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Episode Summary

Segment 1: Debunking High-Cost Myths

• Tom addresses the common misconception that expensive tools are necessary for success.
• He shares his perspective on why starting with high-cost solutions like ClickFunnels and HubSpot might not be the best approach for beginners.

Segment 2: The Low-Budget Advantage

• Explanation of the benefits of starting with more affordable tools.
• Tom discusses how these tools require more creativity and effort but are financially sensible before making significant profits.

Segment 3: Essential Tools for Starting Out

• Tom introduces his personal list of critical, low-budget tools and functions that have proven essential in his business journey.
• Discussion on the importance of each tool and how they contribute to business efficiency and growth.

Tool Highlights:

1. LinkedIn Pro:

Importance of the 'Who Viewed My Profile' feature for networking and business development.

Tips on subscribing to the job seeker level to save costs.

1. Custom Email:

The necessity of having a professional email linked to your domain for credibility.

1. ChatGPT Pro:

Benefits of faster response times in the Pro version to save time and enhance productivity.

1. Canva Pro:

How Canva Pro offers high-quality graphic design templates and tools, suitable even for those without a graphic design background.

1. Loom Pro:

Advantages of the Pro version of Loom for creating longer, more professional videos.

1. Elementor Pro:

Features of Elementor Pro for advanced web page building and the added functionalities like form redirections.

1. DocuSign:

Importance of DocuSign for professionalizing client conversion processes.

1. Yoast SEO Pro:

The value of the Pro version for enhancing website SEO and driving organic traffic.

1. Wordfence Pro:

Discusses the security features of Wordfence Pro, emphasizing its role in protecting websites from hacking and malware.

Segment 4: Practical Application and Accessibility

• Tom explains how each of these tools fits into the day-to-day management of an online business.
• Tips on how to effectively use these tools to maximize their potential without prior IT knowledge.

Conclusion:

• Tom encourages listeners to consider these tools as part of their foundational setup for an online business.
• He emphasizes the importance of starting simple and scaling up as the business grows and revenues increase.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur Accelerator Course

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/solopreneur-success-path/exclusive-content

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Introduction:

In this insightful episode of the "Solopreneur Success Path" Podcast, Tom Clairmont dives into the unconventional path of becoming a Solopreneur, highlighting why deviating from the norm can be a formidable yet rewarding endeavor.

Discussion Points:

1. Challenging Norms: Tom discusses the traditional job pathway—securing a stable job, progressing gradually, and aiming for retirement—as the accepted norm in society. He contrasts this with the Solopreneur's journey, which is inherently filled with risks and driven by personal dreams and ambitions.

2. The Catalyst for Change: Tom shares his personal tipping point which pushed him towards entrepreneurship. Faced with frustrating corporate changes and unfulfilling job prospects, his move was sparked not by a positive vision but from a desire to escape a negative work environment. This, Tom explains, is a common trigger for many who venture into Solopreneurship.

3. The Reality of Starting Out: Initial challenges are abundant—working without pay, enduring setbacks, and slowly building credibility. Tom stresses the importance of identifying a target audience and refining a business offering, which are crucial for gradual success.

4. Achieving Success: Over time, with the right strategy and persistence, solopreneurs can start seeing substantial income, altering the perception of friends and family who might have once doubted their path.

5. Community and Support: Tom emphasizes that although being a solopreneur might feel isolating, there is a vibrant community of like-minded individuals who offer support, guidance, and validation. Networking within these groups can provide essential strategies and clarity.

6. Advice for Aspiring Solopreneurs: Concluding the episode, Tom advises listeners to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams with a clear plan and strategy. Learning from others' mistakes and successes can significantly streamline one's journey towards becoming a successful solopreneur.

Conclusion: Tom reassures listeners that stepping out of the conventional career path to start something of their own is not just about financial gain but fulfilling personal growth and achieving freedom. While it might seem daunting initially, the journey of a solopreneur is one of transformation and profound personal achievement.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur Accelerator Course

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/solopreneur-success-path/exclusive-content

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Episode Summary

In this episode of the Solopreneur Success Path, host Tom Clairmont delves into the top five challenges (your list might be different) that solopreneurs face in 2024. Drawing from his extensive experience and conversations with numerous solopreneurs, Tom offers insights and practical advice on navigating these common struggles.

1 Failing vs. Being Wrong: Tom emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between failure and making mistakes. He encourages solopreneurs to adopt a positive mindset, learn from their mistakes, and view setbacks as opportunities for growth.

2 First Year Success: Tom addresses the myth of immediate success for first-time solopreneurs. He shares his own journey, highlighting the importance of adjusting expectations, being patient, and embracing the learning curve during the initial year of business.

3 Short-term vs. Long-term Decisions: Tom discusses the balance between making short-term gains and building a solid long-term foundation. He advises solopreneurs to be mindful of their decisions and to focus on establishing a sustainable business model.

4 Wearing Too Many Hats: Tom acknowledges the overwhelming nature of managing various aspects of a business alone. He suggests practical solutions like hiring part-time help or retaining specialists to alleviate the burden and maintain focus on core strengths.

5 Maintaining a Positive Mindset: Tom underscores the significance of a positive outlook in overcoming isolation and uncertainty. He shares his personal strategies, such as regular meet-and-greet sessions and daily walks, to stay motivated and inspired.

Tune in to this insightful episode to gain valuable tips and strategies for overcoming the common struggles of solopreneurs in 2024.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur Accelerator Course

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/solopreneur-success-path/exclusive-content

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Summary:

In this episode of the Solopreneur Success Path, host Tom Clairmont welcomes Kayla McGuire, a seasoned strategic advisor and project management coach based in Bentonville, Arkansas. Kayla is the founder of Kayla McGuire Consulting, where she has dedicated over 15 years to helping entrepreneurs launch and scale their startups.

Kayla shares her journey from being a project manager in a tech startup to becoming a successful freelancer. She discusses the pivotal moments that led her to start her own consulting business in 2020, including the challenges she faced and how she leveraged her skills to overcome them.

Tom and Kayla dive into the essentials of project management, emphasizing the importance of communication, collaboration, and leadership. Kayla highlights how modern project management tools and AI are transforming the industry, allowing project managers to focus more on strategic and human-centric skills.

Kayla also talks about her contributions to the book Executing Excellence, co-authored by ten project managers, and how LinkedIn has been instrumental in her career. She provides insights into her approach to coaching aspiring project managers and entrepreneurs, helping them navigate the complexities of freelancing and business growth.

As the episode wraps up, Kayla shares her vision for the future of her business, aiming to expand her coaching services and continue supporting small business founders. Listeners are encouraged to connect with Kayla on LinkedIn or through her website for further insights and guidance.

Tune in to this inspiring episode to learn more about the dynamic world of project management and the path to becoming a successful solopreneur.

Kayla McGuire on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaylamcguire/

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur Accelerator Course

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/solopreneur-success-path/exclusive-content

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Summary:

Welcome to another episode of the "Solopreneur Success Path" podcast!

Today, we're joined by Ami Hendrickson, a renowned author coach from Southwest Michigan.

Ami specializes in guiding thought leaders through the intricate process of writing books that truly resonate and reflect their expertise. With a background in ghostwriting, screenwriting, and stage play writing, Ami has shifted her focus towards empowering new authors with simple, effective strategies for crafting polished manuscripts.

Throughout her career, Ami has helped numerous clients become bestselling authors. Her approach demystifies the often overwhelming process of writing, making it an enjoyable journey for aspiring authors. Whether you've been told you should write a book, or have a burgeoning idea you're eager to manifest on paper, Ami is the expert you'd want to guide you through this creative expedition.

In today's conversation, Ami shares her transition from writing and teaching to becoming a mentor who teaches others to excel in writing. She delves into the philosophy that teaching someone to write allows them to create indefinitely, rather than continually depending on ghostwriters. Ami's passion for teaching shines through as she explains how empowering others to write enriches their understanding and ownership of their work, making every word authentically theirs.

Join us as Ami discusses her unique path from personal writing projects to becoming a beacon for those looking to make their mark in the literary world. Her insights are invaluable for anyone standing at the threshold of their writing journey, hesitant about the first steps but eager to tell their story.

Why You Should ListenIf you're on the verge of writing a book or have contemplated it for a while, this episode with Ami Hendrickson is a must-listen. Her expertise not only simplifies the complex world of book writing but also inspires with practical tips that turn daunting tasks into manageable projects.

Ami's approach helps listeners understand that with the right guidance, the journey of writing a book can be as fulfilling as the outcome. Tune in to demystify the writing process and discover how you can start penning down your thoughts with clarity and confidence today!

Ami Hendrickson Contact Info:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ami-hendrickson/

Tom Clairmont Contact Info:

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/solopreneur-success-path/exclusive-content

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Summary

In this compelling episode of the "Solopreneur Success Path" podcast, host Tom Clairmont has an insightful conversation with Saarim Asady, a standout LinkedIn strategy coach.

Saarim shares the intriguing tale of how he pivoted from running a marketing business to mastering LinkedIn, emphasizing techniques to maximize its use without costly tools like Sales Navigator or paid ads.

