no easy task. I decided to interview Troy after he shared a recent story about a webinar he ran where no one purchased and then with some follow up on his part - and coming from a place of absolute integrity - he was able to convert the no sale webinar to over $35k in sales with a little bit of follow up.

You'll hear Troy's story in the podcast (because of course you're going to listen to the entire interview, right?) but here are a few points that might drive you:

Filed personal bankruptcy

Rebuilt everything to a large real estate company, then the market crashed (and was too broke to file bankruptcy) and lost everything again

Went from working 70 -80 hours a week to working only 4 days a week in 2013 (and working towards 3 days a week in 2014)

Had a service based business that he enjoyed, but wasn't really his passion and built a successful 7 figure income

AND... my favorite Troy quote: Money is like Alcohol (and yes, I'm totally going to tease you with that because it's one of my favorite analogies).

As my business grows and evolves I'm always on the lookout for people who are on a similar journey. Not in terms of what I'm doing but in terms of people who take their life experience and integrate it into their business and it's reflected in what they do.

If you've been online for even a few years you start seeing the same names and faces (if you don't branch out of the same circles or connections). Some of those people continue to evolve and it's reflected in their business and their offerings. More often then not though the 'big names' stick with the same thing they've been doing for the past TEN years (yes, literally 10 years). They might put a different spin on a product or reinvent it with a 2.0 attached to it, but it doesn't reflect their OWN growth.

Totally not for me.

BOR-ING.

That's what I love about what Troy is doing. But the BEST thing about what Troy is doing is how he's doing it, which is with integrity and heart.  

Working with the right people and surrounding yourself with the right people... is what it's all about for Troy. When he shifted his busines model from a service based busines to strictly to consulting he focused on getting into the minds of his customer.

What did they need?

What was their passions?

Their drive?

And he structures his consulting towards helping them attaing those goals and in turn has been able to reach some of his own goals (and growing).

I don't want to give too much more away, be sure to listen to the interview!

And if you'd like to work with Troy and see if he's a good fit for you you can click the button below & connect directly with him.

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Here's the deal.

I know that the headline of this episode is probably not sitting well with some people, but the reality is it's a fact and it's a POWERFUL story. Which is why I wanted to get Adam Spiel on the podcast (besides the fact that he's just a great guy).

I met Adam at a conference my second year in business. The conference was O.K., (I honestly don't remember much outside of the name of the conference) but the connections I made proved to be priceless (I know you've heard this before, so this probably isn't news). We met up another month later at another conference and had a chance to hang out a little more and I knew he was someone that I could truly trust and build a friendship with. In other words, no B.S.

Over the years we stayed in touch to check in with how our businesses were growing. Adam went through some major shifts in what he was doing (and what he was earning) and it always inspired me! During all that time I was still building The WordPress Chick (no complaints, everything happens in divine order, I truly believe that) and always loved hearing what Adam was currently working on (it changed and evolved until he moved his business model into what he's doing today and has been doing for the last year and a half). He always surprised me with either the leap of faith he had taken, the income he was earning or the direction he was moving in.

WHY?

Because as someone who, (until I found this business) has attempted multiple businesses I completely understood his drive to find his "right thing". What is most inspiring to me about Adam's journey is that he constantly put himself out there and still does today. With every new venture he stepped into he went into it FULL FORCE! He never doubted himself, he took risks every time and simply kept moving forward. Adam's Story I'm not going to re-tell the whole story here because I want you to listen to the interview, but like many of you Adam graduated college not exactly sure what he wanted to for a living and ended up in real estate. Which, we all kind of know how that turned out, right? What he didn't realize at the time though was that the skills he was using in his real estate business (direct mail and email marketing campaigns) would be vitally important to his business later (although, for what it's worth, most things we experience in our careers and business all have some built-in lesson in them, we're just not privy to when we connect the lesson with the benefit).

You'll hear how he got started in online marketing (websites, much like yours truly), how he got himself into 6 figures of debt his first year (and how he got out of it) to now... earning 6 figures a month.

Literally. The Game Changer... i.e, Facebook Advertising Adam went through a little period of reflection and realized he needed to venture out on his own and do his own thing for a while (you'll hear how he had done a few joint ventures with partners which were great but not the direction he wanted to go in). Which is when he got into Facebook Advertising.

Initially he just started testing the platform, trying some things out and measuring what was working (novel idea, huh?). The more time he spent on Facebook advertising the more intrigued he got...and the better his results were.

After running successful campaigns for himself in Facebook, Adam started advertising that he could teach other people how to get results in their business with Facebook Advertising.

And a business was born.

Adam took everything he learned, put it into a membership site and created a mastermind (this is the mastermind that I'm in and have mentioned a few times in recent episodes). From there he's been scaling, leveraging and building what can easily be called an Empire.

And like I mentioned in the episode, leave me your comments and let me know what you think.

Links from this episode

HEY! Before you go... if you're enjoying the podcast I'd LOVE a review in iTunes!...

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I've been back from a trip to San Diego for a mastermind and conference and am just now feeling 'recovered'. Anyone who has attended a conference for a few days knows exactly what I'm talking about (and in this case was at the end of the week and I didn't stay for all of it). 

You're motivated and inspired to go, suck up all the information and inspiration you can and come back and kick ass and take names. Then of course by the end of the first day your brain is on overload, spinning with ideas and all kinds of ways you're going to 'take things to the next level'.

I know you know what I'm talking about.

The mastermind was only 2 days (one day of Baja ATV racing in Mexico, which was amazing) followed by a full day of mastermind (mastermind-ing? is that a word?). The ATV racing was a blast (although I don't need to do that again) but was a LONG day (we sat in traffic for 2 1/2 hrs. crawling to the border), then had a quick shower and a dinner out with everyone. Our mastermind was the next day from 9 - 7 and was amazing.

And exhausting.

But brilliant.

I had one day in between the mastermind & conference and had more or less made up my mind on my 'free' day that I was going to skip the conference entirerly. Partly because I was a little fried (I drove down to San Diego on Sunday..  7-8 hr. drive), but really because I simply did not need MORE information!

I gained SO much from the mastermind and I knew exactly what I needed to do and implement. More information would just have overwhelmed me (and frustrated me to be honest with you). Of course I woke up on Thursday morning with a slight change of heart (very slight) and went to the conference for the keynotes on Thursday.

And I'm glad I did.

The information I got from the 3 keynotes was completely in alignment with what I did at the mastermind earlier in the week and that was enough. My brain was on overload, I was emotionally tired and I just wanted a few days to myself.

Aah the wisdom that comes with age.

I actually think I might take a 4 day sabbatical every month, where I'm not available online to anyone and just checkout, or I could start with taking Fridays off. hmm...

Why a Blog Isn't A Business There is a LOT of noise online and I'm the first to say that sometimes it can be hard to filter. But the key, and I'm SO not kidding here, is to find your own voice and trust your gut!

Which I really just started doing this past year, but it has paid off in ways both measurable and immeasurable.

One of the things that people seem to have a HUGE aversion to is List Building. They don't want to use pop-ups (I asked people on FB and pretty much EVERYONE agreed that they hate them, but they work. So someone is opt-ing in through them, right?). What people do is put this little opt-in box off to the side in their sidebar hoping people will subscribe for their 'newsletter', or e-zine as they were called (can we just retire that phrase already?). Hear my heart on this (thank you @AllegraSinclair for that saying... brilliant), you DON'T have to use pop-ups, but you DO need to put your opt-in in front of people and in a way that motivates them to opt-in.

Here's a question for you...

How many 'newsletters' do you sign up for? No opt-in offer, no value provided, just "hey, let's stay in touch?"

Be honest.

For me? Unless you're Brene' Brown or Dr. Wayne Dyer, then it's highly unlikely that I'm going to subscribe just for updates (updates on what exactly?)

And no, you don't need to be a 'celebrity' but it is human nature to think "What's in it for me?" How many emails do you get in ONE day?

Let's apply this idea to an 'offline' business, and in this case, because I spent the majority of my working life in retail (until I started my business 6 years ago), we'll use a retail store as an example.

You open the doors, provide TONS of free stuff to your customers, don't ask for a way to stay in touch with them or communicate with th...

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I'm going to let you in on a personal little secret of mine... something I've discovered about myself in the last 12 months.

It's what tells me that I'm onto something really good and I should pursue it.

Ready?

It's when the idea or thing that I'm feeling inspired to do, create or pursue makes me feel like a kid on Christmas morning!!!

That ridiculous, unfiltered, pure excitement that you just can't contain and feel like you're ready to bounce out of your own skin (if only we all had Tigger's skills...I would be a bouncin' fool!).

The more 'work' I've done on myself the last few years the more I realized that in order to grow and move forward in my personal life and business life (although for me I don't know how much of a division there is) that I needed to allow myself to really FEEL what I was feeling. That meant that when something didn't go as I had hoped that it was o.k. to be disappointed. It was o.k. to say "that sucked" and to take some time for myself to get out of my head. When I allow myself to acknowledge this I usually move more quickly through whatever funk I'm in or feeling.

Here's the kicker.

The same is true when GOOD things happen!

It's SOOOOO vitally important to celebrate the wins. Honestly and purely. And nothing feels quite as sweet as when I simply feel the joy and excitement about the wonderful things that show up in my life. Like a little kid on Christmas morning. Yep, that happy.

Which brings me to my interview with the brilliant Victoria Prozan.

I was introduced to Victoria via @andyghayes after I interviewed him for the podcast and he mentioned that he had hired someone to help him with the naming of another business/website of his. Andy sent an email introduction but of course as soon as our interview was over I went over to her site and was HOOKED instantly!

I went through her bio, her testimonials, all of her site and followed up to the introduction from Andy immediately. As soon as I got off the phone with her (just a quick call to clarify a couple things) I signed up for her Superluxe Naming Experience right away (keep in mind I did that a few days before a trip to Scotland thinking I would do the homework on the plane ,which I didn't... ;-)  And just as an FYI, she's making some changes to what she offers and doesn't have the Superluxe Naming experience up on her site right now, but you can sign up for her 'Creative Ambrosia').

I absolutely LOVED the process that Victoria used for our session together too! It was such a testament to having an online business, doing what you love and working with the right people.

Once I signed up for the Superluxe Naming Experience I was sent a PDF (35+ Pages), 6 audios and a shared Google doc where I needed to put the answers to my exercises (from the PDF & audios) and then we would have on 90 minute session where she would help me name what I wanted to name (which ended up being for the new brand & site, KimDoyal.com).

OMG!

SO FRIGGIN FUN!!! 

The exercises were definitely work, but for anyone who has a creative bent it was more fun than anything else.  It was really more about giving myself permission to take the time for myself to do the exercises so I could start off the new site and brand exactly as I wanted- with absolute clarity & alignment.

O.K., enough rambling on my part! Listen to the interview and be sure to check out Victoria Prozan... she's amazingly talented, super fun and just brilliant at what she does.

