The Side Plan: Recent Episodes
Fran Canete
I'm Fran Canete, an online entrepreneur that truly believes in a different way to build a business. Here you will learn how to build a successful online business. Like you, I am an online entrepreneur and I know how lonely this journey could be, but you are not alone! I am here to share with you EVERYTHING I learn on my journey of building my online business. I will provide you with the best business tips, strategies, and advice from the best entrepreneurs to help you succeed with your online business.
There is nothing more frustrating than creating content that doesn’t resonate with your target audience.
If this sounds familiar to you...
Chances are that you are not identifying your niche market correctly.
In this episode, I am going to help you find the right niche for your business. So your content will resonate with your audience, and ultimately you will engage with your potential customers and make more sales
In this podcast episode I talk about:
- What is a niche market and why is so important?
- In short, we can define a niche market as a small, specialized market for a particular product or service.
- How to identify your niche?
- Nich down, and be specific: identify specific problems that you can solve in a remarkable way.
- How to pivot into a profitable niche?
- Going from generalist to specialist by focusing your attention on solving ONE problem for ONE audience persona at a time.
- How to overcome the fear of limiting your market.
- The counterintuitive reason why niching down will allow you to get access to more (and better) clients.
Resources mentioned:
- Listen to more content like this.
- Get instant free access to my Resource library
We all know that SEO is so important to get your valuable content in front of the right people.
The problem is that out there are so many techniques, tactics, and strategies that promise you to rank your content to the top positions in Google.
Link building, white hat SEO, stealing keywords from your competitors, setting the right architecture…
Feels exhausting and overwhelming!
You started your business because you wanted to serve your customers with your knowledge and now you need to become an SEO expert on the go?
Isn't there a simple way to do SEO and get results?
That's what I asked Matthew Woodward in this interview, he's an internationally renowned SEO expert.
Well, what if you could ignore 80% of the noise and tactics and focus on the 20% that really matters?
That 20% is exactly what Matthew will teach you in this episode: how to build the right SEO foundation to start getting results.
The best of all? You won’t need to pay for expensive tools and learn complicated link building strategies to get it done.
I invite you to listen to today’s episode to learn the basics of building a good SEO strategy once and for all.
Check the show notes to get access to the resources mentioned in the episode: Go here.
I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been paralyzed in front of a blank page because I didn’t know what to talk about.
It feels overwhelming, and the more you try, the more blocked you are.
I used to feel this way whenever I was creating new content or writing a script for my podcast, or just writing an email.
It's like you can't come up with good content ideas anymore.
What if I've already said everything I know? What am I going to talk about?
Here is the thing, there is not such a lack of good ideas. Actually, there are unlimited great ideas.
The problem is that we expect that those great ideas will come to us by divine inspiration. And this is not how it works.
What if I tell you that generating good ideas is a process that you can build once and replicate as many times as you want to generate unlimited content ideas.
Also, what if your audience loved your next content, and the next one, and the one after that…?
That’s exactly what I am sharing with you in this podcast episode of The Side Plan, the approach and strategies that I use to generate content ideas effortlessly, every single time.
Download my guide on how to Create Content That Grabs People's Attention And Make Them Buy Your Stuff: Download here.
If you are like me, one of the most stressful and overwhelming experiences that you will face is public speaking.
But what if I tell you that the ability to speak to others is a skill that you can learn? Even if you are an introvert!
This week I am interviewing Brenden Kumarasamy.
Brenden is a public speaking coach. He has an inspiring story overcoming adversity and building a life of purpose and meaning helping others to tell their story to the world.
Whether you are interested in public speaking or improving your communication skills this is an episode full of value for you.
Why introverts have certain “advantages” in public speaking?
Brenden explains the difference between introverts and extroverts when it comes to speaking in public and how you can take advantage, especially if you are an introvert.
Go to the full show notes and learn more about public speaking and building your own business: here.
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Creating new content that no one sees feels so frustrating.
That’s exactly how I was feeling for a long time until I understood that creating great content is not enough.
I learned that the hard way, spending long hours creating content, researching topics, and adding lots of value just to see how no one was seeing my content.
Creating remarkable content without spending time and resources promoting that content is a bad strategy. Is like having a revolutionary product that solves a huge problem, but nobody knows about it.
The ultimate point in creating content is helping your audience to overcome their problems and help them achieve their goals. Placing your content in front of them is your responsibility.
Remember the 20/80 rule that says that you should spend 20% of your time creating content and 80% of your time promoting the content.