Saarim's entrepreneurial spirit shines through as he recounts his journey, starting with his early business ventures at just nine years old and evolving into a passionate digital marketer by his university years. His story is filled with candid moments of challenges and breakthroughs, offering listeners an authentic glimpse into the life of a persistent entrepreneur who transformed setbacks into learning opportunities.

Listeners will find great value in Saarim's practical advice on leveraging LinkedIn to gain clients and grow a business effectively. His approach is not just about professional networking; it’s about creating meaningful connections and content that resonates with his audience.

Saarim’s narrative is not only motivational but also a testament to the power of believing in oneself and relentlessly pursuing one’s goals. His personal anecdotes and professional tips combined make this episode a must-listen for anyone looking to enhance their LinkedIn strategy or seeking inspiration to pivot in their career path.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Overview:

In this episode of the "Small Business Start Up Essentials" podcast, Tom Clairmont talks with Susan Shier, founder of Shier Impact, which focuses on back office administration and organization for small businesses. With a career spanning nearly four decades in administrative roles, Susan shares her journey from working in large corporations like IBM and Hewlett Packard to launching her own venture that helps business owners streamline their operations.

Key Discussion Points:

Background and Experience: Susan details her extensive background in administrative roles within major corporations. Her career is marked by a passion for creating order from chaos, which she has seamlessly transitioned into her own business, leveraging her skills to provide clarity and structure for small businesses.

Transition to Entrepreneurship: The pivotal moment in Susan's career came when she was laid off from Hewlett Packard. This setback prompted her to reevaluate her career path and consider entrepreneurship. Initially, Susan took on small, part-time jobs to make ends meet, which eventually illuminated the potential of turning her skill set into a full-time business.

Business Evolution: Susan's business, initially named "Peace of Mind Assistance," started with a focus on lifestyle management but eventually shifted back to her roots in administrative work. She discusses the evolution of her services and the realization that her core competencies in back office tasks were most valuable to her clients.

Challenges and Adjustments: Navigating the shift from employee to business owner was not without challenges. Susan discusses the mental and emotional hurdles she faced, including dealing with depression and anxiety. The support from a life coach and a strong personal network helped her gain the confidence needed to push her business forward.

Future Plans: Looking ahead, Susan is content with the current scale of her business but is open to developing digital products to reach a broader audience. Her goal is to continue providing high-level executive assistance while possibly expanding her educational offerings through online courses.

Conclusion: Susan Shier's story is a testament to the resilience and adaptability required to transition from a traditional corporate role to entrepreneurship. Her journey underscores the importance of leveraging personal strengths and experiences to fill a niche in the market, providing valuable insights for anyone considering a similar path.

Susan Shier's Contact Info:

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanshier/

Website: https://go-simple.me/

Tom Clairmont Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Solopreneur Success Plan Online Course

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Overview:

In this episode of the "Small Business Start-Up Essentials" podcast, Tom Clairmont talks with Jacqueline Ndong, a former corporate support manager at Citrix who transitioned into a career coach based in Milan, Italy.

Jacqueline shares her journey from the corporate world to launching her own business as a career coach specializing in empowering women to achieve professional success.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Career Background:

2. Jacqueline recounts her time as a support manager at Citrix, where she excelled in her role but felt limited in opportunities to help her team grow. Despite enjoying her job and achieving success, she experienced a growing dissatisfaction with the corporate restrictions on employee development.

3. Transition to Entrepreneurship:

4. Her pivot to career coaching was driven by a desire to focus more on people rather than technical aspects of her job. Jacqueline wanted to assist other women in navigating the challenges she faced in a male-dominated industry. The decision to leave Citrix came after the company underwent a merger, providing her with a natural exit point. She meticulously planned her departure, including financial preparations and leveraging company layoffs to negotiate a favorable exit package.

5. Building a New Career:

6. Jacqueline detailed her strategic approach to becoming a career coach, which involved saving money, obtaining necessary certifications, and hiring a coach to guide her transition. This preparation allowed her to leave her corporate job confidently and start her coaching business with a clear focus on aiding professional women.

7. Challenges and Adjustments:

8. Starting a new business brought challenges, including managing work-life balance and overcoming self-doubt. Jacqueline emphasizes the importance of having a support system, particularly highlighting the support from her husband, which was crucial during her transition and ongoing entrepreneurial journey.

9. Advice for Others:

10. For those contemplating a similar move, Jacqueline advises thorough self-assessment to understand personal motivations and unhappiness in current roles. She stresses the importance of planning and not rushing the transition, highlighting that understanding one’s strengths and having a financial safety net are vital.

Conclusion:

Jacqueline’s story is a testament to the power of strategic planning and the pursuit of passion. Her experience underscores the importance of preparing both financially and emotionally for significant career changes and the value of support systems in navigating such transitions.

Her journey from a successful corporate manager to a fulfilled career coach offers valuable insights for anyone looking to make a similar shift.

Jacqueline Ndong on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelinendong/

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Episode Summary:

Overview: In this engaging podcast episode, the host, Thomas, deviates from his usual format of interviewing individuals who have left the corporate world to start their businesses. Instead, he introduces Gabor Stramb, a program manager from the UK who is in the process of building his exit from his current corporate role in the oil, gas, and telecom industries.

Key Discussion Points:

Gabor's Background and Current Role: Gabor works as a program manager and in his spare time, helps individuals prepare for the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam. He has developed a significant following through his newsletter, boasting 7,000 subscribers.

Journey to PMP Certification: Gabor discusses his challenging path to obtaining PMP certification, which took three years and multiple attempts. His experience of failing the exam initially and then successfully devising a method to pass within eight weeks has led him to mentor others through his unique approach.

Developing the Side Hustle: The conversation explores how Gabor began his side business unintentionally, which blossomed as he started to teach others how he passed the PMP exam. His approach emphasizes efficiency, promising certification preparation within eight weeks.

Newsletter Growth and Strategy: Gabor elaborates on how he grew his newsletter audience rapidly within a year, highlighting his impressive open rate of 47%. He credits his success to targeted content that resonates with project managers and aligns with professional standards, rather than pursuing a broad, unfocused approach.

Balancing Corporate Life and Side Hustle: Gabor and Thomas discuss the challenges of managing a demanding job and a growing side business, emphasizing the importance of structured time management and strategic planning. Gabor's method involves meticulous scheduling and prioritization, ensuring he maintains balance across his professional and personal life.

Future Plans and Exit Strategy: Looking forward, Gabor shares his aspirations to eventually transition fully from his corporate role to his entrepreneurial venture, aiming to establish himself as a trusted authority in project management. He plans to leverage platforms like LinkedIn and YouTube to expand his influence and subscriber base.

Conclusion: The episode closes with reflections on the personal and professional transformations that come with building a side business. Both speakers share insights on the potential and pitfalls of such endeavors, providing listeners with both inspiration and practical advice on navigating their paths from corporate roles to independent business ownership.

Gabor Stramb on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabor-stramb/

Online Calendar: https://calendly.com/gabor_stramb/

Tom Clairmont's Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Episode Summary:

Today, I'm excited to dive into a topic that's been on my mind lately: why I decided to hire a LinkedIn coach. You see, I've been on LinkedIn for years, but I never really tapped into its full potential until recently.

It all started when I realized that despite my tech background and knack for DIY, there were certain areas where I could use some expert guidance. After researching various LinkedIn experts, I stumbled upon one whose content really resonated with me. I booked a free strategy session, and after chatting with him and seeing his track record, I was sold.

Now, I'll be honest, the cost gave me pause at first. But after weighing the potential return on investment and consulting with my wife, we decided to take the plunge. And let me tell you, it's been one of the best decisions I've made for my business.

Since enrolling in the coaching program, I've seen incredible growth in my LinkedIn presence and overall business. The personalized strategy, ongoing support, and practical guidance have been invaluable.

So, why am I sharing this with you? Because I want you to know that seeking expert help isn't a sign of weakness—it's a smart business move. Whether it's LinkedIn coaching or support in another area, investing in specialized guidance can supercharge your growth and open up new opportunities.

So, as you navigate your own entrepreneurial journey, don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Trust me, it can make all the difference. Thanks for tuning in, and until next time, keep chasing those business dreams!

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of the Small Business Startup Essentials Podcast, Tom Clairmont dives deep into the vital topic of client acquisition and the essential systems for achieving it. Focused on streamlining processes, Tom shares his insights and personal experiences in incorporating effective systems into his business, aiming to guide listeners toward more efficient client acquisition strategies.

Tom begins by demystifying marketing funnels for newcomers, explaining the "know, like, trust, try, buy" process. He emphasizes the importance of flooding the top of the funnel with targeted prospects to ensure a smoother transition through the funnel stages, detailed by the acronyms TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU. Tom stresses the need for a client attraction system, client conversion system, and client nurturing system, intricately woven into the business's foundation, to facilitate this journey.

Highlighting content creation's critical role in attracting clients, Tom insists on a clear understanding of the target audience to ensure the marketing funnel is filled with qualified prospects. He shares practical tips on website design, leveraging SEO with the Yoast plugin, and optimizing LinkedIn profiles to enhance visibility and attract the right audience.

Tom provides a detailed walkthrough of his strategies for LinkedIn, including profile optimization using Canva Pro, engaging posts, and targeted connection invites based on event participation. He also discusses leveraging webinars, podcasts, and email marketing to funnel potential clients into the engagement process.