Links from this episode

Victoria Prozan

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What an amazing year. Truly. I knew I was going to end the year with a year in review post and podcast, but when I really started thinking about this year it kind of took my breath away. Both in my business and personal life, although the personal changes are really internal and probably not something most people on the outside looking in would be aware of. I absolutely LOVE reading other people's year in review posts, hearing what worked and what DIDN'T work (not everyone is comfortable being that transparent, but for me it's the only way now) and seeing what plans (if any yet) they have in store for 2014. I've already started planning for 2014 and will hitting the road running in January (more on that in a minute) but it's unlike any other planning I've ever done. *On a side note: I have to tell you that when I was looking for an image for this post I wanted to find an image that not only showed what was in the rear view mirror (o.k., so it's a sideview mirror in this picture, but you get the point. It still shows what is 'behind') but the current location as well. As in the present moment (you thought I was going to say looking ahead, huh?). Because that's one thing that has shifted for me this year, in a BIG way. Really learning to be present. Focusing on the here and now, not what I should / could be doing, where I'm going OR expending energy on the past (when it doesn't serve me). It's honestly changed my life. Enough of that, let's get onto the Review I wish I could tell you that this was going to be a chronological review in terms of what occurred month by month, but that's just not how I roll (you probabaly knew that already, right?). I'll do my best to keep it somewhat organized and clear, just bear with me. My Business I launched the Podcast Without a doubt I can tell you that launching the podcast was the BEST thing I did for my business in 2013. And easily the most FUN (if youve never watched my Manifesto, then check it out here… one of my commitments to myself was that if its Not Fun Im Not Doing It. So the podcast blew me away on ALL fronts). I truly had no idea how much I would enjoy recording the podcast, writing the show notes and getting my message out to the world. The relationships that have come from the podcast via interviews and sharing of the podcast have not only opened doors for me but have simply enriched my life in ways I couldnt imagine. The importance of building relationships in business is something you hear over and over again but until you put some serious effort into it you cant quite imagine the impact it will have on things long term and how grateful youll be for the people that show up. In large part because of everything that has occurred through the podcast Ive decided Im going to launch another podcast with my new brand (KimDoyal.com, coming VERY soon) and teaching a podcasting course unlike anything else out there. More on that soon too. Podcasting is hardly new, but its still a GREAT time to get in and get started. To me its still a bit like the wild wild west and everyone has the opportunity to stake their claim. Coaching This is something I sort of fell into for lack of a better description, but its also taken things to a whole new level for me. Coaching is something I wanted to do but really wasnt sure how I wanted to do it, how I would offer it and what I would charge. Fortunately for me I didnt have to think too hard about this because someone emailed me asking if I did coaching?! Whaaaat? (See what happens when you start getting clear on what you want?) A subscriber of mine emailed me and asked if I did coaching so we set up a Skype call and talked about what she was looking for. Prior to our call she had sent me her site and some notes and I had an idea as to what I wanted to offer going into the call. The rest as they say is history.

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Anyone who has been following me for any length of time knows that I love finding new tools, plugins, resources, software... whatever... to try and test out. If it can add value to my audience without creating a boat load more work for me, I'm all in. That's what Interact is all about. Easiest Quiz Builder Ever. Josh Haynam of Interact got in touch with me to let me know what they were up to and I instantly fell in love with the product! Because I focus on what makes WordPress easier for the everyday user I knew this would be something my audience needed. I say needed because I've had multiple clients who have wanted to create a quiz for their opt-in offer or use it as a lead generation tool to engage with their audience but the thought of using a form builder to do this seemed to stress them out a bit and just about every time they ended up changing their opt-in offer to something that was a downloadable product as opposed to an interactive quiz.

Which is a bummer.

Because a quiz gets your audience to engage.

It's fun.

It's a relationship builder.

One of my favorite questions when I interview guests for the podcast is hearing their story of how they got to where they are and Josh, like many of my guests, got started with site design for clients. Working with clients, even if that's not your ultimate goal, is a great way to determine what your market needs. Which is how Interact came about.

After receiving requests for a quiz feature, time and time again from their clients, they decided to develop their own solution to solve the problem. Nothing like a hands-on approach to real time market research, huh?

I also asked Josh what makes Interact different from WordPress form builders (I know you were wondering that too). You'll have to listen to the interview to get his answer, but I think after you watch the video you'll come to your own conclusion.

One of them anyways. Which is that it truly is the Easiest Quiz Builder! You can create your first quiz for free too (smart guys... once you give it a go you're going to be hooked!).

While you're listening to the podcast, take my uber-ridiculous "What's Your WordPress Personality" quiz & let me know what you think! The video below the quiz will show you exactly how I created it and give you a look behind the scenes of creating a quiz with Interact. I'm going to be doing some more testing with Interact (using the integration with Facebook to test using a quiz for lead generation and engagement) and will let you know how that goes.

Be sure to cruise over to Interact and build your first quiz! You can create your own quiz or use one of their built-in templates (fabulous feature!). Be sure to let them know if there are additional features that you'd like to see added to Interact, they're working hard to make this the ultimate quiz building tool and the more feedback they receive the easier it will be to determine which features their users want.

Powered by Interact

In the video below I show you how EASY it is to create a quiz with Interact!

Enjoy the podcast, quiz and video and be sure to send me a link to your quiz when you set it up.

[leadplayer_vid id="52AF5D64D54CB"]

Links from this episode Interact

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I absolutely love the way this interview came about, so of course I have to share it with you before we get into the meat of the interview. You may or may not have noticed that I've been working on stepping up my engagement on social media this past year. I wish I could tell you I was stellar at it now or had a really structured and consistent way of showing up, but I'm not quite there yet. Getting better, so I'll leave it at that. I think I connected with Ray on Twitter because I followed him from one of those Twitter emails that suggests other followers for you. For the most part, I'll look at someone's Twitter bio then click through if it looks like a relevant connection and then visit their site before I follow them (I'm sure I followed way too many spammers before implementing this process). Needless to say when I went to Ray's site "The Podcaster's Studio" I was sold, and not just because he's using Genesis (because that would just be silly), but because it was clean, easy to navigate and most importantly, had a TON of great content and podcasting tips! Ray's background and how he ended up at The Podcaster's Studio is amazing (I think this might be one of my favorite parts of the interviews... hearing the story that brought people to where they are today). From an aspiring Disney employee to Law Enforcement to getting a Master's degree in Sociology... Ray's story is inspiring to say the least. One of his first podcasts was a podcast on "How to Pick Produce"... literally, it was called "Produce Picker Podcast" and it was on how to choose and buy produce. And if this isn't an example of how you can podcast about anything, I don't know what is. And that's not a dig at the Produce Picker Podcast, because Ray had some real life experience and market research that inspired him to create the "Produce Picker Podcast". Oh. And it also landed him on "Emeril" (as in Emeril Lagasse). Not too shabby, eh? We also talked about making money with podcasting (which I'm sure is something many people are curious about). One of my favorite quotes from Ray and this interview was: "If you're getting into podcasting for the money, try something else". Before you get discouraged, make sure you listen to all of this interview. Because you CAN make money with your podcast, it just may not be as direct and obvious as you think. The benefits of podcasting and what it does for your brand and business are not as easily measured as simple analytics or income. Eventually Ray ended up with his current job, which allows him to podcast full time, from home ( a dream job as he says). Of course there's a fantastic story behind how he got the job... it was a connection at a podcamp and a few interruptions on Ray's part that landed him his dream gig. Consulting too? Sometimes. And if he has the time. And that came from giving a talk and someone asking. Pretty simple, but another testament to finding something you love, sticking with it and letting it evolve organically. Getting started Podcasting I was THRILLED when Ray shared one of his favorite new mics (which is affordable for EVERYONE), why he likes it and where you can get it. I don't want to give away the entire interview in the post, because it's great and Ray has SO much knowledge and I know you'll enjoy listening. If you're even remotely interested in podcasting be sure to subscribe to Ray's site, connect with him on Twitter (as he says, he "loves the twitter") and subscribe to his podcasts in iTunes. Links from this episode The Podcaster's Studio (website) Ray's Gear Page (where he shares the mic he mentioned in the show) Ray on Twitter Produce Picker Podcast The Podcasters Studio (podcast) Podcast Quick Tips (podcast) Podcasters Round Table (podcast)

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Where the bucket has 2013 gone?!

Seriously. I swear I say that every year..."where has the year gone"... and this year is no different. It felt like it was just 90 degrees yesterday and I was hanging out by the pool (o.k., so it was 90 degrees a month ago maybe, but still). For whatever reason I have had the hardest time getting back into the swing of things since our trip to Scotland (we've been home over a month now and I keep thinking I'm just going to wake up with a "ta-da" feeling... but no. Not happenin). I didn't completely put business on hold while I was gone but I feel like I've been in catch up mode for a while. The truth is my business is simply growing. So naturally it makes sense to start something new, right? (just the way I roll... what can I say?)

Which is where my 'Secret Project' comes in.

Based on the image in this post - it's probably not much of a secret, is it?

I'm officially launching KimDoyal.com.

You may (or may not) have read the post back in February of this year when I contemplated moving away from The WordPress Chick. I had an experience with someone I referred to as a 'fizzy douche' because, well... because he was. You can read the post here to find out why said individual earned this 'oh so lovely' title (it was definitely earned). It was more than just this one incident that made me consider giving up "The WordPress Chick".

Long and short of it, I was tired.

I had created a perception of how things needed to be on this site and was worried that if I changed things up at all I'd lose a bunch of readers and subscribers. Of course as life tends to teach me over and over again, my perceptions aren't always reality. I received lots of love and "NO! Don't leave The WordPress Chick!", which made me feel wonderful, truly. But I still knew I needed to mix things up a bit.

With the launch of my podcast and the content that as gone along with it you can probably tell I've been sharing a lot more than just WordPress news or Genesis news. There are so many other parts to my business that I enjoy that I knew I needed to branch out and bring more into this site and what I do. I've been bringing in more of my personal journey (as it relates to my business) and have to say that the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

But...

Something was still missing.

Time for a new platform. Enter KimDoyal.com. There are a lot of reasons behind the launch of this site, one of which is something I've started this year, almost accidentally (accidentally in that someone emailed me to ask if this was a service I provided).

And that is coaching.

Something that I absolutely LOVE!

I've done some tests running coaching off of this site and will probably do more of it in the first of the year, but the choice to run coaching and different products and services through KimDoyal.com is because it's much less restrictive. There won't be an expectation that everything I do on that site be tied to WordPress (even though in some round about way it may be... you just never know).

I am SOOOO TOTALLY Excited about this. I feel like a little kid on Christmas morning. You'll see more of my quirky sense of humor, no-nonsense approach and desire to live life on my terms on KimDoyal.com. And of course that means another podcast (have I told you how much I love podcasting?).

While I finish up the branding elements and site design you can sign up to get notified when the site launches and my official 'Launch Party' (not exactly sure what that will look like, but it will be fun!).

A New Plugin

Nothing beats creating something because you need it, huh?

That's where my ideas come from when it comes to plugins (the whole 'few' I've had created). I've been doing a lot of digging into e-Commerce and WordPress and what the best options are based on the customer experience and what is being sold. I went into more detail in my post titles 'Selling With Genesis',

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So here's the follow up to my little mention in last weeks episode about accountability.

My interview with Wes Ward, my new accountability partner and uber brilliant (and fun) branding sensei (yes, I actually just used the word 'Sensei'... I think it was a subconscious move considering we talked about The Karate Kid and Mr. Miagi in this interview. Literally. I swear it makes sense though).

First, before I share a bit about this interview, I should tell you right off the bat that I'm intentionally not going to share some of the "meat" of the interview in the post / show notes. And I promise it's not to 'make you listen' to the show, but there is no way I could do it justice. Especially since throughout most of the interview I feel like a little kid, giddy with excitement about having my mind blown over communicating value (trust me, it's so much MORE than that though).

Literally. The Mind Blowing Part Having been online for almost 6 years full time now (that kinda trips me out to say that!) I'd like to think I've seen my fair share of methodologies when it comes to marketing, creating content, branding, etc. Of course my 'fair share' is relative to the space I'm in, the sites I visit and who I'm connected to or subscribe to. Which is why it's SO ridiculously important that you step outside of your comfort zone and connect with other people.