In this week’s podcast episode I show 5 strategies that I’ve been using and you can apply immediately to promote your content and start building your audience faster.
Related episodes that I mention:
- How To Create Remarkable Content
- How To Become A Podcast Guest (The Right Way)
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Until I figured out this, my content was having ZERO engagement.
I was wondering why my content was having not traction, clearly, I was doing a huge mistake with my content creation.
But I didn’t know what.
My mistake was the same as many other content creators: I was creating content that was interesting for me but not for my audience.
Sounds silly, but this is the number one reason why most of the content out there underperform or goes totally unnoticed.
In this episode, I share with you how to create remarkable content that your audience will care about, and more importantly, how you’ll become an authority and a trusted source of information in your industry.
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You can be one podcast away from becoming a renowned expert in your industry. Of course, if you are able to become a master guest-podcaster.
In this week’s episode of The Side Plan, I’m sharing with you how to pitch a podcast to be featured as a guest in any podcast that you want.
As you know, I am podcasting for a while now and I can tell you something, I have received many types of proposals from potential guests.
Some of them, automated email sequences that don’t even know what my podcast is about. (these go to the trash folder).
Others, instead, are great podcast proposals that are almost impossible to say no.
In this episode, I am sharing with you EVERYTHING so you can become an amazing guest and land interviews on the most popular shows in your industry.
As Seth Godin once said, “podcasting is the blogging”, so guest podcasting is the new guest blogging.
Episodes that I mentioned:
- Ep 23: Top 5 reasons to start a business podcast
- Ep 22: How to tell your story to get lifetime customers
Developing the right skills will set you apart from 90% of entrepreneurs that are struggling to succeed in their businesses.
The reason is simple, there are certain core skills that you, and only you, must master if you want to lead your business to success.
I’ve been an entrepreneur for the last 10 years and I can tell you something, I’ve made every single mistake along the way. Carrying unnecessary stress and anxiety because I lacked the right mindset and skills.
I want to share with you 5 fundamental skills that have made a difference in my professional growth and in the results of my business.
- Asking the right questions.
- Learn to manage your emotions.
- Focus on what’s really important.
- Cultivate win-win relationships.
- Master the art of communication.
Access to more content like this at francanete.com/podcast
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Building a business based on your expertise and knowledge is hard, let’s face it. Actually it’s supposed to be hard.
We are living in a highly crowded online world where every day is more difficult to get the attention of your audience. Actually, we have just a few seconds to catch somebody’s attention before is gone forever.
So, how can you get their attention, provide lots of value, and engage with them in a unique way?
This is where podcasting becomes a powerful marketing tool for you and your business. Whether if you are building a business based on your knowledge and expertise of you are growing your small business, you can amplify your marketing impact and get access to a larger audience of potential customers.
I am bringing today the 5 main reasons, or benefits, to start a business podcast today:
- Build credibility: Developing your own voice.
- Your dream 100 connections network.
- Capitalize on a growing channel
- Podcast Listeners Have Grown 37.5% in the last 3 Years & 37% of Americans Listen to Podcasts Monthly.
- 75% of the US population is familiar with the term “podcasting”
- New monetization opportunities
- 45% of monthly podcast listeners have a household income of over $75K
- Engage your audience
- 80% of podcast listeners listen to an entire podcast episode
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In my personal experience, if you are working to build a massive online following, there is a counterintuitive strategy to follow: create one true connection at a time.
Sharing your personal story online (especially on social media) is crucial for building a relationship with your audience that will last over the years.
In a world of vanity metrics, this strategy doesn't sound very sexy, but the key is to target the right audience, understand what they really want, and deliver the perfect solution based on your personal story.
This is not an "overnight success" strategy, but a proven way to learn about your market and tell your story better in a way that inspires others and creates positive change.
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Today I want to share with you a fascinating topic that I’ve seen in constant evolution for the last 8 years.
This is how can you become a Digital CEO and run a successful business online???
Back in 2008 when I started my first online business I was absolutely lost and to be honest I was completely mistaken about how a successful business should be.
Get Access To My Secret Vault With Resources To Become A Successful Online Entrepreneur HERE.
The most effective way to build an online business today is by sharing your knowledge and expertise with your audience.
Today I am sharing with you how to overcome the "fear" of teaching your audience and build an engaged tribe.
LinkedIn is all about authority, credibility, and building relationships.
This week I am bringing to you a podcast episode focused on how to boost your Social Selling Index on LinkedIn.
Let’s be honest.