As listeners move through the middle part of the funnel, the client conversion system comes into play, aiming to transform observers into potential clients. Tom shares his approach to building trust and authority through complimentary Zoom calls, offering a glimpse into his training program and onboarding process, facilitated by tools like DocuSign to streamline the signup process.

Finally, Tom addresses the client nurturing system, focusing on delivering exceptional value to create "raging fan customers" and encourage referrals, thus bypassing the traditional marketing funnel. He outlines options for clients to engage with his services at various levels, from online training videos to comprehensive training programs, with opportunities for upgrades and continued engagement through monthly retainers.

This episode is not just a guide but a comprehensive blueprint for small business owners and solopreneurs aiming to establish or refine their client acquisition systems. Tom encourages listeners to reach out for his ebook or connect with him directly for more in-depth insights and assistance.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur Success Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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I just wanted to explain why I'm doing a slight rebrand for the Show and how I wanted the front line image to reflect better with the content of the Podcast.

Thanks for listening and your continued support and encouragement along the way.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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In this episode of the Small Business Startup Essentials Podcast, host Tom Clairmont delves into the critical aspect of income goals in the entrepreneurial journey. Here's a summary of the key points and insights covered in this episode:

1. Importance of Clear Income Goals: Tom emphasizes the significance of setting clear income objectives in the entrepreneurial journey. These goals serve as essential markers to measure progress and prevent complacency.
2. Mindset of Proactive Growth: Setting income goals is not an act of greed but a proactive mindset for solopreneurs. Success in business requires continuously pushing forward and adapting to an ever-changing landscape.
3. Avoid Complacency with Stable Income: While stable income is an achievement, Tom cautions against complacency. Solopreneurs should not rely solely on a single substantial client for their income, as it can lead to vulnerability if the client's circumstances change.
4. Continue Striving for Growth: Solopreneurs should maintain their drive and urgency to secure new clients continually, even when they have stable income. Tom encourages a mindset of ongoing growth and expansion.
5. Consider Hiring a Virtual Assistant: To free up time for strategic activities and avoid over-reliance on a single client, Tom suggests considering hiring a virtual assistant. Delegating lower-level tasks can enhance efficiency and business growth.
6. Embrace Holistic Growth: Growth should encompass various aspects of life, including emotional, health-related, and overall well-being. Solopreneurs should continuously review, modify, and improve their goals, remaining in a state of continuous learning.
7. Invest in a Virtual Assistant: Despite the challenges in finding the right virtual assistant, Tom believes that this investment is instrumental in maintaining momentum and achieving consistent progress in a solopreneur's journey.
8. Avoid Self-Sabotage: Tom's powerful message to solopreneurs is to avoid self-sabotage and keep moving forward. Constant growth and momentum are essential, even during periods of financial success.

This episode serves as a reminder that success in entrepreneurship is not solely financial but encompasses various facets of life. Solopreneurs should strive for growth in all areas, continuously adapt to change, and remain proactive in their pursuit of success.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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In this episode, your host, Tom Clairmont, explores the challenges of being a solopreneur and the constant quest for making business operations easier without compromising quality. Tom introduces a lead magnet he created called "The Tools We Use," which provides valuable insights into online tools he personally uses in the business startup process.

Tom acknowledges the perpetual need for new tools, especially in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI. He shares his recent experiences with using Chat GPT, highlighting how it's become an indispensable tool for generating content and fulfilling various roles within his business.

Tom goes on to discuss specific scenarios in which he has utilized Chat GPT. From transforming podcast transcripts into engaging summaries to crafting website content, generating lead magnet ideas, and even exploring children's book concepts, Tom showcases the versatile applications of AI-powered content generation.

Additionally, he emphasizes the growing role of virtual assistants, made more efficient by AI tools, in small businesses. Tom encourages listeners to leverage these technologies to streamline their operations and enhance productivity.

Throughout the episode, Tom emphasizes the importance of embracing AI tools, such as Chat GPT, as valuable resources to simplify and enhance business processes. He invites listeners to share their own experiences and questions related to AI tools by emailing him at tom@tomclairmont.com.

As the episode concludes, Tom leaves his audience with a sense of empowerment, reinforcing that AI is a valuable ally in the entrepreneurial journey, simplifying tasks and expanding possibilities.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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In this podcast episode, Tom Clairmont takes on the myths and misconceptions surrounding launching an online business later in life, sharing valuable insights and debunking common misconceptions. Here's a summary of the key points covered:

· Age Is Just a Number: Tom emphasizes that age should not deter anyone from pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams. Regardless of age, there's ample time to achieve success, and opportunities are not limited by a narrow time frame.

· Risk and Financial Stability: Tom challenges the belief that starting something new later in life is riskier. He argues that having financial stability and resources accumulated over the years can actually reduce the risk associated with launching a new venture.

· Tech Savviness Isn't a Must: Tom dispels the myth that one needs to be a tech guru to succeed online. With the abundance of tech resources, courses, and virtual assistants available, lack of tech expertise should not hold anyone back.

· Cost of Starting: Tom highlights that starting an online business or podcast doesn't have to be costly. There are affordable options, including freelancers and AI tools, making it accessible to those on a budget.

· Building Speed: The speed of building a business depends on available resources and goals. Tom emphasizes that it's possible to start small and grow over time, dispelling the notion that it will take too long to establish a business.

· Action and Decision-Making: Tom encourages taking action and making decisions, emphasizing that the fear of making the wrong choice shouldn't deter aspiring entrepreneurs. Mistakes are part of the journey and provide valuable lessons.

· The Right Mindset: Tom acknowledges that not everyone is cut out for entrepreneurship. It requires motivation, decisiveness, resilience, and belief in oneself. Without the right mindset, success can be elusive.

Listeners are left with a clearer understanding that age should not be a barrier to pursuing entrepreneurial dreams. Tom's insights challenge common myths and offer a fresh perspective on starting an online business later in life.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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In this episode, Tom Clairmont reflects on being 60 years old and facing the timeless struggle of having numerous ideas and dreams but limited time and focus to pursue them.

He recounts a recent conversation with an old coach who shared similar struggles. Living in a land of opportunities and embracing capitalism can lead to the belief that success in one area can lead to success in all areas, which isn't necessarily true.

Tom discusses the overwhelming influx of creative ideas and the challenges of being a solo entrepreneur with limited hours in a day. They touch on the fear of missing out when witnessing others' success in different areas.

Tom emphasizes the importance of strategic prioritization, taming the creative mind, and focusing on one venture at a time while keeping other ideas in a journal for future exploration.

He encourages listeners to enjoy the journey, recognize that success goes beyond wealth, embrace patience, and stay open to new opportunities. The key takeaway is that mastering one venture before moving to the next is often the path to genuine success and life fulfillment.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Summary:

We're talking about the crucial first step in building your online business foundation: having a clear vision. But you know what's equally important? Turning that vision into a reality.

Why This Information Is So Important:

Look, starting a business can be thrilling, but it's also packed with challenges, especially when you're taking the plunge later in life. Your vision is like your guiding star, but transforming it into a workable plan can feel like navigating uncharted waters. That's why this episode matters.

Why You Should Absolutely Tune In:

Setting Clear Goals: You'll discover why it's essential to break those big, audacious goals into manageable steps. I'll share how to prioritize them and even add a bit of urgency to keep you on track. Trust me; this can make all the difference.

Overcoming Procrastination and Distraction: Who hasn't battled procrastination and distractions? I've been there too. I'll reveal some strategies to tackle these productivity killers head-on so you can stay focused and get things done.

Lack of Planning: Planning is your roadmap to success. But not just any plan; it needs structure. I'll talk about why having daily and weekly goals, plus a to-do list that's actually doable, is crucial. Keeping it simple is my mantra, and I'll explain why.

Information Overload: We're in the age of information overload. I recently did a little test with Google, and trust me, it can get overwhelming. I'll share how to cut through the noise, find reliable info, and avoid drowning in data.

Maintaining Motivation: Let's face it, motivation can be sky-high when you start, but it often fizzles out. I'll talk about finding your "why" and keeping that fire burning, even when the going gets tough. It's all about visualizing your success.

So, if you're thinking about launching a business, especially if you're a bit further down the road of life, this episode is your go-to guide. It's packed with real-world advice and solutions to help you navigate the tricky terrain of turning your vision into a thriving reality. Don't miss it!

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

www.tomclairmont.com

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Summary

Hey there, it's Tom Clairmont, and welcome back to the Small Business Startup Essentials show. Today, we're diving into a topic that's becoming increasingly challenging in the digital age: maintaining focus and productivity, especially for home-based businesses like mine.

If I'm grappling with these distractions, chances are, you are too.

As time goes on, we're bombarded with more and more distractions. Our phones, the internet, and social media are just a few culprits. I've found that to stay on track, I have to power down my phone or put it out of reach.

I even have to close my email and limit TV time to meal breaks. Otherwise, productivity takes a nosedive, and my to-do list goes haywire, especially on Mondays.

Social media deserves special mention because it's designed to be addictive. Even though I'm not a fan of many platforms myself, I know people who struggle with constant social media engagement.

With a home-based business, discipline and focus are vital to staying productive because time flies, and if we're not careful, we'll wonder where it all went.