Be OPEN.

Which is what I have become over the last year and a half when I realized certain things just didn't "feel" right. I couldn't quite put my finger on the disconnect other than I knew I needed to start trusting myself, showing up as myself and completely detaching from the opinions of other people (good or bad). To say the results have been amazing would honestly be an understatement. But that's not what this interview and post is about.

I connected with Wes in a Facebook Mastermind I'm in (and yes, I promise I'll share more of this journey with you too) and neither of us could attend the live in person mastermind in Palm Beach in October. At the live mastermind the people who were there set up accountability partners with other members of the group, so when I was on the first call the week after I put something in the chat asking if anyone was looking for an accountability partner. Which is when Wes popped up and said yes, dropped his email in and we chatted on skype later that day (Wes is in Melbourne, Australia... gotta love skype!).

Oh.

My.

God.

At one point towards the middle of our call I had to stand up and walk around because I was so excited and couldn't sit still, literally. And at this point in my life I'm pretty chill, so this doesn't happen often (note to self: find more things that get you so excited you have to get out of your chair!).

You'll hear about Wes' background and what he's doing now that has completely made me look at branding and storytelling in a different way (it's much better and MUCH more fun!). I've started working through Wes' training, Publish and Grow, over the last couple of weeks and will be sharing some BIG changes to my business, a new brand (don't worry, The WordPress Chick isn't going anywhere) and some updates on this process.

I know personally that for a LONG time I avoided doing this type of "work" because quite honestly it didn't feel like "work". You know what I'm talking about right? That old way of thinking about "work" and what it should look like (I still battle this one from time to time but it's easing up).

Let me give you a couple insights into the interview that might shed some clarity on what I'm referring to when I say doing this type of "work":

Value proposition

Story behind the brand

What are the results you deliver

What is the value you provide to your clients & customers

THAT'S what I'm talking about.

The stuff that requires you to close your email, get creative, do some soul searching and get CLEAR on the things that will build your brand and business for the long...

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Have you ever noticed how the "obvious" things aren't always as obvious as we think they should be?

That tends to happen to me more often than I realized I until I started thinking about today's podcast and show notes. It's really more of an awareness than a 'DUH!' moment I suppose, but it truly hit me like a ton of bricks so I thought I'd go with the DUH! moment. It's kind of like what happens when you buy a new car... all of the sudden you see that car EVERYWHERE! Like everyone went out and bought the same car as soon as you did (if only we were all trend setters).

So let's start with my 'DUH!' Moment.

And I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume I'm not the only one who has had this realization.

A friend of mine recommended a book to me (think I mentioned this previously) called 'The Slight Edge.' The Slight Edge is about doing the little things, day after day that add up and make a significant difference over time - in your personal life, career, whatever. The content doesn't really matter, it applies across the board. Then I finally decided to read Steven Pressfield's "The War of Art", which I'd heard about on plenty of occasions but finally bit the bullet after seeing him interviewed on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday (this is part of my Sunday ritual... coffee, the newspaper and Super Soul Sunday). One of my favorite lines (and I'm paraphrasing here) was about getting our "hearts where are ass's need to be." In other words, get out of your head and get to work.

Novel idea, huh?

In my post "Do You Ever Wonder?" I asked people if they ever wondered what differentiates those who succeed from those who don't, when both people appear to have the same knowledge and skills? Needless to say I got an answer (not from anyone specific, but simply from what showed up in my life). It's actually REALLY REALLY simple. And obvious.

Ready?

Show up.

Do the work.

Every. Single. Day.

Then I started thinking about my business, the past 5 1/2 years and where I am today.

Could I be further along? Sure, but I don't think I would have been ready for the things that are happening in my business today a few years ago. In fact, I know it. But what I DID realize is that I have done the work. I've shown up, I've stuck with it and now have a business and a brand that not only supports my family but is growing exponentially. And when I say exponentially I'm not only referring to income. I'm talking about connections, relationships, projects... all of it.

And I can see where I have plenty of "work" to do in terms of the work I'm doing and how I spend my time. Do I work everyday? Yes, unless I'm sick or really truly need a day to myself. But, and here's the rub, can I be more effective with how I work and what I'm working on? Am I doing things strategically? (As well as organically, which I know sounds a bit confusing, but there is a certain level of 'flow' that I need to allow too.)

Does my day have definitive direction as opposed to just a to-do list?

You get the picture.

The "shiny object syndrome" keeps us from doing the work. People who get caught up in the latest, greatest training or "thing" that they think will be the "answer" to their business growth get stuck here because it's easier to purchase something than it is to sit your ass in your chair and start writing. Creating. Whatever it is for you. What I've realized for me is that once I start writing and let myself just go with it everything flows.

Which brings me to my next point for today's show.

The Reality of Accountability.

I could probably sum this up with one sentence.

Truly.

But that would be boring, plus, I'm SO friggin excited about my new accountability partner that this may get more wordy than I've anticipated.

The ONE thing that is without a doubt the main factor in whether or not accountability will work for you is the person you choose to be accountable with.

I've tried setting up accountability with a han...

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One of the things I love MOST about what I do is that you never know when one thing is going to lead to something else and what that something else might be! That was the case with my interview with Andy Hayes. I was introduced to Andy Hayes from Jonathan Perez over at Sure Fire Web Services when I interviewed him for the podcast. He said Andy was very instrumental in giving him direction for his website and business (you can listen to my interview with Jonathan here), so of course I asked for an introduction. :-)

The title of this post and episode was taken directly from one of Andy's clients, which of course was one of the things I asked him about during our interview (how could I not, right? When someone refers to another person as "The Quentin Tarantino" of anything, you gotta ask! You'll have to listen to the show to hear the story).

Why I was SO interested in talking to Andy.

Over the past several months I've been digging into the other side of my business (for lack of a better description). The how and why of everything I do, not from the personal heart-centered perspective, but from a strategic business perspective (novel idea, eh?). I realized with the changes I made in my business that not only was it time to take a  look at this but I was ready to take a look at it... and more importantly, do something about it.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, let's start with a question. I've asked this question to the last 4 people I've done strategy sessions with (more about that in another episode) and they all had the same answer (and because I have to qualify everything, this isn't a dig at their answers. I would have given the same answer even a year ago). What do you want people to do when they come to your site for the first time? Their answer?

"I don't know".

Bom bom bom...

My answer? I want them to opt-in. I want to build a relationship with them and that starts with getting them on my mailing list so I can communicate regularly with them.

That question though is just the beginning.

There's SO much more to the 'user experience' (never in a million years thought I'd be using that terminology) than what you someone to do when visiting your site. This topic has completely opened my eyes to the way I do things (still a work in progress of course and assume I will be for a long time). The content I create, the direction I'm taking my business, how I layout my post, pages and sidebars and what I want to offer in the future. Yea, I know. It's a lot.

Of course my interview with Andy also led to another introduction I requested from him and have already hired the person he introduced me to! BUT... you'll have to wait a couple weeks for more details on that (I'm still in the beginning phase of this project).

Andy's background is pretty extensive with technology and the user experience (he moved to Scotland for one company), but it was his training and teaching that I was interested in. He does workshops (in person and online) on topics such as: Website Critiques How to Build a "Top Shelf" Content Marketing Strategy and Think Like Your Client

I told Andy right away that I was interested in doing a class for my audience where he does the Website Critiques! In the interview he explains what he does, some common issues he tends to see as well as a few easy fixes.

You can register for the Website Critique Teleclass here (Tuesday, October 22nd from 5 - 6:30pm PST).

Oh, and you'll also hear about Andy's book, "Create a Website That Converts", which you'll get a free PDF copy of when you register for the class (I read the Kindle version and it's great).

I had a great time talking with Andy and am REALLY looking forward to the class! You can also submit your website for one of the critiques during the class! And don't worry, Andy's a great guy and will be kind. Direct, but kind. And you'll walk away knowing exactly what you can do to have your own Website That Converts!...

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You know you're on the right path when someone reaches out to you to encourage what you're doing... even when it's something you've just started and you don't even know them.

That was my first interaction with Marcus Couch. Not too shabby, huh?

Marcus is one of those natural 'Go Givers' (book by Bob Burg) and an amazing community builder (I almost used the word connector as opposed to community builder but he really does so much more than connect people).  After one of my first podcasts had aired I received a tweet from Marcus saying he liked the show & to keep  it up (I swear I took a screenshot of the tweet but for the life of me I can't find it. :-( Note to self: keep better track of this stuff!)).

Marcus has had a pretty amazing career and his journey to WordPress is a little different than some of my previous guests (of course everyone's journey is interesting... it's one of my favorite elements to the interviews) in that it was due to having a podcast in 2004 that he found WordPress! I know I didn't even know what a podcast was in 2004. Just sayin. :-)His background was in graphics and technology, which then led him to music and doing artwork for album covers (I asked him if there were any bands he worked with that we would know... and due to having grown up in suburbia and being a high school student in the late 80's you can probably guess my knowledge of rock music was pretty much Van Halen, Def Leppard, Poison.. you get the picture, but he did share a band with me).

When he found how easy it was to produce an RSS feed with WordPress for his podcast (prior to that he had been hard coding it) he jumped on it right away. Once he put the podcast on WordPress it skyrocketed the show to the point where he had a weekly feature broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio! I told him when I received his bio that I had no idea he was such a 'celebrity'. From being the marketing director of Entrepreneur.com to working with companies like Absolut Vodka, Footlocker and Godaddy ( to name a few), Marcus has gained been around the 'marketing block' so to speak (was that a completely goofy sentence?). The work he does with clients today is based on getting them results. He shares a really cool story about an experiment he's running which is creating some solid proof for his skills when it comes to results for his clients.

Community Builder Extraordinaire Marcus and The WordPress Community

WordPress Plugins A - Z

When Marcus tweeted to me about my podcast he let me know he was co-host of the WordPress Plugins A-Z podcast with John Overall. They review the latest & greatest WordPress plugins, both bringing to the table a few plugins they've each found in the WordPress plugin repository (*listen to the episode to hear how many plugins are added to the repository daily!). I love how Marcus connected with John to join him on the podcast - he simply offered (after hearing the other co-host was leaving the show). Novel idea, huh?

TIP!

Without a doubt, one of my biggest 'takeaways' from this interview with Marcus was that it's really not as hard as we think to reach out and connect with people. Marcus jumped into the WordPress community with both feet (for both the podcast and WP Tavern, but I'll get to that in a minute) and even received some snarky comments from people. But it didn't stop him. Fortunately for us he stuck with it and continues to give back to the community.

WP Tavern

Just this past June Marcus joined WPTavern.com where he writes about, surprise, WordPress plugins. I have to tell you that I must have asked or commented a few times about when he actually sleeps! I find myself time challenged just to keep up with this site, content and clients, let alone a few sites!

Marcus is stellar at bringing people together and pooling resources and sites into one place to better serve his audience, which of course led to another new WordPress venture called WordPress Radio! WPR.

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I had to start this interview off by asking Bob what a Rusty Nail was (the reference on his site was to a cocktail, not an actual nail that was sitting out in the rain and got rusty :-)).

A rusty nail of course is a cocktail (you'll have to listen to the interview to find out what's actually in a Rusty Nail (I've become kind of a skirt about hard liquor, so I don't think I'll be trying one anytime soon). This was just one of the fun little tidbits I picked up from Bob's "About" page, which I always check out before I'm going to interview someone, regardless of how well I may know the person (speaking of which, when was the last time you reviewed and updated your "About" page? I think mine is in for an update soon!).