Did you really know there was such a thing? Did you know that LinkedIn has a Social Selling Index that measures your activity, and therefore your chances of successful selling on LinkedIn?
I’ll show you first how to check your SSI to discover which areas you should pay special attention to.
Also, I have a full step-by-step guide to help you improve your score that you can download from here.
You can find the links and download the guide from the episode's show notes.
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This week I am so excited to be featuring Chris Ducker, which you probably already know. He is a well-known entrepreneur, author, podcaster, public speaker, and a lot more.
I am going to tell you a secret this week, something a bit personal. During these chaotic times, I’ve been struggling with my daily productivity and goal tracking at some points.
Ok, what’s new about that? You are probably saying. EVERY ENTREPRENEUR is struggling with productivity at the moment.
The thing is, I asked Chris for some advice on how to improve my daily productivity and he sent me a simple but hugely effective technique that boosted my daily productivity.
The technique is called the 1-2-3 method and it was so good that ask Chris if I could share it here with all of you.
And here is Chris explaining how to use the 1-2-3 method…
Unless you can stay centered and grow through uncertainty you’ll be always suffering as an entrepreneur. I’m sorry, but this is something that I learned in the crisis of 2008 when I started my first business.
The truth and the matter are that (almost) anyone can start and grow a business when the economy is right, the markets are right, the right clients have money to pay you and your cashflow is looking spectacular.
The question is: can you be a good entrepreneur when you don’t have any of that?
Keeping your mind clear and focused running your business when you don’t know where your next client is going to come from sounds almost impossible. Bur trust me if you want to succeed and stay in business for the long term this is a skill that you need to learn.
Yes, I said a skill, because it can be learned and improved.
In this podcast episode, I am going to share with you four frameworks and strategies that I use to stay focus, especially in these chaotic days.
Also, I am sharing with you a relaxing breathing exercise that Ron Foglia has sent me to share with you all of you.
How can you stay focused on your business goals when the world is falling apart?
This is the question that I asked Kimberly Afonso (aka The CEO Whisperer) a few weeks ago.
In Kimberly’s words: “Is not the time to be super productive all the time but find the way to work smarter, strategically”.
Identify key daily goals that will give you instant progress toward your goals.
Depending on where you are right now, it could be…
- Reaching out your best client to create an outstanding case study.
- Finding the right business partners to pivot your business into a new sector.
- Landing your first podcast interview to start growing your business
- OR as simple as registering your domain name and setting up your own blog
Whatever it is for your particular case, it has to be a specific action that you can do right now that will bring you closer to your big goals.
The key is to stay focused on your daily goals and not feel overwhelmed by how far you feel from your big goals right now.
About Kimberly Afonso
Website
LinkedIn
Twitter
Almost every single time when I used to say that I work from home, people get shocked about it!
Today, we are living a totally different reality.
Bur for some reason, people still think that working from home as something temporary. You know, if you are not working in an office, you are not actually working after all.
At the same time, big corporations such as Apple, Amazon or Netflix have a full “remote work” program that their employees can take advantage of —even before COVID-19.
But for some reason, many people are still missing the "old good times" at the office.
In my brutally honest opinion, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them. Alright, that’s not mine, it’s from Steve Jobs, but you get the point.
Here are 7 reasons why to not go back to the office ever again.
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Starting a business is difficult, but starting and growing a business in the middle of a crisis is 10x more difficult.
I now that because I started my first business (still alive) in the middle of the 2008 economical crisis.
If you are starting a side business or in the early stages of it, your first reaction probably is to leave it on standby for a while. And, quite honestly, I don’t blame you.
It feels so scary right now.
But wait a minute, before you give up your side business and with it your entrepreneurial dreams I want you to listen to the last episode of The Side Plan.
- You are not alone. We are a lot of entrepreneurs all over the world building amazing projects.
- This could be the best moment to start your side hustle.
You can download your Step-by-step guide to find and validate your business idea from francanete.com
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Welcome to another special episode of The Side Plan on this Chaospreneur daily series.
If you are new, I am sharing my learnings, miseries and small victories through the process of being an entrepreneur in times of chaos
Your market still needs your help
- The feeling that we all entrepreneurs have right now from the market is that everything has frozen.
- Some industries are going to be idle for a while.
- You can pivot your business and adapt your offerings to new channels like online.
Not everybody has been affected the same way.
- Maybe you need to pivot your business to a new type of business or client.
- Develop new ways to deliver your value to your client base.
Do not lower your rates
- Sounds tempting but this is just a temporary solution to keep some of your clients around in the short term.