I've started incorporating exercise into my routine, which, while great for health, adds an unexpected layer of fatigue to my day. But there are other reasons distractions creep in.

When you work from home, there's a built-in distraction—the comfort of your surroundings. It's easy to get lost in the view or other non-essential tasks.

Working from home also means less external structure and accountability. Procrastination can creep in, and it's tempting to put things off. Meetings with clients can sometimes spiral into unproductive discussions, and self-accountability often takes a back seat.

It's not meant to be discouraging, but I wanted to share my struggles because I believe in keeping it real.

Recognizing these challenges upfront can help you prepare better and establish the discipline and structure needed for a successful home-based business.

Let's tackle these issues head-on because they're not likely to get easier in the future.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

I'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Today I have with me author, co founder and Chief Technology Officer of Yembo, Zach Rattner. Zach recently wrote a book called Grow Up Fast.

I recommend this book to anyone that’s thinking of launching a startup or maybe already launched one and need some guidance on how to navigate through the process.

Zach currently lives in San Diego CA with his wife and family and has some good insight for us on making that transition out of the Corporate environment to having a successful business.

Author's Playbook Online Course

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Tom's 3 hour online course to help you get started as a new Entrepreneur: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

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You’ve been waiting….months…years and for what? The Right time? The right economy? The right situation?

And how’s the wait been going for you? Are things getting better for you, or worse? Like it or not, the clock is ticking. You don’t have unlimited time to do the things you want to do and to be the person you want to be.

What are you waiting for?

The what if’s we think are normally the negative thoughts of…what if I fail? What if it doesn’t work out? What if I don’t get the support? What if I run out of money? What if I never sell anything? What if I can’t do what I say I can do? There’s a never ending supply of negative ‘what if’ thoughts.

Then there are the ‘why’s’. Why now? Why not later? Why should I listen to this person and not that person? But my question to you is: Why do the negative thoughts flow so easily, but you need to be convinced over and over again to try to think positively about your future and about your chances and how you too can be successful just like millions of other people…just like you are?

Maybe you’re thinking that the economy is getting worse and that’s stopping you?

Maybe the soundtrack in your head keeps playing the same negative tune and that’s stopping you?

Stop living in the past and start living in the present. You be YOUR biggest fan. Don’t rely on others to give you the confidence that you need. Do I want all my family and friends to agree with me and fully understand and approve what I’m doing and why I do it? Yes.

But I know that’s never going to happen, so I’m past that now. I don’t need everyone’s approval. Some people just don’t understand…and will never understand why you don’t get that degree THEY think you should get, and just go out and get a better job. Some people will never understand that entrepreneurial perspective that flows so easily inside of you.

Is the economy going to ever provide you with the perfect time? No

Will your confidence level ever be at the perfect level for you to believe in yourself? No

Will you ever get ALL the support you think you need so you can start doing this ‘thing’ that you do so well? Probably not.

The time is now. Not tomorrow, not next week; not when you’re feeling up to it. Not when you have a bigger bank account. Not when somebody else says it’s OK. It’s now. Why am I so sure it’s now when I don’t even know you?

Well, if this is you…if You’ve waited long enough and you’ve come up with all the excuses that everyone else comes up with for why you can’t be successful, then that’s how I know that this is your time and that you are the person.

There is only one of you on this planet. So whatever you’re telling yourself about how others can do the same thing better then you, that’s not true. Take your experiences and expertise and your talents and put them all together.

The world needs you now. People need what you can do now. People need to know what you know now and they’re looking for someone just like you to help them.

Take a look around, friend. Is the world getting better? Or is the world getting crazier? From my perspective, it’s getting crazier. That’s why I’m asking you…imploring you to speak up. Speak out. Do whatever you need to do. Even if you don’t have all the confidence you think you need. It’s time for you to finally take action. If you need help, there’s plenty of people out there that will help you; including me.

You don’t need to be a superhero. You don’t need to act like a superhero. You don’t need to act like anybody other than who you are. You don’t need to change who you are.

Can you accomplish all that you will ever hope to do? Probably not. I know I can’t. But I do what I can do. And that’s what I’m asking of you as well. Do what you can do.

The time is now and you are the person. Whether it’s starting a business or starting a Podcast. Start something.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

I'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

www.tomclairmont.com

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New entrepreneurs get advice from a lot of different sources- There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of information. From YouTube, and Google searches, from Quora.

The list goes on and on. We live in an information age now and we can pretty much talk. To our smartwatch. And ask at anything we need to know.

Everybody has a slightly different perspective As well. And that doesn’t make it any easier to figure out. What we should do or shouldn’t do. What path to take? And how to take it.

What works for one person may not work for someone else There’s no secret sauce. There’s no formula on success. I was just telling my daughter yesterday after she was telling me she wants to start a business that even the experts tell us.

Try something. See if it works. If it doesn’t work, you try something else. What worked for me may not work for you. Now there are general principles in place that are sort of generic. And yes, there is a right and a wrong way to do some things for sure. But as far as what resonates with people.

For your product or service and how you’re presenting it. And how that lines up with your experience. You may or may not be able to reach your target audience as effectively as somebody else who’s doing the same thing.

Nobody wants to fail. We all want to succeed But success comes after. The failures Success comes after we’ve tried something. And it didn’t work. But we learned from that experience. And what not to do in order. To reach our target audience more effectively with a better pitch, a better angle. A different approach. A better product, a better service.

Surely if we ‘do it the right way’ we’re more likely to succeed But what is the right way?

What is ‘the right way’?

How would you define ‘doing it right’? My rate might not be your right. It might be right for me and wrong for you. It might be right for you and wrong for me. It’s all subjective.

There’s a low budget ‘right’ way and a big budget ‘right’ way. Both are totally different.

I’ve found that. Most new entrepreneurs have the smaller budget approach at first until They are able to build their business. And along with that, build their bank account.

But even while we’re still on that smaller budget even while we Still have that smaller bank account. We can get caught up in the mindset that others have that are on larger budgets in order to ‘do it right’

Now don’t forget. There’s A never ending supply of online tools for your toolbelt to help you on your path to success. Some are free, some are low cost and some are quite expensive

the marketing tools seem to be the more pricier ones. Here are a few of the more popular ones and the kind of money you’ll shell out

· Kajabi is a very popular online tool that will help you sell your products through funnels and landing pages, you can have a website developed, throw in email marketing…but it’s going to cost you between $150-$200/a month

· Hubspot is another very popular source for not only launching but building your business with a wide range of online tools at your disposal, but that can cost you anywhere between $450 and $800/month

· Clickfunnels is another very popular small business marketing site that offers sales funnels for your products. And this one is the cheaper option, if you really want to call it that. Clickfunnels will run you between $130-$160/month

These tools are great if you have the structure, volume and staff in place to support it. You will need a team of marketing specialists to work these tools properly there’s a mountain of work to do to use these tools.

But if you’re paying for them but need time to put the foundation in place, you’re paying for something you can’t even use for quite some time and time is not something you’ll have the privilege of wasting. Once you sign up for these services, the clock is ticking.

Every month you will be charged. No doubt about that. So the trick is, how do you sign up for one of these expensive monthly services and then get your product or service up and running fast enough using these services so that you can start making money?

That’s the dilemma that a lot of people have when they sign up for these pricy monthly services.

· You’ll need your digital products and services in place ASAP

· You’ll need your online coursed finished and ready to market and sell ASAP

· You’ll need your email marketing in place and fully functioning ASAP

But this is the dilemma that a lot of people face. Each one of these three things I just listed takes a lot of time in and of itself. All three of these together may take you a full year.

Paying for one of these high ticket tools for a year and not being able to use it is a huge waste of many thousands of dollars. Now that wasn’t part of the plan, when you signed up for these types of expensive, pricey services.

If this happened to you I’m sure you didn’t see it coming when you saw your money being flushed down the drain. And if this did happen to you, I sure am sorry about that and it’s probably under the guise of being told that this is the right way to do it. “If you’re going to do something, do it right.” Right?

That’s what we’re always told. If you’re going to do something, do it right. The problem with that advice is that somebody else’s right way may not be your right way. Somebody else’s budget and mindset may be quite different than your budget and your mindset.

This is why you will never hear me say through my coaching “If you’re going to do it, do it right.” Not that I don’t want you to do it the right way. It’s just that you need to determine for yourself what’s right for your business.

I can tell you what worked for me. I can tell you what’s right for me. But you need to determine what’s right for you.

Because, if you want to use tools like these, you need to be up and running as fast as possible. You see, I take the low budget approach and always will. If you’re able to quickly build a skilled team and build that foundation for the marketing funnels you’ll need, then great.

Otherwise, be careful. Maxing out your CC or taking out a loan for your startup can be a huge financial risk, and that’s why I’ve seen a lot of businesses come and go throughout my 21 years of being in business. They want to start strong.

They want to hit the ground running they’re very optimistic. They have big, big goals and dreams. I get that. But when they start too strong it can be easy to get in over your head very fast. So if we ever have the pleasure of working together through my one on one or online group coaching my advice is always going to come from the slow and steady approach.

Again, I’ve been in business for over 20 years because of the slow and steady approach.

So if you’re thinking about signing up for pricey marketing services all I’m asking is that you think it through to make sure to make sure that you have the foundation in place in advance so that you don’t get caught up into the whirlwind of success too early and you find yourself in over your head as well. OK?