BobWP (we'll just say Bob for the rest of the post) and I had connected on Twitter through the #GenesisWP hashtag sometime earlier this year. It was when a conversation started about connecting with other Genesis enthusiasts at WordCamp San Francisco that I got to connect more with Bob, and of course in person at WordCamp SF (the dinner out with everyone was definitely the highlight of WordCamp SF for me).  As soon as Bob and I started chatting while at WordCamp I knew I wanted to have him on the podcast!

Like everyone else I've interviewed I had to ask Bob about his story and what lead him to a business focusing on WordPress and training. Many of my interviewees have had a previous 'career' or experience in Web Design, but Bob's background stemmed from owning his own design company (print design) that he owned with his wife. He got into WordPress when he realized everything was moving away from print and with his love of learning and teaching he stepped into WordPress.

Fun Side Note One of my subscribers just let me know that she took her first WordPress class from BobWP! And now she has a full WordPress business herself, so I'd say that's a pretty great testament to Bob's teaching skills!)

Bob still works for himself and his wife works at home along side him, which I would guess not many people can do successfully and stay together... Bob and his wife have done this for years and have clearly made it work. Oh... and did I mention that Bob and his wife live on an island in the state of Washington? Yep! And somehow he still manages to network and connect locally.

When I asked Bob to share something fun about himself, it just confirmed what I thought about him when I met him, that he's a great guy and does more than his fair share of giving back. And no, I'm not going to tell you. :-) You have to listen to the interview to find out what Bob's 'fun fact' is!

Make sure to stop by Bob's site and connect with him on Twitter (he's pretty active on twitter), you won't be disappointed.

Links from this episode

BobWP Online

Bob on Twitter

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Disclaimer I am an affiliate for all 3 tools I mention in this episode and will receive a commission if you buy through one of my links*

This is  kind of a big topic that I haven't written about or addressed on my site in a long time (I hadn't realized how long it had been since I'd written about sales pages, squeeze pages or landing pages).  There are two different elements I'm going to focus on for this episode: The copy, reasoning and importance of these pages The options and technical set up of these types of pages

There are a handful of different tools available for creating landing pages and sales pages in WordPress, but for the sake of time and my sanity we're going to focus on only three today. Optimize Press2 LeadPages Premise But of course before we get into to talking about each of these tools, let's simply talk about these pages and why they're important, shall we? (no idea why but I totally got an image of the 'Church Lady' from SNL... thank you Dana Carvey).

I've had a handful of different landing pages and squeeze pages that I've put up for different events or products over the years, but it wasn't until I took the time to understand WHY they were important and really look at the value they created for my business that I started taking them seriously (I've already told you I have a tendency to learn things the hard way, so this probably isn't a big surprise, is it?).

For me it was all about not wanting to be "smarmy".  I was so worried about coming across like a cheesy marketer that I was hesitant to put up any type of landing page or squeeze page because I simply could not bring myself to write the type of copy that people used on these pages.

Fortunately I stayed away from the smarmy, highlighted, bolded red headlines (like how I did that? well, most of the time anyways, I can't say I didn't try a couple here and there). Unfortunately I didn't do enough testing and trying of what would have been more true to who I am, until this year. If you've been following the podcast you probably know already that a lot of things have changed in my business this year (for the better) and I'm implementing and testing things pretty frequently. Squeeze Pages and Landing Pages First let me save you the time from Googling squeeze pages and landing pages, you're not going to get a clear answer and it will probably just confuse you more. So I'll go ahead and give you my version. ;-)

A squeeze page or landing page is simply a page with one call to action - to capture your visitors name and email address (or just email address).

What I've starting doing with squeeze pages (and I'll just call them squeeze pages so I don't have to keep writing both, but you know what I mean) is creating different pages on different platforms and testing driving traffic to the pages through ads (Facebook ads) or sharing the links socially. AND.. guess what? My subscribers are going up! Imagine that! (yes, that was MUCH sarcasm totally directed at myself).

The thing with these pages though is that you don't need to limit yourself to just one squeeze page, the purpose of these pages is to try different things. Test them, change the headline, see what works. I'll be brutally honest here and tell you that I've never been a big fan of "testing" things (I tend to be more right brain than left brain), but absolutely understand the value in testing and measuring what works.

I'm now becoming squeeze page machine (doesn't that sound like there should be a song for that.."squeeze page machine").

There are the obvious types of squeeze pages you can set up:

Squeeze page for report/ebook/offer

Squeeze page for something that's 'coming soon'

Squeeze page for some type of one on one session

BUT...

there are also a handful of additional pages you can set up that aren't as obvious (well, to me they weren't as obvious) but are missed opportunities if you don't implement an opt-in.

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One thing that has become crystal clear to me (and this may seem totally obvious) is that when I set my mind on something with clear intentions the validation and support shows up left and right! I know... a little 'woo woo' maybe, but that's O.K., a little 'woo woo' never hurt anyone.

As my business has grown so has my knowledge and skill level (how else do you grow a business, right?). What I've found MOST interesting during this process is how something that I've learned, heard or "should have" implemented earlier (but didn't), now makes sense. Let's look at a few examples of what I'm referring to (in no specific order):

Build Your List

It's All About Relationships

You Have to Create Valuable Content (and lots of it)

You Need To Share Your Work

Support Other People

Measure What's Working

What Do You Want To Accomplish With Your Site?

Some of these things I've talked about quite a bit on the site and in some of the more recent podcast episodes. What I want to focus on is the very last point: "What Do You Want To Accomplish With Your Site?"

If you haven't answered this question yet, you need to. I can guarantee that if you don't know what you want to accomplish with your site,  your visitors and readers certainly won't have a clue!

Unfortunately this says a LOT about you.

Of course I'm speaking from experience having learned ALL of the above points the hard way (well, maybe not the hard way, just the LONG way). The kicker with this though is that it isn't something that most people know right off the bat. It takes time and commitment to figure it out. You may have an idea of what you want to accomplish with your site - and that's great. Start from there.

BUT...

You HAVE to be willing to course correct along the way!

I was working with a coaching client last month and she was mentioning a product she wanted to create (she does WordPress site work, training, etc.) and when she mentioned an idea for a product she was going to create I asked her ONE simple question that shifted things for her (and she decided NOT to create the product):

"How do you know people want that?"

You probably know that her answer was, "I don't".  Just because we have an idea doesn't mean it solves a problem for other people (and by other people I mean our audience, but more on that in a minute). I came up with an analogy that to me, perfectly describes creating something when you have no idea if it's needed. It's like going to the grocery store and buying food for a dinner party for 20 people when you haven't invited them. You're just hoping they'll show up?

Kind of cookoo, don't you think?

The difference is that with the dinner party you know you're wasting time, money and food. With the product you're wasting time and money... IF you value your time.  I can't tell you how many people I've talked to that do things without equating the value of their time to the project. I'm not saying everything you do needs to have a price point attached to it (that's just ridonkulous), what I am saying is that you're running a business and if you're not making money it isn't much of a business is it?

When people land on your site for the first time, what's the message you're sending out?

And before you answer this in defense of what you're doing and how you're doing it, I just want to remind you that it's quite alright for this to be something that evolves, grows and changes along the way, as long as you're conscious of the message.

O.K., you want another example. I get it.

I had a client who hired me to do a new site for him for a side business he was starting (he had a full time job). SUPER nice guy, seemed to have a clear understanding of what he was doing and why he was doing it. We go through the normal process - logos, select logo, mockups, select mockup, code the site, etc. I should have known as soon as the site was coded and some of the requests started coming in that this was going side...

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Have you ever had a conversation with someone and within about 10 minutes you feel like you've known them forever?

That's how I felt just during the initial conversation I had with Jonathan Perez of SureFire Web Services  (before the interview even started). And he was a great sport about my joking about him not liking Big Bang Theory (you never know what you're going to find on someone's About page... he considers himself a nerd but doesn't like Big Bang Theory OR Star Wars... and kudos to Jonathan for risking the nerd backlash and sharing that little tidbit!).

We even talked about his dance skills.

Jonathan was my first interviewee who had always intended to go into Web Design and that's all he's really done. He fell in love with Photoshop in high school and never turned back. Although initially he was going to be a graphic designer but realized early on that he needed to learn coding (kind of out of necessity when he was hired for a job that required him to have skills he didn't have... nothing like learning on the job, right?)

Story Time

I loved this.

Within the first 20 minutes he breaks out with "O.K., Story time!" Jonathan shared his journey of naming his company, how many times he changed the name and what brought him back to Sure Fire Web Services (yep, he came up with the name out of necessity, changed it, then came back to it! You gotta love the honest learning lessons...). Freelancing, Pricing and Working With Clients For anyone who has been through these trials and tribulations, you're going to LOVE this part of the show! I found myself laughing consistently through this part of the episode because I felt like he was telling my story! Jonathan shared the challenges and mistakes he made when he was starting with freelancing and working with clients. I think my favorite 'learning curve' in working with clients was when he mentioned getting too friendly with your client (this was TOTALLY me).

Next thing you know you're doing a bunch of work for something that wasn't included in the initial proposal and you're not getting paid to do the additional work.

Been there, done that.

Hopefully you'll either feel like you're not alone with the challenges you've faced as a freelancers or can shorten your learning curve by taking some of the advice Jonathan gave (setting very firm boundaries with clients and sticking with them!). Cool NEW Stuff from Sure Fire Web Services

BRAND NEW site!

I won't be completely redundant and go on and on with how much I LOVE his new site (it looks fabulous!), but we have to talk about the new services that Jonathan and his team are providing now.

You get a little preview in the image at the top of the post about the services, but here's a recap and some info. about what they're offering:

White Label WordPress Services

Learning Center

Project-based Support

White Label WordPress Services: This is pretty much exactly what you think it is. Whether you need something done or you want client work to be finished up, you can send it over to SureFire Web Services and they'll do the work for you.

Learning Center: Yep, just like the name says too. ;-) A premium learning center with WordPress tutorials by someone who is excellent at what he does.

Project Based Support: If you're a freelancer or simply working on your own site, you can send over individual projects or tasks and have them do them or finish them for you. You can focus on what you're good at and let them do what they do... really well! Types and Views Jonathan is a big fan and user of Types and Views and has agreed to teaching a class in the upcoming months! WOO HOO! If you're interested make sure to leave a comment and let me know (and connect with Jonathan and let him know as well). He talks a bit about Types and Views in the show, who it's good for and how it can help you. So, keep your eye out for that class to be announced in the next couple of months.

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I had a conversation with a friend a couple of nights ago that spurred today's podcast.

The easiest way to share the conversation with you is going to be via story, which will probably be best understood by listening to the show, but I'll give you the story behind all this so you get a good feeling for what the show is about (if you can't listen to it right now).

Once upon a time...

Kidding. (I don't know what it is lately that I feel this incessant need to amuse myself.)

I don't think I've shared this part of my story before, so this will be new to everyone (yes, I know I'm redundant and repeat myself often). What lit a fire within me to get an online business started was actually a Real Estate Wealth Expo I attended in San Francisco maybe 7 years ago (don't remember the exact date). Prior to that I had heard a little bit about Internet Marketing on a CD program I had bought by Mark Victor Hansen (one of the Chicken Soup for the Soul guys). There was an internet marketer who talked about online business and making money with information products, which I had never heard of before!

People making money selling downloadable digital products???

Being the information whore junkie that I am, I was hooked immediately. And let me just say that at this point in time the ONLY thing I did with computers was email and games, and I'm not talking role playing games. I'm talking solitaire (didn't know I was such a wiz, did you?).