- You can be flexible in the way that you charge your clients.
BONUS: Get Access To My Secret Vault With Resources To Start An Online Business On The Side Without Giving Up Everything.
The game has changed
- 2 weeks ago we were playing according to certain rules, today the game has changed and we need to start playing according to new rules.
- The market is changing, many things that you used to do are going to disappear, at least for a while, and other new opportunities will appear.
If you want to keep growing you need to accept uncertainty
- The skills, tactics and strategies that you used to grow your business or professionally for the last 10 years are not enough right now.
- You need to accept that the game has changed, understand the new rules and develop new skills
Be proactive, not reactive
- Many people are worried these days and as a result, they are paralysed
- You cannot stop, if you want to keep growing and don’t get stuck in these difficult times, you need to keep moving.
- Adapt, test and find new ways to deliver your value.
Bonus: Download my step-by-step guide to find and validate a profitable idea.
Welcome to the Chaospreneur podcast series!
If you are an entrepreneur you are probably living in chaos right now, and things are not going to improve anytime soon.
But you know what, the world needs people like you!
I am sharing this bonus series of my podcast The Side Plan, my day to day learnings on how to keep building your business in times of chaos.
I am calling it Chaospreneur.
Simple, brutally honest advice from an online entrepreneur in the trenches.
I hope that you enjoy it and find it useful.
For more episode go to francanete.com
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If you are creating content these days and building your online community around your business I don’t need to tell you how hard it is, right?
You are probably facing a few challenges right now:
- You don’t find the RIGHT target audience with which your content resonates.
- Some content gets some traction and other content doesn’t and, it doesn’t make any sense.
- Your content has some visits when you hit publish and share it on social media but after a few days, it gets lost on the internet.
- You have no time to create content consistently.
This is all normal if you are developing your content marketing strategy, because having some traction and see results takes time. Simple as that.
Luckily, I am interviewing this week on the podcast Arthur Gopak.
You can leave your review on iTunes here, a 5 ★★★★★ review will mean the world for me ;)
To see the episode show notes and much more go to: francanete.com/10
Ok, I’ve been there a lot of times.
You have created a new piece of content, you did your research, added lots of resources and actionable tips.
But when you hit publish, looks like nobody is interested in your content. Why? This is your topic and you are writing for your audience.
Let me tell you that behind that lays an uncomfortable truth. This is the fact that your audience is not interested in what you are talking about.
But let me be even more specific, because they actually don’t care about you, or me, they simply care about their problems.
And let’s be honest, that’s quite fair. They don’t owe you anything yet.
So in this episode, I am sharing with you the main reason why your audience is not paying attention to your content, and how you can fix this situation.
I’ll give you a clue using the words of my admired Joe Pulizzi:
“You are not the target of your content”
Did you enjoy the episode?
Please, don't forget to leave your ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review: francanete.com/itunes
Podcast show notes available here: francanete.com/podcast
Even if you are aware of it or not, your brand leaves an experience to your customers.
The way your clients interact with you, talk about you, engage with you and value your business and services is based on the brand experience that they got.
Good news is that Dino H Carter, brand expert is here today to share his experience with you and help you create a remarkable brand experience that engages your current clients and attract new ones.
Dino is the founder and owner of D Branding, a consultancy firm based in California. He is an experienced brand expert and has helped clients from many industries.
He confessed to me that what he likes more about his job is to help business owners to get excited again with their businesses!
And today you will get all that advice here.
We talked about the beauty of using storytelling and content marketing to build a business with UNIQUE values that stand out from your competitors.
And How many businesses make the mistake of not having a ‘customer-centric” brand strategy and how you can solve this problem.
You will find this and much more in today’s episode interview so get ready your notepad to write down the great tips and strategies that Dino is sharing with us today.
And remember that if you enjoy the show you can leave your 5-star review on iTunes and share the episode with your friends, colleagues anyone who needs to improve their brand experience and build a remarkable business.
Did you enjoy the episode?
Please, don't forget to leave your ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review: francanete.com/itunes
Podcast show notes available here: francanete.com/podcast
If you are growing your business using content marketing I am sure that you face this weird dilemma.
I know, weird name, but at least you are here reading what is this all about.
The thing is that when you are creating content and growing your business, you are investing a lot of time and resources in content creation and there is not much time left for other things.
Especially for us, small business owners and entrepreneurs.
You need time to create great content and attract new clients, but at the same time, you need that time to attend your current clients, right?
That’s the "Contentrepreneur" dilemma.