If you want a low budget alternative, I teach this in my coaching and online course. You can set up a great landing page for your lead magnet through MailerLite and the best thing about this is that the email integration is already built in.

Now, if you haven’t heard me say this yet, MailerLite is free for the first 1,000 email subscribers. And the paid version after that is only $9/month. Did you hear that? Only $9/month. Now, do you get all the bells and whistles that the other services get for their $200 or $500/month? No. But you’ll probably either not need or use those bells and whistles either. So why pay for it?

If you can work through the funnel process on your own, (and I have a Podcast episode on using mind mapping), then you can save yourself a TON of money.

Is this a lot of work? Yes. But it always is. Even if you’re spending $800/month on a pricy service that will do SOME of the work for you. I said SOME. There’s still a lot of work for you to do even though you’re giving them the price of a small car each year.

Is it work? Yes. Can you do it? Yes. Can you do it alone? Maybe. But if you need help, myself…or many others out there can help you through the process.

You’ll get there. It always takes time, but hey, if I can do it, then so can you.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

I'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Hey friend, welcome back to another episode of the Small Business Startup Essentials Podcast where I like to cover topics that are sometimes generic, but sometimes personal to me as well.

In this episode, I’m going to talk a little bit about why I’ll never retire.

But as I was thinking about this, it sort of got me wondering what retirement is anyway?

You know what is retirement? Is it to stop all effective formal sort of work? Just do nothing but poke around all day long or play golf?

Mow the yard over and over again? (like my retired neighbor does…don’t get me wrong, he’s a great guy, he’s just bored)

I watched my father retire at a very early age because he spent 30 years at a manufacturing plant. And after he officially retired, he officially laid down in bed and stayed there most of the day.

I see some of my neighbors that are in retirement and they spend most of the day trying to figure out what to do with their day. So I certainly don’t want to fall into that trap, but what would I retire from? You know:

· learning?

· Helping people?

· making an impact?

· having influence?

I know that retirement means different things to different people, but I guess for the scope of this episode, we’ll just frame it in the context of ‘officially working’.

Now if that meant that I’d never had a job again, that would be one thing. But when you’re self employed, or a soleopreneur, and you have a business, there is no job. But the mindset of the business being a job could still be there.

That’s not me. And just as an extra side note, I’m also married to somebody who has the same perspective. She also said ‘I’m never going to retire.’ You know, it’s just she always wants to be involved in either learning or teaching or making an impact one way or another.

Whether it’s creating online courses or tutoring people in higher education. So I’m only mentioning this because it’s also a significant source of influence as well.

But some people say they’ll never retire because they need the financial security. They need extra income. They don’t want to rely just on Social Security or pensions that they may have. They want to continually create a source of income. And I get that. I’m not criticizing that. That’s a good goal.

Some people say they’ll never retire because they have a passion for their work. They just don’t want to don’t want to stop doing what they love doing. And that’s me. I can relate to that. That’s a huge reason why I say I’ll never retire.

You know, to some or even a lot of people, the work that they do in their business gives them a sense of purpose and growth and fulfillment. They see themselves as contributing to something meaningful. If you’re involved in a non nonprofit organization, you’ll get a good taste of that.

For some people the concept of continual professional development fuels them to keep going no matter how old they are. They want to keep learning. They want to keep developing. They want to be relevant in their field or in their industry or to the community.

For some just the social interaction is a big factor in why they’d like to continue to do what they do. Some people just fear being isolated from prior connections to networks that they built over the decades.

Having that mental stimulation and staying active and engaged can really help keep the mind to stay sharp and prevent boredom every single day.

But also, if we say we’re going to retire, which means we’re sort of ceasing to be involved in the things we were previously involved in then the impact that we used to have will be gone. The length of our legacy and the footprint on society will be impacted as well.

Now, some…see this retirement time as a time to start over and really dig into their hobbies and interests like never before.

This morning I was scanning some Podcasts on Spotify and came across some shows that exist just as personal projects based on their interests…whether it’s music or history…there’s a lot of those kind of shows. These Shows are just their personal projects that they’re sharing with the world.

Podcasters just having a Show that helps people enjoy what they like to enjoy as well. And that’s great. They’re using their retirement time just like I mentioned before. Staying active…mental stimulation.

But I found that some just fear the concept of retirement for a lot of the reasons that I just mentioned. The fear of the unknown, I guess. I was talking to someone earlier today that said this to me as well.

He’s been so used to working for decades and next year he’s announced that he’s retiring but doesn’t know what to do with himself. He doesn’t want to start a business, so then what? So what about you? What are your thoughts on the topic? Let me know. There’s a link in the show notes to rate the episode and leave a comment. I like hearing from the listeners on what their thoughts and feelings are as well.

Let’s talk soon.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

I'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Hey friend welcome back again to another episode that I hope will give you a little bit more insight on not only the small business realm, but sort of the mindset of why I do what I do and how I do it.

Today I’m going to talk about one specific decision that I made 20 years ago that had really paid off for me big time financially.

You know, we can make a lot of decisions throughout the scope of our business. Sometimes you go with your gut when you’re not sure what to do. Sometimes you find out that your gut was wrong.

Oh, well, you made a decision, and that’s what you needed to do. You gave it a shot. You’re going to find out if it either works or it doesn’t.

You know, we’re flooded with ads about how to make a lot of money. And you don’t know who or what to believe. It’s real easy to be skeptical about these types of things. So maybe it’ll help if I give you a personal example of what did work for me.

I’ve said a number of times that when I first started out, I really didn’t have a solid plan in place for what to do and how to do it. I worked on a business plan with very little guidance and back in the day, I went to some people at SCORE. And they were nice.

They were friendly and helpful for the most part, but it was pretty much because they’re all volunteers. It was just a little conversation and they pointed me to some resources. Being that I was in the technology realm, it was a field that they weren’t familiar with anyway.

But once I decided I was going to be providing web services, it occurred to me that I should form some sort of structure behind that concept and have a way to officially sell products and services and have people pay for those products and services in ways that would be easy for me to manage and maintain.

So as I was looking at different companies that provided web services, I found that GoDaddy had an affiliate program that they referred to as a reseller because it’s really more than an affiliate program. In a typical affiliate program, you just refer another company with a special link that’s provided by them that distinguishes you, specifically so that when you refer people through this link, you get a small financial reward for it.

But with the GoDaddy reseller program, they provide you with an independent dashboard, a way to pick and choose what products and services you want to offer with the pricing and what it’s going to be for each product, how you want to offer discounts based on the specific of time frames that you can determine or for other reasons.

So it’s really a full blown way to have your own Web services business. But offer pretty much all or most of what GoDaddy has to offer. And through this dashboard that they provide you can present it as your individual company. And with a reseller fee of just $100 a year, I think that’s quite a bargain.

Because I have made 10’s of thousands of dollars with just this one decision to be a reseller through GoDaddy. Now you might already be familiar with web services and what they are and how they work. But just to be clear when somebody wants a website, they’re going to need a domain name, hosting, they will probably want custom email. They may want SEO services.

They may want a secure link for their domain name called SSL Secure socket layer (a little bit technical here) but they may want domain privacy protection you know pretty much the A to Z of what you need for a website hosting.

I think I left that out hosting account the server that’s going to have the files for the website and offer it 24/7 to the Internet and when these products and services need to be renewed every year, and the customer does renew and pay for these products and services, you automatically get passive income.

In the first ten years that I offered these products and services I acquired a good number of clients. Some people throughout the years come and go. Some businesses cease to exist. Some people move away and they have some other local contact that they want to deal with. Some people are convinced they can do these things themselves.

They give it a try. So as the years go on, because I’m not offering these products and services like I used to, the amount of passive income has been going down from year to year, but it’s still significant. And when it comes to a financial planning, I can forecast what the passive income will be for those products and services that are renewed.

In that concept of passive income, through the renewal of products and services, it still applies to affiliate affiliates that you can set up for yourself as well. You don’t have to have a reseller account like this to get that kind of income. You can set up a number of affiliate programs. And use that as an extra source of income too.

So as a result, because I’ve seen first hand the benefits of passive income and how it works the past couple of years I’ve been creating affiliate programs that relate to that really directly to the kind of environment that I’m in and the kind of products and services I still provide, to increase the channels for passive income from my business

Now I don’t know what kind of business you will have, or currently have. I don’t know the realm that you’re in, but I’m very confident that you’ll find a number of affiliate options for you to pick from and for you to establish with other companies so that it would increase your chances of having passive income.

I hope that this shed a little bit of positive light on the potential that you have for not only generating income through direct product or service sales, but through the avenue of passive income as well. If you have any questions or comments, just hit me up in the link that’s in the show notes to leave a comment or rate the episode.

I certainly like to hear from you because it really gives me crystal clear indication of what the listeners enjoy and want more of for future episodes. Let’s talk soon.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly tips and perspective emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

I'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Hey there, friend, welcome back…now, the title of this episode might confuse you because it’s in direct contradiction to the title of the previous episode, that I just aired recently. In the last episode, titled ‘Wanting More’, it was all about the benefits of wanting more and how achieving more can be morally OK as we take our wealth and use it as a redirect to help society or our community.