So when I heard what this guy was talking about... Pay Per Click, Title tags, heading tags, copy, sales pages, merchant accounts... it was literally like hearing a foreign language somehow it was melodic, like hearing Andre' Boccelli sing. I have no idea what he's saying, but I love it. Something about what he was saying struck a nerve in me.

Back to the Real Estate Wealth Expo.

There were some big keynote speakers there, Tony Robbins, Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki to name a few. I've read them all.. remember, I was a Tony Robbins convert at the ripe old age of 22... which is what lead me down the path of entrepreneurship (I've since moved on from all the motivational guru's... I have a much gentler approach these days). Besides the keynote speaker sessions you could attend these little side sessions and the topics varied, but needless to say one of the side sessions was on Online Business and Internet Marketing.

Here's the short version: The guy wrote an ebook on Halloween parties for kids. Put up a sales page. Made around $8-9k a month with it. Easy Peasy! (tell me you're chuckling at this point because you probably know where this is going). My friend and I invested in his $1295 program, packed full of CD's and spiral bound training manuals. And since I consider 2008 the year I started my business and this was in 2006, you can probably guess not much happened with this "fabulous special offer" we purchased. It was part the quality and support but more than anything it was execution (and confidence... on our part).

Fast forward a couple of years to 2008 when I started my business. This Business. That I love and adore and am grateful everyday that I get to do something I enjoy so much.

My First Time. (no, not that first time! get your mind out of the gutter...)

I can still remember the first time I installed WordPress.

Oh. My. God.

It was a manual install (ie, no one-click fantastico or quick install set up) and I had to go get my neighbor, who works at home for a major bank doing networking (or something) for the trading floor, to ask him what the hell a root folder was??? I was using the WordPress for Dummies book and had NO idea what that meant (see why I like pictures so much???).

Obviously we got it figured out (four hours later) and moved onto the next steps.

Here's where the conversation with my friend comes in.

She wanted to start an online business too. She had the same knowledge and skill set I had at the time, which was zero.

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Have you ever come across something or had an experience that has completely shifted the way you look at something?

That's what happened for me this past week, with WordCamp SF, my "a-ha" I had about Training (a completely different model) and my Challenge (that I'm going to share). A little re-cap from San Francisco WordCamp ... and why I'll probably not attend again.

I know, that's a pretty bold statement. BUT.. before I get into the nitty gritty of why let me say that I had a ball connecting with people I've only met online (@cdils, @bobWP, @OzzyR, @ChrisWiegman and had the pleasure of meeting many more awesome people).

That being said... the tracks that were offered seemed to be one extreme or the other. Very developer oriented or very newbie oriented (except of course for Carrie Dils talk on Saturday, which unfortunately I couldn't attend on Collaboration vs. Competition) with not a whole lot in between and even the newbie tracks seemed to be lacking "something" as well.

There was VERY little in terms of the marketing and business side of WordPress.

Which, when it comes to the WordPress community I feel is still lacking. You have people like Chris Lema who seems to have a firm grasp on it and is talking about it MUCH more often (pricing and marketing for WordPress products), but beyond Chris I don't see a whole lot of dialogue happening around this piece. I was listening to another podcast yesterday (I'm really becoming obsessed with these!), The Fizzle Show, and they were talking about douchebaggery in online business. Literally. I have to remember to think about where I am when I'm listening to this show because I find myself laughing out loud... often. As I did yesterday in the grocery store.

Anyways...

The conversation around douchebaggery was that:

1) It's really hard to define (douchebaggery that is) and

2) We're all probably a douchebag to someone. And my point in sharing this with you is that I think there is this fear within the WordPress community that if you charge for things that you're a douchebag (or charge too much).

Which is kind of why I think we don't see much of this at WordCamp San Francisco. Because it's where Auttomatic has offices and Matt Mullenweg gives his official "State Of The Word" address there's a certain level of perceived expectation around what type of speakers present.

The only other WordCamp I've been to was WordCamp Reno (a few years ago), and it was great too. But outside of networking with people in the community, my audience isn't really at WordCamp. And I haven't really seen any tracks that focus on the things I need to work on in my business... so for now, I'm just not sure where I stand with WordCamp.

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FINALLY!

WordPress 3.6 is OUT!

WOO HOO!

Which means... that Genesis 2.0 is on it's way too. Brian Gardner posted on Google+ yesterday that it will be out next week, they have a few final tweaks to make (we've waited this long, what's a few more days, right?).

Which ALSO means that I'm going to be releasing WordPress Genesis for Beginners: A User's Guide 2.0 SOON! This is a complete overhaul to the product with new videos, some interviews and a couple of other surprises.. but you'll just have to wait and see what those are. This is not going to be some smarmy internet marketing launch... I so don't have the stomach for that.

I came across something last week that completely turned my perspective upside down on marketing training products. I'm not trying to be sneaky by not sharing this with you (promise), because what I am going to do is track EVERY step of this new process. I'm approaching this totally different and will share what worked, what didn't, etc. after it's done (which will be in a few weeks).

Let's just say that this training is going WAY beyond the basics of using Genesis for the everyday user. You'll see how and why I use Genesis for everything I do,

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There's a lot going on with WordPress this week, so I'll do what I can not go too deep into the question in this post title, but I can't make any promises.

I don't know about you, but when it comes to music I have pretty eclectic taste (and a 16 yr. old daughter who introduces me to new music, which is great). I listen to music based on my mood and the lyrics. Because I'm also such a geek about 'quotes' this probably doesn't come as much of a surprise. So when I heard this song a couple of weeks ago I was hooked, then when I saw the video I thought it would perfect to bring up in relation to blogging.

The song I'm referring to is "Brave" by Sara Bareilles and it's speaking to everyone who has ever held their tongue or held back from being who they are (I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this pretty much includes everyone at some point in their lives).

Chris Brogan wrote an awesome book called "It's Not About The Tights: An Owner's Manual on Bravery", which I LOVED ( I think I've referred to this book in a previous post) and is a great read for anyone who feels the need to be a little different, do things there own way or step outside of the box. Bravery is something you don't see mentioned very often when it comes to blogging, writing or building an online business. Which is a bummer.

Because it is VERY BRAVE to step into this space and really put yourself out there.

I think the key thing to remember is that if you feel a little uncomfortable it's not a bad thing. It probably just means that you're on the right track. You can't get to where you want to go by doing the same things you've always done.

I think I'll save the rest of my discussion on bravery for another individual post, so stay tuned for that because I'd love to get a discussion going about it.

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Last week I hosted a free webinar to subscribers of my list who have WordPress businesses (primarily design /website businesses). The common challenges and questions everyone had are the same issues I faced in the first few years of my business and to some extent am addressing as I grow my business and shift my role in what I do.

Here's what we talked about:

Building your business under your own name vs. a business name Having a 'team' (support when you get stuck or need help) Business plans Process flows Finding a niche Getting clients Pricing & fees Diversifying (ebooks, classes, etc.)

It was a very informal webinar with lots of questions, which was great. I also asked people if they would be interested in a Mastermind, coaching and a couple of other classes (WooCommerce got a BIG yes!). I'm not exactly sure what is going to come first, but a Mastermind is definitely in the works as well as the WooCommerce class!

[sws_divider_basic] Upgrading to WordPress 3.6 and Genesis 2.0 If you follow WordPress at all I'm sure by now you know that one of the big features that was supposed to come with WordPress 3.6 was Post Format UI was removed so the release wasn't delayed any longer. If you don't know what post formats are, no worries. I've been meaning to do a post on post formats and custom post types for a while now, so that should be coming in August.

When you see that WordPress 3.6 is released (in your dashboard you'll see the yellow notification bar to upgrade) you'll definitely want to go ahead and update. I always recommend doing a full backup before you upgrade (even if you have automatic backups being done, better safe than sorry). Once you've done your backup go ahead and upgrade. If you don't keep your WordPress install up to date you create vulnerabilities and expose yourself to easier access for hackers. Upgrading to Genesis 2.0 It looks like this isn't going to be a difficult process, which is awesome for anyone who has zero desire to muck with any type of code. I thought the easiest thing to do would be to list some references you can peek at and people who can help you IF...

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One of my favorite aspects of my podcast is the interviews I get to do! (what... did you think I was going to say something about how funny I think I am? :-) )

Even though I'm the one getting in touch with the interviewee it's still fun when we finally connect on Skype for the actual interview. With many of the interviews it's the first time we've actually spoken outside of a conversation via email or social media. That was the case with Jennifer Bourn of BournCreative.com. The funny thing is that Jennifer and her husband and business partner Brian live all of an hour away from where I live. Which, I'll get a chance to meet them in person next week as they invited me to speak at the Sacramento WordPress Meetup and of course I said "absolutely!" (I'll let you know how that goes, it should be fun).

One of the (many) reasons I had asked Jennifer if she would be up for an interview is because I had seen Jennifer at a conference or two in the past (I think it was Ali Brown's "Shine" in 2010), had seen her site (love her work) but had noticed that they had started popping up in the #GenesisWP conversations on Twitter as they were now using Genesis for all their client work. Most people  in the "Genesis" community aren't part of the "Internet Marketing" scene (for lack of a better description -for the life of me I can't think of a better way to explain that). Because I knew Jennifer was also part of that community I thought it would be a great  interview to show a successful merging of two styles of business.

After my recent post "The Real Housewives of WordPress" where I talked about the different 'perceived' communities within WordPress I think you'll get a good insight on how you can be a part of whatever community you create and want to be a part of after listening to my interview with Jennifer.

[sws_grey_box box_size="550"] "Don't network where your competitors are." - Jennifer Bourn [/sws_grey_box]I love hearing the stories behind the business and the brand - especially the bumps and bruises along the way (we all want to hear we're not the only ones, right?).

Jennifer didn't hold back anything. ;-)

From transitioning her business as a solo entrepreneur to having her husband join full time (and he started from scratch in terms of coding and development and is now brilliant at it. I know, kind of nauseating...), it's all here.

And because I'm such a geek about quotes (not sure if I've ever shared that tidbit here, but I am.... I have 3 different quotes on my monitors as I type this) I grabbed a few from the interview that struck a nerve with me, the first one being above in regards to not networking where your competitors are as well as the quote I started the podcast with today:

[sws_grey_box box_size="550"] "If you aren't saying No 50% of the time you're not charging enough." - Jennifer Bourn [/sws_grey_box]A third and final quote that certainly left me with something to think about:

[sws_grey_box box_size="550"] "Get out from behind your computer." - Jennifer Bourn [/sws_grey_box]I'm not really a shy person and I like to think I'm pretty social, but I can also get caught up in the day to day "stuff" of life and can easily paint a picture for myself that going to something or networking is a pain (need to get ready, drive into San Francisco, blah, blah, blah.. I know, poor me)- not anymore. As long as I don't have a prior commitment? I'm in. Which is why I said yes to speaking at the Sacramento Meetup next week. And of course if you're in the area we'd love to have you join us. Register for the Sacramento WordPress Meetup Here.

Like Jennifer mentioned in the podcast, Bourn Creative is hiring! If you think you might be a good fit for this amazingly creative team, check out the job listing and apply today.

Enjoy the interview!

Links mentioned in this episode

BournCreative.com

Job Listing at Bourn Creative

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I have to start the show notes out with something that has become glaringly apparent to me and yes, I know it seems obvious, but there is such a difference between "getting something" and "understanding something". The more I write and engage the easier it gets. I can't seem to write a post that is less than 1000 words!

Whaaaaat? (this is one of my favorite new sayings, which I stole from Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in the movie "The Internship", which isn't an academy award winning movie but was a fun, enjoyable afternoon at the movies with my son).

I'm not even kind of complaining... I'm having a ball!