Well, in this week’s episode I show you how to repurpose your content to magnify the impact that you do with every piece of content.
Did you enjoy the episode?
Please, don't forget to leave your ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review: francanete.com/itunes
Podcast show notes available here: francanete.com/podcast
I want to share with you one of my biggest fears when I started creating content and sharing with my audience my knowledge and expertise.
I felt like a nobody. Totally ignore and undervalued by my clients.
That was a painful truth that I needed to deal with and I am sure you have suffered in one way or another as well.
It sucks, right?
I did this podcast episode to share with you some tips and tactics that I learned these years and how you can apply this to start building a meaningful business based on NON-REPLICABLE core values.
This is YOU and your STORY. That makes you unique and makes you connect with your true audience. That's the way you build a long-term business.
I'll tell you something, you can use many tools and techniques to put your products and services and content in front of your potential customers. SEO, PPC, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, you mane it.
All that is cool. Great techniques that will help you grow your business.
Just one problem...
There are thousands of people doing the same.
So then what? What makes you different? What makes your clients choose YOU and STAY with you so you can build a lifetime client portfolio?
Of course, you need something else. You need to offer UNIQUE value but you need to build a real relationship with them first, even before they become your customers.
That journey starts by telling your unique story and connecting with your 1,000 true fans.
I tell you what I've learned about all this in today's episode.
If you have enjoyed this episode you can leave your 5 Star Review Here. Thanks!
Podcast show notes available here: francanete.com/podcast
In this episode, you are going to learn how to design a marketing strategy roadmap to deliver to your audience the content they need at the moment that they need it.
Because not everybody is at the same stage, right?
Imagine that you are helping your audience to learn some new skill, and let’s say the mastering that skill goes from 0 to 10:
- Zero - you’ve never done it before
- 5 - you have some practice but still a lot to do
- 10 - you a master in the field
I am sure that you agree with me if I say that they need different material to progress from they are right now
If you deliver basic materials to someone in “stage-5” they will feel bored and say something like: “Puff, I already know all this…
And if you deliver advanced material to someone who just has started, they will feel overwhelmed.
See? Even if they want to achieve the same goal —master skill “X”— they need different content to feeling excited and get progress.
This is what I am going to share with you in this podcast episode.
How to adapt your content marketing strategy roadmap to deliver different content to the different segments of your audience.
If you do so, you’ll provoke in your audience’s mind an amazing feeling that you are talking just for them, like if you were whispering into their ears exactly what they need to hear.
If you have enjoyed this episode you can leave your 5 Star Review Here. Thanks!
Podcast show notes available here: francanete.com/podcast
Welcome to The Content Way!
If you are creating content, and I'm sure that you are. You are probably asking yourself questions like:
Why should I keep creating content if nobody is reading it?
Or, Is my content generating any sales at all?
That's absolutely normal and the reason why your content is not giving you any immediate results is because of content marketing IS NOT instantaneous.
It takes time.
But other than that I am sure that there are a few things that you are missing in your content foundation and in this week's episode I'll be sharing with you the most important.
Some of them almost make me quit on my "content adventure"
If you have enjoyed this episode you can leave your 5 Star Review Here. Thanks!
Podcast show notes available here: francanete.com/podcast
Welcome to The Content Way!
I was always overwhelmed about the idea of becoming an expert until this simple switch will make me see myself as an expert in so many areas and I became an expert INSTANTLY.
If you have enjoyed this episode you can leave your 5 Star Review Here. Thanks!
Podcast show notes available here: francanete.com/podcast
Welcome to The Content Way!
We live in a great moment in history to be an entrepreneur, every day more independent professionals are changing the way we do business. But there are is a HUGE question: How are you going to stand out of the crowd?
This is and much more in today's episode!
If you have enjoyed this episode you can leave your 5 Star Review Here. Thanks!
Podcast show notes available here: francanete.com/podcast
Welcome to The Content Way!
I' Fran Canete, an online entrepreneur that truly believes in a different way to build a business. Here you will learn how to create remarkable content that will help you build an online audience.
Like you, I am solopreneur, and I know how lonely this journey could be this is why I'm here to share with you EVERYTHING I learn on my journey of building my online business.
You'll find here the best content marketing tips, online marketing, LinkedIn, blogging, online business, entrepreneurship mindset, audience building, list building, online course, inbound marketing and much more! Welcome to The Content Way!
If you have enjoyed this episode you can leave your 5 Star Review Here. Thanks!
Podcast show notes available here: francanete.com/tcw0