But the title of this episode is ‘Wanting Less’. And even though the title contradicts the previous episode, that was called ‘Wanting More’, today’s episode really isn’t about financial gain. It’s about the lifestyle mentality of the benefits of wanting less. It’s about how life can be better and how we can be happier, with less. Less tasks, less staff, less commitments, less stress…and more free time.

Now, some people are longing for a life with less; a life free from the overwhelming distractions and clutter that seem to surround us. Well, today we're going to explore the concept of wanting less and how having a business can sometimes lead to unintended distractions, pulling us away from our primary focus.

In a world where more is often seen as better, the desire for less can be a seriously refreshing perspective. Wanting less is about decluttering our lives, both physically and mentally, and focusing on what truly matters. It's about stripping away the excess and finding clarity amidst the noise.

Now, let's be honest. Having a business can be exciting, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges. One of those challenges is the potential for distractions. When we're running a business, there are countless tasks, opportunities, and ideas vying for our attention. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement and lose sight of our main function.

And as our business grows, we find ourselves wondering if we need to hire someone or maybe take on a virtual assistant or your freelancers. Do we need to build a team? But personally, now that I’m running my business later in life, I find that simplicity is the key to my personal happiness in that remaining a solepreneur and not build a staff allows me to have the freedom and flexibility that I’ve always been shooting for in the first place.

So, how can we strike a balance? How can we maintain focus on the core function of our business while navigating the tempting distractions that come our way? How do we build a business but still keep things lean and simple. Is it even possible? Well, I say it is. It is if we want it to be. It is if that’s what we determine it to be. Now I’m not saying that you have to do everything yourself. I’ve never promoted that as the concept of being a solopreneur. But overall, my goal is to be a company of one. So if I want to have a virtual assistant, that’s fine. If I want to hire a temp here and there as needed that’s fine. If I need to freelance a social media manager as needed that’s fine. But what helps to keep things simple and minimalistic are processes and systems. What systems can I put in place? What operating procedures can I build and use that makes the most of the limited time that I have and that doesn’t make being a solopreneur a burden?

Creating content and scheduling it out for two months in advance for social media saves a lot of time. Using drip email marketing as much as possible, saves a lot of time. Having a VA do some labor intensive tasks saves me a lot of time. Batch processing the Podcast episodes again, saves me quite a bit of time. And then, I can take all this saved time and do with it whatever I want, right? But the point I’m trying to make here is that I have more free time. I get the same amount of work done, but I have less of a burden.

Wanting less isn’t necessarily about being a minimalist, it’s about keeping things simple. Not overcomplicating what could be kept simple. Saying no to some things that you would normally say yes to.

So, revisit the dream, and the plan you originally had for your business and see if wanting less works for you. Are you finding that you’re schedule is overbooked? Could you say no to a couple of things that take up your time but really don’t move the needle when it comes to the essential core of business operations?

Learn to say no to distractions that don't serve your main function, and be intentional about how you allocate your resources.

Remember, my friend, wanting less is not about sacrificing growth or ambition. It's about finding a sense of balance and staying true to your core function amidst the vast array of distractions that come your way. By being mindful about the ultimate goal of being a solopreneur and that you’re ultimate quest is to, hopefully, make more but do less will improve your chances of success. And that’s what this Podcast is all about.

Well friend, I really enjoy hearing from you. It’s encouraging to hear how this Show is making a difference in people’s lives. If you haven’t reached out to me yet, I’d really like to hear from you too.

Links:

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Business Launch Coaching: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

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Hey welcome back… this episode is about wanting more.

Have you ever thought to yourself, you know, I wonder if things could be better someday? I wonder if I should rethink what I’m doing and how I’m doing it?

Maybe there’s something else that I can do? Maybe there’s a way for me to turn this around and start over again? Have you ever felt that burning desire for something more out of life?

That nagging feeling that just won’t go away to break free from the day to day grind and make a lasting impact. Or…maybe you’ve worked your whole life and after looking back on it all, you’d like to finally do something that YOU love to do to make an impact…somehow.

Well, buckle up because today we're diving into the exciting world of wanting more and how having a business can be the key to not only wanting more, but getting more.

You see, life is just an incredible journey, right? And we all just long for something beyond the everyday routine. We constantly crave fulfillment and purpose, and the satisfaction we get when we’re making a difference, don’t we? I mean, I know I’m not the only one. This is becoming a more common scenario in people’s heads as we see the world changing around us. And having a business can be the path to the life you've always wanted.

So, what does it mean to want more out of life? Is it always about greed and profit? Even though it could be, and even though that’s usually the default conclusion that a lot of people come to, it doesn’t have to be that way. I like to look at it from this perspective…It's about pushing boundaries, expanding the comfort zone, and refusing to settle for mediocrity. It's about having the courage to think and dream big and to have the determination to turn those dreams into reality. Now, that’s some radical thinking right? And having a business can provide the perfect platform to do just that.

But first and foremost, having your own business gives you the freedom to chart your own course. You become the captain of your own ship, so to speak. You’re not gonna put all your eggs into the job basket any longer. You have the power to shape your business according to your passions, values, and vision. But having this autonomy comes with some challenges and opens up a world of endless possibilities.

Now, if you're listening from a country that offers a lot of possibility, you know what I’m talking about. And I just touched on this in episode 116 recently, about how too much opportunity can take away from the main focus of what your dream was.

But wanting more in life isn’t just about personal fulfillment and improving your situation. Yes, there is a large aspect of wanting financial freedom and gaining more personal time and availability by having an online business. I get that. And I’m all for that.

But some people want more through the impact they can have in society. Some people want more by changing lives for the better. Some people want more by creating a legacy through their efforts.

So the concept of wanting more isn’t always from a selfish perspective, it’s about wanting more so that they can give more as well.

But gaining more comes with certain challenges. Challenges to step outside your comfort zone, and confront your fears, but also to develop a wide variety of skills. From strategic planning to problem-solving, from marketing to leadership, you become a well-rounded individual with a diverse skill set. Each obstacle becomes an opportunity for learning, and every success becomes a stepping stone towards your next victory.

Running a business also opens doors to a vast network of connections. I’ve met people that I never thought I would meet. I’ve been able to build friendships that I absolutely never thought was possible a few years ago. And you'll have the opportunity to do the same. You can build a platform and a ‘tribe’ so to speak.

But there’s one aspect of having your own business is that it allows you to leave a lasting legacy. It's about creating something that transcends your own lifetime, leaving a positive mark on the world. Through your business, you can touch the lives of others, inspire change, and make a difference in society. Whether it's through innovation, philanthropy, or social impact initiatives, your business becomes a vehicle for positive transformation, enabling you to contribute to something greater than yourself.

So, my friend, if you find yourself wanting more out of life but need a little bit of guidance in creating that new path that you’ve got your eye on, let’s talk.

Wanting more isn’t always an act of selfishness. Wanting more can be a path to contribute more into society as a way of giving back.

I’ll give you an example. I spent a couple of years helping a nonprofit organization through a transition in growth cycle for a couple of years. Their quest was to install a deep, fresh water well for an impoverished village, once per week. They needed to ask their donor base for more. So they could give back more. They needed to build their volunteer base so they could give back more. Now they were able to. Do this by building their organization. They had a dream. And they’re building their organization to fulfill the dream. You can have your dream. And work to build your dream. You can want more and it’s okay to want more. Because it will allow you to give back more.

A portion of my income goes back into the community every week. So the more I earn, the more I can give back. The more my business grows, the more people can benefit in my Community.

How does this sound to you? That turns being an entrepreneur into a community building venture. It’s not just an impersonal path the wealth. It’s not just a way to make more money because I want to make more money. It’s ending the stigma of wealth and growth and redirecting it towards people that can benefit from it the most.

Links:

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Days Launch Plan

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

I'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Hey welcome back! In this day and age of endless possibilities, we're constantly bombarded with choices on who to learn from, aren’t we?

We don’t even have to search for people…the ads are so frequent, they can come to us!

But with just a few taps on our devices, we have access to a wealth of information and insights from people we've never met or even heard of before. It's a blessing, for sure, but it can also be a bit overwhelming to figure out who's truly worth our time and attention and who’s not.

Thankfully, there are some very loyal listeners to this podcast that have included me into their list of people they like to learn from.

So, in this episode, let's dive in together and explore some practical tips on how to navigate this vast ocean of choices and opportunity on finding the right sources of knowledge and inspiration.

Get Clear on Your Learning Goals:

First things first, let's get clear on what you're looking to achieve here and what your budget is, ok? Because, as with anything, you USUALLY get what you pay for. That’s not always the case, though, is it?

Now, I’m all for having a low budget and keeping overhead down. That’s why my coaching plan is not as pricy as the norm seems to be. That’s why my 3 hour online course is under $100. That’s why I use as many free online tools as I can. And for the most part, I’ve been able to keep my expenses down to a minimum.

But there have been times when I was willing to spend more on learning from professionals that have proven themselves to be truly professional based on their experience and time in the industry.

When I wanted to learn about copywriting, I took online courses from Ray Edwards, Dan Lok.

When I needed coaching on personal branding, I went to Mike Kim. Now, to be clear, these guys weren’t cheap. I knew enough about them through their Podcasts or the books they wrote to know that they were going to be worth the investment into my personal development along the way.