BUT... bom bom bom.... of course now I start seeing posts about how shorter posts are better (think post formats, which if you're not sure what they are I've got a post and video coming soon), and how single author blogs are dead. REALLY? Oy  vey. I don't think so.

There will always be trends, "new fangled fancy pants" ways of doing things but at the end of the day providing quality content will always work. Period. End of story. Full stop. (can't believe I used the statement 'new fangled'...)

By the comments I'm receiving on these lengthy posts I'm not too worried. I'm receiving more comments than I ever have before and am building some amazing new relationships! So do yourself a favor... go ahead and read the latest and greatest news about what's working online, take it all and and then see what sticks! Think of it like panning for gold (I've actually done this! My parents live about an hour east of the Sierra Mountains, so we've actually panned for gold in 'them thar hills'... what is up with my lingo today?). When you pan for gold you scoop a bunch of of 'stuff' out of the river, but then you clear through all the crap to find the gold. You may only find a tiny nugget, but that tiny nugget is worth far more than a HUGE bucket of pebbles, rocks and sand (or whatever else you may find in the river).

[sws_divider_basic] The Best Advice I've Ever Received Kind of a bold claim, I know.

Of course when I had this 'nudge' to share this as the best advice I've ever received it felt like "BAM!" That's powerful! Now as I write this I'm thinking,  "hmm... is this the BEST advice I've ever received?" Aah... my sidekick, the 'overthinker' has shown up. I'll push my sidekick aside and leave this as is, because no matter what you're doing, what area of your life you apply this to, it's going to pay off. I live by the saying that "you don't regret the things you do, you only regret the things you don't do."

The best advice I ever received was actually in reference to my past relationship (promise I won't go all Dr. Phil on you here, not how I roll. Wayne Dyer yes, Dr. Phil, no). It was in the first couple of months of the relationship (you know, the 'honeymoon' phase) and I was on cloud 9. I was talking to my therapist about it (well, giggling like a school girl is more like it) and here's what she said to me:

"Go ALL in Kim!"

There was more to the conversation than that, but the overall message was give it all you've got. If it doesn't work out you can at least look back and know you gave it everything and savored every moment.

Of course she was right.

It didn't end the way I had hoped it would, but I have no regrets. 90 percent of the time it was great. And like most things that end (relationships, friendships, businesses...whatever), I can see now that there is no way I could have spent my life with him, but I know without a doubt that I went ALL in!

This is a question you need to ask yourself about your business.

Are you going 'ALL' in or are you playing at your business?

How to determine if you're ALL in

Here's the thing.

This is going to look different for each person, so there isn't really a system or task list that will help you determine if you're going all in. You're the only one who can determine that. But YOU know on a gut level if you're going "ALL in" or if you'...

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Be sure to check out the offer Flywheel has generously made to my listeners & readers at the end of the post /podcast

For those of you who are new to my site I'll give you an overview of what happened with my hosting drama in the last year so you have a little history on how this all came about.

It was probably a little over a year ago when I started having issues with my site (which was on hostgator). Initially I thought it was just a little slow until someone emailed me to tell me they were getting messages that their anti-virus software was alerting them that my site was dangerous. Then a few more people told me the same thing.

Ugh.

So I started the process of moving my site to WP Engine...which was great, but then I found out I couldn't have directory installs, so I stopped the migration (and for the record, their service was fantastic. NO complaints). Then went back to hostgator on a VPS (virtual private server). Then was getting the virus issue popping up again, my site was running slow and I was hitting my limits. (Not O.K. when you're paying $79.95 a month for hosting). The standard response I received from support at hostgator was that I had too many plugins (I didn't). I had hostgator move my site to a shared server (it loaded faster and was only $14.95/month) and things seemed fine. For a while. Then it started all over again.

Are you KIDDING ME?

So I did what any frustrated person would do... I took my dilema to Twitter! ;-)

I mentioned in podcast episode 4 that thanks to Ben Boykin I was introduced the a fantastic new company called Flywheel.

Aah....

How does being migrated (for FREE) in less than a week sound? 

Fo shizzle my nerdizzle! :-)

I was floored at how quickly they moved everything- and there were no issues to boot! (Which I was pleasantly surprised with after all the issues there had been with hostgator).  It was the easiest, smoothest migration I've experienced since I've been doing any type of website work (5 years).

Let's not forget one of the MOST important factors.

SPEED!

On Flywheel my site was easily 8-9 seconds faster!!! Of course I had to test it multiple times... every browser, check my laptop... and of course ask a few friends to check it out. I felt like I won the time lottery. Literally. No more waiting and waiting for a post to update so I could view it on the site to check out the formatting. Just click update and VOILA! ;-)

On to the Interview with Dusty Davidson

Dusty is one of the founders of Flywheel, along with his partners Rick and Tony. Pretty quickly after signing up with Flywheel I knew I wanted to do an interview with them for the podcast. Flywheel is unique. You know that feeling you get when you try something new or come across something that just "feels right"? I felt that in my gut when I landed on the Flywheel site. I'm SUCH a geek about the visual /design side of things so I instantly fell in love with the way their site looks (Dusty gave props to Rick on the design), let alone how fan-friggin-tastic the interface looks for users!

Just take a peek:

Of course it's not just that the Flywheel site looks great (although I think they've raised the bar for other hosting companies! Time to stop using stock photography images of servers and generic groupings of diverse groups of people on your website)- Flywheel provides exactly what WordPress users want and need!

Managed hosting (they manage security and do backups. So bye bye additional plugins!)

Speed

Customer service 

AND... some personality.  ;-)

I had the pleasure of talking with Dusty while he was in Paris (you'll have to listen to the interview to hear more about that). Dusty shared his background prior to Flywheel, how the company came to be and why they chose the name 'Flywheel'.

And just to make your life easier, here's an awesome tweetable quote from Dusty:

"Anyone can buy a server, put it in a closet,

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WOO HOO!!!

O.K., so before we get into the show notes I have to point out that not only am I publishing my tenth podcast episode this week, but this week is also the 10th anniversary of WordPress! Coincidence?

Um...yea. I wish I had been that clever and planned this out, but it was just fate. :-) So Happy Anniversary WordPress! And THANK YOU! Because of you I have a business I love and a quality of life I couldn't have imagined.  

Now let's get down to business!

When I was thinking about what I wanted to talk about for this episode I started feeling a little bit of pressure (gotta love that self-inflicted pressure of expectations). Not to get it done, but that it should be huge or monumental. What does that look like? I have no idea.

Then I decided to do something that is still a bit of a challenge, but hands down works EVERY time.

Surrender.

I really use to be soooooo Type A. Needed to get something done? Just tell me it's not possible and "I'll show you!". Pissing myself off to motivation was a standard practice (I kid you not when I tell you that I'm laughing as I type this). So much of what I did was driven by external motivation, not wanting to disappoint people and needing to 'prove' myself. Sounds exhausting, doesn't it?

It was. (And it will stunt your growth as a business owner faster than anything else!)

If I could bottle up what I've learned over the last few years in terms of relaxing, surrendering and trusting myself... I'd have my own version of the Shark Tank because I'd be a ba-zillionaire  (investing in other people's businesses).

I decided for today's show that I'd do a few different things, but I promise I'll do my best to keep things cohesive (which, if you've listened to this podcast before you know I cut my sentences off and can talk in circles sometimes).

First, I wanted to publicly share some thanks and appreciation for people who have helped me get to where I am today, whether they know it or not. Gratitude and appreciation are hands down one of the easiest and simplest way to inspire action. Why? Because it feels good. And when you feel good, you do good.

So I'm going to break down my public thanks into a few categories:

Personal

Friendships

Online Inspiration

Personal

I won't spend to much time here because I'm not sure anyone I'm going to thank here actually listens to my podcast, but that's o.k., even if they don't totally understand what I do they support me with their whole hearts!

First is my kids. Britt & Collin - I don't know what to say other than Thank You for being who you are. I could not be prouder of the people you're becoming and am so grateful you believe in me and have been patient and loving through the trying times. Now we're at a place that we're celebrating the successes more often and to see your faces light up when I share how many downloads I've had or that I have a new client means the world to me. You're both amazing people and have been the inspiration behind everything I do.

My family: My parents and my sister first. I honestly was blessed with the most amazing parents. They've always believed in me and encouraged everything I've done. My mom has stepped in and helped out with administrative work when needed and my dad still brags about me to anyone who will listen. Any time there was an event for me to go to they did whatever they could to support me (staying with the kids, carpooling to school and soccer... you name it). They'll be able to listen to the podcast soon with their new iPhones on the way (they've upgraded into the 21st century from flip phones). I literally live around the corner from my sister and brother. My sister is my best friend and I honestly don't know what I'd do without her love and support. I won't go into more details here but the rest of my family (brother, aunt & uncle, nieces & nephews, grandparents) have all been my rock as well. I truly am blessed.

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I kept trying to think up something witty with Foo Plugins that I could tie into the song "Kung Foo Fighting"... to start this post, but fortunately for you I was stumped! So we'll just jump into the good stuff... my interview with Adam.

I knew when I started the podcast that Adam W. Warner of Foo Plugins was someone I definitely wanted to interview. Adam and I connected a few years ago when he was running WP ProBusiness and still working full time at his job (he's now working from home under contract with his former employer and is going all in with Foo Plugins). We've stayed in touch on & off over the last couple of  years so I was really excited when I saw the first plugin he launched, FooBox, last summer.

One of my favorite aspects to the interviews I'm doing is hearing the individual stories of how people arrived at where they are today. Adam has had an interesting and not-so-direct path to his current position as one of the founders of Foo Plugins. From studying advertising in college (then becoming disenchanted with being told to manipulate people) to a blue collar job... Adam's journey to Foo Plugins will encourage and inspire anyone interested in building a business about or with WordPress.

Oh.

And he talks about his stint with a little company named "Amazon".

What was SO cool about his time with Amazon is that he really took advantage of the opportunity to learn as much as he could, and not just about programming. He payed attention to how they made decisions (they measure everything) and how they managed the business (the departments he worked in).

Throughout his journey he also got married, moved back to Florida and had his first son (of course I have to share a little bit of the personal stuff ). Enter Foo Plugins

As Adam mentions in the podcast he's been working with WordPress for a LONG time. One of the best things in sticking with something as long as Adam has is that he knows what his strengths are and what he should delegate. Because of this he made a conscious choice to look for a programmer who could do the programmer side of the plugins and he could do the marketing and community building that he's been doing since getting involved with WordPress (smart guy, right?).

Adam shares how he connected with his programming partner, Brad Vincent of Themergency, how they formed a company while he's in the U.S. and Brad is living in South Africa and why they decided to grow the business in phases.

Which brings me to the exciting phase that is Phase 2!

Phase 2 of course is the recently launched WordPress Plugin Marketplace Vendor Program. (I did the interview a couple weeks before the publish date, so at the time of the interview the Plugin Marketplace was still hush hush). I'm not going to try to do this justice by explaining it here, you're much better off reading the post directly over at Foo Plugins.

I really enjoyed getting this opportunity to talk to Adam, hear his story and get the inside scoop on Foo Plugins. Make sure you head on over to the site, subscribe for updates and tell them I sent you! ;-) I'm sure we're going to continue seeing some amazing things coming out of Foo Plugins (and you know I love me some plugins!).

Special offer for YOU! Adam and Brad have very generously offered a discount to my listeners and readers... WOO HOO! You can get 20% off of FooBox or Social Wiggle Pro by using the code WPCHICK20 at checkout!

Thanks guys! ;-)

Links from this episode (the plugins are all on Foo Plugins)

Foo Plugins

Adam W. Warner

Brad Vincent

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I decided that since I was getting close to episode 10 of the podcast (HOLY MOLY!) it might be a good time to give you an update on how things are going with the podcast and business in general. I've changed quite a few things since the beginning of the year (New Theme) and have seen a huge difference in many areas of my life (you know how it goes... when you start making changes  and consistently take action it's easier to have that roll over into other areas of your life).  I know I keep saying this, but it's really true that some of these things are SO obvious and they're actually simple. It's just a matter of trusting yourself enough to take action.

The first thing I wanted to share is the New Theme.

Ever since the new Minimum theme came out I knew I wanted to make the change, I just wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do since I had just done the site makeover about a year and a half ago. I knew I was going to keep the colors and basic layout, just not sure what else I wanted to change. Then like most things when I relax about it and don't force it the answer comes to me pretty effortlessly.

I wanted to incorporate my name into the logo (remember my post a while back about considering leaving The WP Chick behind?), knew I needed to change my opt-in offer and I wanted the podcast featured more predominantly on the homepage. SO... here you go! I still have to add in the video on the homepage (nice graphic of a fake video, huh?) and will be doing that this weekend. It will actually be a video of me in front of the camera... something I really don't do but think I'll probably start testing and playing with.

I'm going to add in another graphic to the 'What I Do' section on the homepage and will probably change things up a bit with the footer widgets (kind of fillers... not terribly exciting). Of course I'd love to know what you think about the new layout! Oh... and let's not forget typekit. (which would have been sort of an epic fail considering I included it in the post and show name).

First let me say that I do love Google Fonts. They're great. However, I was finding that depending on the browser I was using the fonts were hard to read and it was making me crazy! I felt like I should be investing in bifocals instead of plugins (see what I did there? Purchasing plugins are an INVESTMENT... haha). Then of course I happened to cruise over to Brian Gardner's site (his previous theme, because he recently changed it again, which isn't a dig. If I had his skills I'd probably do the same thing) and LOVED how crystal clear the text on his site was- regardless of what browser I'm using.

And since I have the Adobe Creative Cloud monthly plan I can use typekit for no additional charge! Nice, huh? (I may be doing a post and video on how easy this was to integrate, so let me know if that's something you'd be interested in). The second thing is the new Opt-in Offer. I've been working on this for a while (jeeze, that seems to be a theme with me today! Remember how I said in episode 4 that you should focus on YOUR business first?). One of the things I've mentioned that I was focusing on this year was growing my list. I know there are TONS of different ways to do this and I intend to test different options (split testing, Facebook Ads, etc.), but the first thing I needed to do was change my opt-in offer.

Why I decided to make the change.

So here's the deal with the opt-in offer I had.

It was really an easy out, for lack of a better explanation. The opt-in offer I had before the last one (Custom Social Profiles Plugin) was WordPress Video Marketing and it converted pretty well, but it needed to be updated and I was in the middle of a zillion other things and just wanted to change the homepage so the opt-in was more significant. I know, kind of lame. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that offering a free plugin is lame, it's just not that 'helpful', y'know? (And not exactly what someone who is looking for W...

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This is the first "official" WordPress interview for the podcast (in terms of interviewing someone who uses WordPress for their business) and it was a TON of fun!

I connected with Carrie sometime last year online (I'm thinking maybe it was twitter?) and knew instantly she was someone I wanted to get to know better. Not only was she sharing valuable Genesis tips but you could also tell that she was a down to earth person (I gauge this by how someone writes, what they share and how they share... I'm wise like that! ;-) ). Then we exchanged a few emails discussing possible ways we could collaborate (which I'll share more of at the end of this post) and once I had the podcast up and running I thought she would be a perfect guest to interview.

Yep... I was right.

She was great.

I'm not kidding when I say I was laughing out loud when listening back to our conversation for editing, it really was that fun.

Carrie shares her journey of how she ended up creating her business CarrieDils.com, (the question of "how did you get here" is absolutely one of my favorite pieces of the interviews I'm doing). There's something powerful in hearing other peoples stories. The decisions they made that took them down a completely different path than the one they had intended, the lessons they've learned along the way and what that means for their business today.

You'll love the story of the indoor s'mores cafe' that turned into a 9 year detour with a huge company, which also became an invaluable resource for learning about business (and why she knew she did NOT want to open the brick & mortar business that inspired this detour).

She awarded me 1000 internet points.

You'll just have to listen to the interview to find out what that's all about, but my vocabulary surprised even me (she still hasn't told me where I can redeem my points... maybe it's like Chuck E. Cheese and I can turn them in for a Whoopee Cushion or giant Pixie Stick?).

I think one of my favorite questions for Carrie was when I asked her how she markets her business. Her answer is such a testament to everything I've been talking about these past few months (and one of those lessons that we all hear and when we finally implement just "get it"). Her big secret to marketing? She doesn't have one. She gives the best service possible, connects with her clients, creates great work and is simply herself.

Aah...

Music to my ears. ;-)

I think a common fear among a LOT of people with online businesses is that you don't want to come across smarmy or sales pitchy (pretty sure pitchy isn't a word). There's a learning curve when it comes to putting yourself out there, sharing what you do and promoting your products and/or services. What Carrie is doing is the ideal way to step into that space. At some point you have to 'feel the fear and do it anyways' and ask for the sale or make the offer. My biggest recommendation is that you do it sooner rather than later (asking for the sale or making the offer).  Often times the longer you wait the harder it is and you don't want to set a precedent that what you're doing is just a hobby (unless in fact it is just a hobby).

Collaboration Time!

Off the record I asked Carrie if she would be interested in doing a live Genesis class with me that helps those of you who are past the 'beginner' stage and she said absolutely! ;-) So you can keep your eyes peeled for a "Beyond Beginners" Genesis class! And I'm sure after you listen to the podcast with her you'll be that much more interested in taking the class because not only is she wicked smart but I'm sure the class will be a lot of fun too.

Make sure to check out her site and connect with her via social media.

Note The product I mentioned (but couldn't remember the name) where you can get digital signatures on invoices (the free account gets you 5 a month) is EchoSign by Adobe. The link is in the 'Links from this episode' below.

Links from this episode

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When I first started working with WordPress 5 years ago the opportunities to monetize a business around WordPress seemed to be limited to a few areas. You could customize themes, create/code themes and create/code plugins. There were a few people out there teaching how to use WordPress, but many of those tutorials were limited to the installation process (the famous 1-Click install with Fantastico) and getting started. Anything beyond that was kind of up to you.

Fast forward 5 years and the possibilities for monetizing WordPress and creating a lasting sustainable business with WordPress have grown exponentially. In a way it feels like the possibilities are limitless (yea, yea, I know. I can be a bit of a Pollyanna..). It really comes down to making a choice to step up your game, know what you're good at and connecting with people who need what you have to offer.

I know this sounds super simple- and it is. But it's not easy.

There is a HUGE difference between simple and easy. The crazy thing is that many things in life are simple, but we just don't want to admit it. Example: If you want to lose weight you just need to eat right and exercise. Simple. Not easy. Or let's take quitting smoking. To quit smoking all you have to do is stop smoking right? It takes more effort to keep smoking than not (you have to buy cigarettes, keep a lighter or matches on you, find somewhere to smoke since most places are smoke free now, deal with everything smelling like smoke, carry gum, etc.). One step to quit smoking, multiple steps to continue smoking. Quitting is simple. Not easy.

It took me a few years to figure out how I wanted to monetize my business and I can honestly say that going into year 5 I'm more clear than I have ever been. I chose to pay attention to what I enjoyed doing the most, where I got the best return (on both my time and investment) and where I felt most fulfilled.

For me, it's the teaching and training.

I'll get more into how I'm monetizing WordPress in a bit, but let's jump into some of the opportunities that are out there for all you WordPress entrepreneurs (or soon to be). 7 Ways you Can Create a Business Around WordPress (that actually make money) 1. Themes - Theme Development (premium themes, free themes) - Theme shop - Theme reviews

1. Plugins
2. Plugin Development
3. Plugin shop

4. Plugin reviews

5. Website Design

6. Customizing WordPress themes for Clients
7. Creating custom themes for WordPress Clients

8. Maintaining and supporting client sites

9. Writing

10. Paid writing for tutorials /posts

11. Kindle books

12. Teaching and Training (my favorite)

13. Create courses
14. Documentation
15. FREE guides (yes, these can lead to paid work)
16. Offline workshops and training
17. Niche Training (topic)

18. Audience specific training (ex: WordPress for VA's)

19. SEO

20. Optimizing Websites
21. Teaching / training SEO
22. Creating SEO Products

23. Done for you SEO

24. Affiliate Marketing / Advertising

25. Create a 'news' site that you use as an aggregate for WP News and monetize with Affiliate products
26. Sell ad space on this site
27. Do both of these on ANY WordPress site (not just a WP News site)

[sws_divider_basic] How I'm Monetizing WordPress I wish I could say I did this sooner than I did, but it is what it is. Within the first 6 months of deciding to focus on WordPress I started taking client projects (new WordPress sites). It wasn't too much later that I discovered StudioPress (pre-Genesis themes) and decided to only use those themes for client work. I've always taken client work (and will continue to), but it was when I taught my first Diving Into Genesis class that I knew I'd found my 'sweet spot'. Not only did I enjoy the teaching (it really never feels like work), but I was able to connect with people on a different level.

I'm not teaching classes as often as I'd like to, but I'm working on that.  My goal is to teach one paid class a month and continue with free tutorials...

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The Numbers Whisperer This was a REALLY fun interview... even the third time around!

Talk about challenges. Oy Vey.

This is the third time I interviewed Nicole Fende, The Numbers Whisperer, for my podcast! Talk about patient, huh? Fortunately for me Nicole is SUPER patient and was willing to go for "third times a charm" so I could get this published!

The reason I had asked Nicole if I could interview her for the podcast is because she has such a unique way of helping people with money. I don't know about you, but I've definitely had my fair share of money challenges (and blessings). Starting a couple of years ago I make a commitment to myself to really look at the way I felt about money, how I handled it, what baggage I had around money and what old beliefs I was carrying that didn't serve me (or my business).

In the interview I mention Nicole's book "How to Be A Finance Rock Star" and the ONE equation that shifted everything for me.

And I mean everything.

4 simple numbers that produce the "amount you must earn, net of all expenses, for every hour you spend on revenue generating activities". Pretty powerful stuff (btw, I've bought a LOT of finance books and this is without a doubt my favorite!). The interview isn't solely about Nicole's book though, it's so much more.

One of my favorite questions I ask when I talk to fellow entrepreneurs is "how did you get to where you are?" I'm fascinated by the journey, what was the catalyst for change that made them decide to leave a job or simply start their business. So of course we cover this too.

Nicole has a VERY cool new project she's launching with a friend called "Magpies & Money". This is without a doubt one of the most creative and interesting projects I've ever heard of when it comes to dealing with finances. She's partnered with a jewelry artisan and they're teaching finance and jewelry making! Now, I know you might be wondering what the bucket this has to do with business and finances (or WordPress for that matter), but what I want to point out is that she's created a very unique way of connecting with a different audience. You'll hear Nicole mention a couple other things that are on the horizon for The Numbers Whisperer as well and I think you'll see that you don't need to create training and products that feel like they've "been there, done that". 

Succeeding in business, whether it's online or offline (or both), is ALL about relationships. Relationships with your customers, clients, peers, team, support network, personal relationships... you get the point. My challenge to you would be to see if you can take a relationship you have and develop something that might be a little outside of the box, but feels right. And don't worry if nothing comes to you, just be open to what shows up and I think you'll be surprised.