And I’ve used Udemy for a number of other topics that were more on the low budget side of the expense. And for the record, I think Udemy is fantastic for learning pretty much anything you want.

But the point I’m trying to make here is that we all have so many choices to pick from, either low budget or not. But don’t always fall for the ‘you’ve got to spend a lot to get a lot’ pitch. Because there are plenty…and I mean plenty of people out there pitching high ticket courses or training that really don’t deliver much. You might get a great experience by either being there in person or by getting all hyped up with the experience they give you. But either way, sometimes you could end up walk away with spending a lot of money and getting little to apply in return.

If you’re attracted to the high profile mentors or experts like:

· Gary Vaynerchuk

· Neil Patel

· Seth Godin

· Amy Porterfield

· Tim Ferriss

· Tony Robbins

· Grant Cardone

I get it…there’s a lot to like about these people. But just know that you’re not going to get any face time with them personally. They’ll have courses or events for you to go to that will probably cost you the price of a small car, but again, you’ll sort of be on your own.

So…then what? What’s your next move? How do you find that diamond in the rough or the next rising star, that’s very good at what they do, but they just haven’t hit the big stage yet?

Well, now it's time to do a little detective work! When you stumble upon someone you haven't met or don't know personally but find interesting, take a closer look at their expertise and how long they’ve been doing it.

Check out the content they’re creating and giving away as well. Do they have a Podcast? Check. Do they have an email list you can sign up for? Check. Do they have a YouTube channel with quality videos? Check. Those three things are huge for me. The social media stuff is nice, but you can only get so much out of that channel. SM by nature limits the amount of long form content you can produce.

Seek Authenticity and Relatability:

Learning from someone goes beyond their expertise—it's about their ability to connect with you on a personal level. Look for people who line up with your personality, struggles and values. If their journey, challenges, and experiences appear authentic and you find yourself naturally relating to them on more than one level, then they’re more likely to end up being a good match for you as a mentor or a Coach. Look for those that openly discuss both their successes and failures. Why? Because it's in those moments of vulnerability and openness that we can truly relate and find inspiration.

Engage with Their Content:

One of the beautiful things about the internet is the ability to engage with others' content. Take full advantage of this! Dive into their SM posts, videos, podcasts, or whatever content they’re producing. It free, so take advantage of it. Pay attention to their communication style. Does it resonate with you? Are they able to explain complex concepts in a way that's easy to understand? Engaging with their content will give you a glimpse into their teaching methods and how well they connect with their audience.

Trust Your Gut:

Finally, sometimes it’s ok to trust your gut instincts. Sometimes. But despite all the research, you may have a feeling that someone just isn't the right fit for you. And that's perfectly okay! Remember, though that learning is a personal journey, and finding the right mentor or Coach is all about finding that connection. Trust yourself and your intuition.

Hey, when all is said and done with your research, you have to make a decision at some point and commit. You’ll never know if you don’t try them out for at least a little while. Usually, there’s a short term option for you to see how it goes and that’s ok.

And that’s the options I took at first when I went with Mike Kim, the branding expert. He had a 3 month group coaching option and he laid it all out on what he was going to do and how he’d do it and so I gave it a shot and loved it. I wasn’t able to make all the coaching sessions but he recorded them and offered them as a replay on a special membership page on the website.

And…he never took those videos down. I can still refer to them years later. Now that’s a huge extra bonus that I never expected.

You see what I mean here? I didn’t know what Mike was going to be like before I signed up for his Coaching. I listened to his Podcast, downloaded all the episodes, read his blog (back in the day when blogs were being read) and it just felt like a good fit.

So what it all comes down to is, that, you just need to take that leap of faith sometimes and give that person a shot. I’ve done it a few times and I haven’t had a bad experience yet.

Let me know how you make out. I’d like to hear from you. There’s a link in the show notes for you to rate each episode and leave a comment.

Let me know what you think.

Links:

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Days Launch Plan

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

The Author's Playbook online author development course from Dennis Geelen (highly recommended by Tom)

I'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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If You’re like me and have a mix of introvert/extrovert characteristics, you might be wondering, if that’s going to be an issue?

If it’s going to hinder your success in starting a business? Are the successful people you see on TV or the Internet all extroverts?

So if you've ever doubted whether your introverted nature could lead to entrepreneurial success, I'm here to tell you that it absolutely can. In a world that often favors the outgoing and extroverted, introverts bring unique qualities that can not only jump start their success, but alto propel them to greatness in the business world.

So, let's dig in and we'll explore the strengths of introverts and how they have a unique advantage over some extroverts that lack these qualities.

Before we dive into the advantages of being an introverted entrepreneur, let's take a minute to clarify what introversion truly means. Being introverted isn't about being shy or socially awkward—it's about having the ability to draw the energy from within, being perfectly comfortable working alone and tapping into the superpower of focus and concentration.

Introverts usually prefer quieter environments and are very good at processing information, making thoughtful decisions, and honing their skills.

These are some common qualities that introverts usually possess:

· Deep thinking and focus.

· Strong listening and observational skills.

· More thoughtful decision making

· More effective communication

· Ability to cultivate meaningful relationships.

· Solo work stamina

· Creativity and innovation

· More productivity working alone.

· Active listening and empathy.

· Persistence and resilience.

· And the keen ability to recognize aliens that walk among us.

OK, scratch that last one.

Now I think we can all agree that this is quite an impressive list. This has nothing to do with what introverts can’t do. This is going to be all about the empowerment that introverts have and personality advantages that they can leverage in the business world.

So don’t think of this as that extroverts have the advantage and the introverts are automatically at a disadvantage because that’s not how it works.

Deep Thinking and Focus:

OK, so let’s look at the first one, deep thinking and focus:

Introverts have that just remarkable ability to dive deep into complex subjects and just sit there and concentrate for …however long they want. Now I’m speaking from personal experience here because I married an introvert and she’s very intelligent, and she can spend all night at her desk and totally lose track of time.

Now I certainly don’t lack the ability to focus, but I seem to have a much shorter limit on the length of time that I can just sit and stare at something, whether it’s a computer screen or papers in front of me and their ability to do this and dive deeper and think deeper on certain topics is a real strength that others wish they had.

And because of this, they can make well-informed decisions. So when someone has the ability to focus longer on a particular topic, or a situation, they’re more likely to find potential pitfalls in the details of the plan.

Strong Listening and Observational Skills:

So the next one on the list is strong listening and observational skills. Again, speaking from personal experience and observation, I think introverts overall are better listeners. I’m saying that because from my perspective, it looks for the most part extroverts just want to control the conversation. In general, of course.

Thoughtful Decision-Making:

Next time my list of positive introvert qualities was thoughtful decision making.

So how could this benefit somebody in the business world? Well, if they’re carefully weighing the pros and cons of a situation and they’re slow to jump to a conclusion, then this is seen as an approach that will help them to make better strategic decisions that are more in line with the long term vision for the business.

Now, have I personally seen evidence of this? I certainly have. I’m more prone to risk and to jump into something and my wife is the counterweight to all of that, encouraging me to think something through a little bit longer and the weigh the pros and cons.

Effective Communication:

The next quality on the list was effective communication. And even though introverts aren’t going to be the most vocal person, in the room, where they really shine is on creating content , because they have the ability to dive deeper into a topic and not only externally, but internally as well.

I see introverts as being more creative and in and in touch with their internal feelings. That’s just my opinion. But this is what I’m seeing as well.

Ability to Cultivate Meaningful Relationships:

The next on the list was the ability to cultivate meaningful relationships. Now you may disagree with me on this and I can really see both sides of the coin here with extroverts and introverts. And there’s a side of me that feels very comfortable in a room full of people.

I don’t have any issue with conversation and talking to a bunch of people to find out what they really think and sometimes feel about particular topic. And that’s sort of the external me, but for introverts, what I I’m seeing is that they can work a room very differently than the extrovert.

An introvert will connect better one on one with a person over an extended period of time to develop the relationship and going deeper into a specific topic. Whereas the extrovert will be more likely to work the whole room.

And just to be clear, friend, I’m not making broad brush statements. I know that not everybody’s going to fall into the specifics of what I’m presenting here. This is just, you know, my podcast where I’m voicing my opinion and my perspectives and observations.

And I could certainly be way off on some of these things as well. But as I said before, you know, I have some extrovert and introvert tendencies as well. But I married an introvert, so I’ve been able to see a lot of these things close up.

Solo Work Stamina:

The next quality I had on the list was solo work stamina. And let me tell you, friend, without a shadow of a doubt that one is absolutely true, hands down. Now, I am perfectly fine with a very quiet house. And being able to pick and choose what I want to work on and work through on my to do list for the day.

But I don’t even come close to the amount of work my wife can get done. It’s a common occurrence for me to walk in to her office late at night, reminding her of how late it is.

How is this an advantage in the business world? Well, for solo-preneurs that has a nice humongous to do list in front of them, being a solid introvert will certainly help you to focus and crank through that to -do list, for sure.

Creativity and Innovation:

Next quality I had on the list was creativity and innovation. And if I could keep using my wife as an example, I would appreciate that because as the teacher that she is, she’s surprised me with an enormous amount of creativity in order to present topics that are typically considered dry or analytical.

She has a great ability to merge some of the drier topics of math and science with interesting and practical methods of learning. She has hopes of writing a book one day that would. revamp the way physics is being taught. Can you imagine?