Links from this episode

Nicole Fende, The Numbers Whisperer

Magpies and Money

How to Be A Finance Rockstar

Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income - Income Report (we discussed income reports at the end of the show)

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LOTS happening in today's episode!

I recently started private coaching with a new client (I'm coaching her) and had decided I would write up "What I'd Do Different if I Were Starting My Business Today" for her, then realized it would make a great topic for the next podcast episode and post. So here we are! ;-)

I'm writing the post show notes before I actually record the podcast, which may sound a little backwards, but going back to do show notes after I record doesn't always happen as quickly as I'd like and then it becomes a much more tedious process, whereas doing it this way I work from my hand written outline and my show should have a nice flow (like how I threw in that little disclaimer should  have a nice flow?). I'm looking at my hand written notes and really hoping I can keep this to an hour... yea, I get a little chatty. ;-)

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Shout out

I'm taking this idea directly from ThePodcastAnswerMan (Cliff Ravenscraft) who does a weekly personal plug on his show. I love that he shares other peoples content and highlights what they're doing (oh how I wish some old school marketers would grasp this). So this week's shout out goes to Ben Boykin of EmergentInteractive.com. If it weren't for Ben reaching out to me on twitter about Flyhweel hosting I would probably be pulling my hair out right now. Ben put me in touch directly with the team at Flywheel and within a week and a half I was migrated over and pulled the trigger last Friday! I've since engaged more with Ben on twitter & Google+ and he's just a great guy (who also creates awesome Genesis WordPress sites).  So thanks again Ben!

You'll hear more about Flywheel in an upcoming episode and post, so stay tuned for that. I want to get the guys from Flywheel on so you can hear about their company, what they're doing, why they're doing it, etc. directly from them. Not only is my site WAY faster, but their support is FANTASTIC! While away at a conference they still took the time to get back to me, answer my questions and make sure everything was working. Nice!

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In this episode I share a little bit of my story with you (why I didn't do this in the first episode, I'm not sure. ;-) ) and how I got to where I am today. I'm sharing this with the hopes of inspiring you and showing you that no matter what you've been through, you CAN do this. It's been a long and very difficult road at times, but I am in such a wonderful place in my life now and am truly grateful for everything.

The evolution of The WordPress Chick has also been an interesting road (and one I had no idea existed when I started my business). My business and brand has evolved quite a bit over the last five years (and will probably look very different five years from now).  I couldn't  have imagined this when I started, but I stayed open to what showed up and have learned to trust my gut which is paying off more than I thought possible now.

The 7 Things I'd Do Different

There are probably more than 7 things I'd do different if I were starting my business today, but these are the primary things that I would recommend to ANYONE who is starting an online business today or is ready to shift what they're doing and how they're doing it. I go into much more detail in the podcast, but here are the 7 things:

1) Focus on my content/my business first

2) Build my list strategically and measure what's working

3) Have something to SELL as soon as possible (and no, I don't mean throw up junk. Something of value)

4) Trust my gut & simply be myself

5) Focus on relationships, connections and how I can support other people

6) Be as absolutely transparent as possible (the more you do this the easier it gets)

7) Treat my business like a business

The last point I made in the show, which really ties in with the first item on this list, is that you have to find a way to manage doing the things that will pay off in the long run WHILE you do the things tha...

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This is "officially" the first interview for my podcast! I say "officially" because I had recorded another interview last fall but wasn't ready to get the podcast going, so I'll be re-recording an updated version of that interview for an upcoming podcast. Back to "The Business of Web Design" interview with Nina East. Nina and I connected a few years ago through this site (well, a previous version of this site. ;-)) when she contacted me to have me create a banner for her site that was similar to my previous banner that had my "Chick" in it (she had a different "Chick"). Mind you, Nina had to remind me because for the life of me I could NOT remember how we had connected. We've stayed in touch over the last few years, have a book we're working on together (think the "little book that wouldn't quit"... I think I can, I think I can...) that will be coming out later this year and have simply supported one another in our businesses through the years.

When Nina asked me if I'd like to participate and support "The Business of Web Design" we hopped on Skype immediately so she could tell me more about the event, the speakers and find out how I could contribute. Once we started chatting and I heard how passionate Nina was about truly helping people I decided it would be great if we did a podcast interview so you could hear where she was coming from.

One of the BIGGEST benefits to attending a multi-speaker event such as "The Business of Web Design" is that you're getting different perspectives on the same business! Each speaker is speaking about a different element of Web Design, but you may find that you resonate with one model or method more than another and finally get that piece of "A-HA!", I'm NOT the only one who wants to run my business this way or I'm not the only one who has had pricing issues (and I don't know anyone in business who hasn't had pricing issues at one time or another).

In the show you're going to hear Nina talk about how her business evolved (this is always one of my favorite pieces... I love hearing how people went from where they were to where they are! ), what she's learned along the way and how the telesummit came about.

You need to head over to "The Business of Web Design" to get the full line-up of speakers and schedule, but here's a brief overview of some of the things you're going to learn:

Creating Passive and Leveraged Income

Steps to Success

Building Your Brand (by moi)

Growing your business into a 6-Figure Business (with multiple players)

Critical Legal Issues

Business Finance!

Mistakes to Avoid

You can see that this is a GREAT line up of topics, being presented by some awesome speakers who have paved the way and learned through trial and error so you don't have to!

As always, I'd love your comments, feedback and a review in iTunes if you're up for it! (And I apologize in advance that my audio isn't that great. Like a ding dong I used my logitech headset for this skype call instead of my mic & headset that I use for the regular podcast. Total brain fart! But you can hear everything clearly).

[button_square color="grey" url="http://thewpchick.com/web-design-telesummit"] Register for The Business of Web Design Here [/button_square]

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To say the last couple of weeks has been a wild ride would be an understatement, but it's all been good. Definitely ups and downs, but fortunately the downs haven't been bad. Just contemplative. I've been contemplating a lot about my business lately so I decided it would be a perfect topic for my next podcast.  You can read more about what spurred all this in my recent post, "Is it time to move on?"

Don't worry. It's not a bitch fest. I save those for good friends and family (I don't go there with my therapist... she'd call me on it too quickly).

I've been doing this for almost 5 years now - and when I say 'this', I mean my business.

In this episode I talk about my recent WordPress Genesis for Beginners class, what I went through with pricing, promoting and wondering if I had pigeonholed myself into a niche (focusing on StudioPress Genesis).  All of this brought about a LOT of questioning about my business (especially after I created a free StudioPress Community Resources guide and let one annoying person get under my skin, as much as I'd like to think I didn't)- so much so that I even considered giving up my brand and selling this site!

Don't worry, that's not going to happen. I did think about it for a day or so then realized that I was not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak.

Instead, I'm going to be incorporating my name into the brand.

Here's what the new logo / header looks like. I've already started using this in my newsletter but it won't be unveiled on the site until I flip the theme (which should hopefully be in the next week).

Pretty fun, huh? Not too far off, I'm keeping my colors, The WordPress Chick and am just going to be expanding what I'm doing.

Next up will be new photos... I realized I have ONE photo that appears everywhere, so it's time to get some new pics done. I just want to make sure they don't look like I'm posing for a Realtor shot or a "Glamour Shot" (remember those photo stores in the mall? holy moly!)

In this episode I also talk about one thing that has been a HUGE focus for me and that is Building Relationships!

This is one of those things that you've heard over and over (and I think I said that in my "Marketing Isn't A Spectator Sport" post) and is SO absolutely important. My point in this episode is that not only do you need to build relationships, but you should be building the RIGHT relationships for YOU! Don't be a sheep and spend time trying to connect with Guru's or people you think might be important (of course since you're a reader of mine I know that's not who you are anyways... ;-) ).

Connect with Like Minded People.

Create Awesome Content.

Provide Value.

Have Fun.

Sounds simple enough, right?

It is. You just need to trust yourself.

Recommendations from this Episode:

1) Plugin: nrelate Related Content

You can see what this looks like at the bottom of this post ("Here are some other posts you might enjoy"... I need to change that text. It just doesn't sound like me, but you get the point).

Download nrelate Realted Content here (or click the image below)

[sws_divider_line] 2) Post on ProBlogger: The 3 Emails You Must Send During A Launch... and a Fresh Alternative for Bloggers LOVE this site (Fearless Launching). The post is a great example of providing value- there's a TON of content in this post that you can implement right away! Read The 3 Emails You Must Send During A Launch... and a Fresh Alternative for Bloggers

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HOLY MOLY! I really should have video recorded myself doing this first podcast... it would have provided some comic relief for you to say the least. I lost count with how many times I started then deleted just the introduction! Forget the few times I recorded up to about 10 minutes then scrapped the whole thing.

Here's the crazy thing...

IT WAS TOTALLY FUN! I really had a ball recording my first episode and am already looking forward to the next one.

I had already planned out what I was going to do, but I think I need to do the show notes prior to recording- as in full show notes, not just an outline. Who knows... I can tell you I won't be reading from a script... ever.

Here's my full 'arsenal' of plugins from Episode 1 of the WordPress Chick Podcast. 1) Akismet: If you've done a WordPress Install, you're familiar with Akismet. This is the built-in spam filter that comes with WordPress (so the plugin itself is free). You do need to register for an API key  (once you activate the plugin it will ask you for your API key).

2) Author hReview: There is both a free and premium version of this plugin (I'm using the free version). Author hReview creates a review box in your post where you can list the name, author, version number (if applicable), rating and brief summary. I've adjusted this plugin so it shows at the bottom of my post as opposed to the default top right of the post (it was too crowded with my featured image). You can view the premium version and the free version to see what's right for you.

3) Blubrry PowerPress: Blubrry PowerPress is an all in once podcasting plugin. There are a handful of podcasting plugins available, but I chose this one because it was recommended by The Podcast Answer Man (Cliff Ravenscraft) and is also the plugin my business partner, Steve O'Sullivan uses. I've recorded screenshots and am doing a step-by-step set up guide for the plugin (it's pretty involved). This plugin (FREE) comes with everything you need for podcasting, including iTunes specifications & submission.

4) Complete Gallery Manager: I've done a full post with video on the Complete Gallery Manager, so you can check that out if you want more details, but this is a great responsive photo and video gallery plugin. This is a premium plugin through CodeCanyon, but it's truly worth every penny. Here's my post and video on the Complete Gallery Manager.

5) Custom Social Profiles: this is my free plugin that allows you to upload custom social icons (both regular and hover icons) that link to your social profiles (these are not sharing icons where people can share your content) so people can connect with you on social networks. You can subscribe on the site for a free copy (top right sidebar of this page).

6) Easy Digital Downloads:  Like I mentioned in the podcast, this is one of my favorite new plugins! And yep, its free! It was created by Pippin Williamson. The plugin works great as is, right out of the box. There are free and premium extensions available to add additional functionality and options. Youll be hearing much more about this plugin in upcoming months from me, but for now I recommend you download it and test it out (yep, just the free version will get you going). Keep in mind this is for digital products only. Get Easy Digital Downloads here.

7) Easy Digital Downoads - Amazon S3 Extension: If you have an Amazon S3 account and want to store you digital downloads for use with Easy Digital Downloads, then this is for you! I love my S3 account and any time I can use it without having to login to Amazon I'm all for it. This is a premium extension, but remember the plugin is free! (can't beat that!) Get the Amazon S3 Extension here

8) Easy Digital Downloads - Aweber Extension: Want to add your customers to your list when they purchase from you through Easy Digital Downloads?  Don't worry, they still have to confirm their optin (and you set up a little checkbox for them to...