Now there’s, I’m sure, many other qualities that introverts possess that go way beyond the span of a podcast episode. But we all know of many, many introverts that made their mark in the business world and in society and they changed the way we live our lives significantly.

People like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg. Warren Buffett. Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey was seen as being an introvert. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, was also seen as an introvert. You know, the list goes on and on. So I hope you’ve been somewhat encouraged by today’s episode where you see your introverted tendencies as more of a superpower than a hindrance.

So if being an introverted person is giving you pause to rethink your dream of having your own business, then think again. Because you have strengths and abilities that a lot of extroverts wish they had. So make your mark. Build your dream. Don’t look back.

Links:

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Days Launch Plan

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

The Author's Playbook online author development course from Dennis Geelen (highly recommended by Tom)

I'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Hey there, listeners! Welcome back to another episode of the Small Business Startup Essentials Show! I'm your ever-enthusiastic host, and today we're going to dive into a topic that may ruffle some feathers. You've probably heard it before: "Just get started!" But is this advice really as golden as it seems?

Well, my friends, today we'll explore why blindly jumping into something without a plan can often lead to wasted time and missed opportunities. Let's get started (ok no pun intended)!

Now you may have heard me either say or post somewhere the phrase ‘it’s not learn and launch, it’s launch and learn’, right? So what’s the difference?

Why is ‘launch and learn’ good advice but the concept of ‘just get started’ bad advice?

Well, ‘launch and learn’ is taking the plan you have and without all the details worked out and without having all the answers to all your questions, moving forward and making progress as you go. You have a generic plan in place and you’re going to stop procrastinating and start on your dream. Launch and learn is not starting something on a whim.

When I started out, I had a basic plan in place to do certain IT services and to offer a small list of specific IT products, and that was it. Yes my business plan was more of a fantasy plan and I’ve addressed that in other episodes, but nevertheless, I had a simple concept to follow and I did.

I had a local following in the IT industry already in place because of my connections and ran with that. And for the most part, it worked.

‘Just get started’, is a different situation all together.

"Just get started!" It's a phrase thrown around so casually in the entrepreneurial world, encouraging aspiring business owners to take the leap and dive headfirst into their dreams. While I think the intent behind this advice has good intentions, it's important to understand that having a solid plan in place before launching your business, really isn’t an option.

Starting something without a plan is sort of like setting sail without a map or compass. You might enjoy the ride and the sort of, thrill of the unknown for a while, but sooner or later, you'll find yourself wishing you had a compass.

Then, you might end up in what I call the ‘reverse launch’ mode. And I’m only saying this not to wish ill intent on anyone, but I keep seeing people go through this to this day…where you’re going back to the basics and trying to fix or figure out how to build on that foundation to your business that you should have dealt with in the very beginning. That’s a huge waste of time, money and focus.

Without a plan, you're much more likely to go through a lot of unnecessary setbacks and roadblocks. You could end up spending valuable time and resources going in circles, trying to figure out the right direction.

Trust me, my friend, wasted time is a precious commodity in the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship. A well-thought-out plan serves as your personal roadmap. And you don’t want to go anywhere without a map.

Now, I’ve talked about business plans in the past and recommend that you keep it on the shorter side, because in my personal experience, having a long, complicated business plan just gets farther and farther away from reality, and sort of makes it harder to pivot when necessary. So I recommend using shorter business plans, maybe 7 or 8 pages max. There are simple, very simple one page business plans. One of them is that’s pretty popular is the Business Model Canvas.

It’s about as simple as you can get but it does serve a purpose to help you get your thoughts together, and guides you in a simple way through the main categories that you need to deal with. In the business model, canvass it’s separated into nine different categories.

1. Customer segments

2. Value propositions

3. Channels

4. Customer relationships

5. Revenue streams,

6. Key resources, Key activities,

7. Key partners

8. Cost

So once again, it just helps guide you through thinking about how you’re going to operate, how are you going to launch? What are your expenses going to be? How do you anticipate generating revenue?

So if you need a little bit of guidance through the basic business plan process, you can certainly look up Business Model Canvas on the Internet. Or you could hit me up for some business plan templates if you need one.

But it’s just important to work through these issues of, who’s your target audience? Do you understand the market? Do you know who your competitors are going to be? Just think these things through. So that you can avoid as I keep calling it the reverse launch mode.

But I certainly don’t want you to get caught up into analysis paralysis because you’re in up to your eyeballs with a 28 page business plan. Working on marketing strategies and financial projections, I think those things have their place, but again, it could easily lead to a huge delay in launching your business, because if you’re reaching out to multiple sources for advice, you could easily get conflicting advice from each source.

So the key is just to strike a balance between planning and action. You’ll never get all the facts that you need in advance. That’s where the launch and learn aspect kicks in. That’s where you can tweak the business plan after you launch based on real data and real experiences. The real experience that you’re facing.

That’s one of the reasons why I created my online course ‘Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan’, to help you lay that solid foundation and to help you think through the critical issues.

Remember, success isn’t something that happens overnight. It's a result of careful planning, calculated risks, and just relentless focus and perseverance.

Take the time to learn some basic things about websites, marketing, digital products and services, maybe take a copywriting course or two to help you to understand how to write quality content but to also get the guidance from mentors and experts that you’ll absolutely need going forward. You’ll be glad you made the investment of time and effort in creating that solid plan. It’ll also help with your confidence as well.

Think of your plan as a compass, guiding you to north. You can make a lot of decisions along the way that brings you a little northeast or a little northwest, but overall you’re still heading north. But knowing where ‘north’ is in your plan will help you make better decisions, have the clarity you’ll need to do certain tasks and not others, and to use your time more wisely.

Now, I’ve also mentioned before that using mind mapping will help you to visualize the plan, not only to yourself, but to others as well. Check out episode 107 for a deeper dive into mind mapping.

Well, that wraps up today's episode. I hope I’ve shed a little more light on the topic of why "just get started" might not always be the best advice.

As always, thank you for joining me today, and I encourage you to share your thoughts and experiences on this topic. I have a link at the end of the show notes where you can rate this episode and leave some comments or even ask a question. I always like to hear from the listeners and respond to every question that’s asked the best I can.

Links:

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Days Launch Plan

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

The Author's Playbook online author development course from Dennis Geelen (highly recommended by Tom)

I'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Welcome back, friend…so glad you’re here listening in. Please hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss any episodes.

I’m Tom Clairmont and I’m going to dive into this topic that will hopefully stir the soul: Do you have a higher calling in life? Today, we'll explore the depths of this question and hopefully reveal how discovering your higher calling can transform your entrepreneurial journey. So, let's dive in!

Have you ever felt a deep yearning within your heart, a sense that there's something more meaningful and purposeful you're meant to pursue? Well, my friend, you're not alone.

Many of us experience a longing to connect with a higher calling—a purpose that goes beyond the normal day to day part of life.

But what exactly is a higher calling? Now, I’m not going to get preachy here, but I’ve said this openly before that I’m a Christian and I take that seriously.

It’s a way of life that’s engrained into who I am…and I know I’m not even close to being perfect…I’m not saying anything like that.

But having a higher calling is having that sense of purpose that ignites your passion, aligns with your values, and contributes to the greater good. It's that inner voice nudging you to make a difference, to leave a lasting impact on the world around you.

Do you know where I’m coming from? Anybody relating to this so far, just raise your hand. Ok.. great. I’ll keep going.

Because there’s a difference between getting your message out into the world, through social media channels, or even traditional print versus starting a movement.

And if you feel you have a higher calling then maybe starting a movement is really something that you should think about because a lot of people make their mark in society by going past getting their message out and having such an impact in their culture and throughout the world that their mission goes way beyond themselves.

And they become a force for change.

Now, getting your message out can make a real difference. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for it. But what we’re talking about here is, do you have a higher calling? Do you need to go beyond getting the message out?

Look at some people that are part of our U. S. culture who really made a significant impact with their message and started a movement.

· Martin Luther King Junior, leading advocate for racial equality.

· Rosa Parks typically called the mother of the civil rights movement.

· Susan B Anthony, tireless advocate for women’s suffrage.

· Harriet Tubman, born into slavery, became in a prominent abolitionist and a conductor on the Underground Railroad.

· Steve Jobs, we all know who he is. His name became synonymous with innovation and technical advancement.

· Jeff Bazos-Founder of Amazon,

· Elon Musk. Founder of Tesla, Spacex, Neuralink.

· Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group.

· Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company.

· Sam Walton, founder of Walmart,

· Ray Crock, visionary behind McDonald’s.

The list goes on and on. Did these people know they were starting a movement when they started to get their message out. Who knows? Maybe they had a clue early on.

But what’s in it for you to create a movement and to impact society in that way? Do you want to just get your name on the list with everybody else?

Or do you want it to be bigger than you and to go beyond you? Your name on the list doesn’t matter, then. Because the goal is much higher. The impact is much deeper.

And believe me, I’ve thought about these things as well. I proposed starting a movement to an organization in upstate NY recently. The same thing.

Do they want to start a movement? The ripple effects could be huge across the country.

Let me tell you folks with the way societal things are being turned upside down lately. We could use more movements. Not only in this country, but around the world. So how do you know if you should start a movement?

How do you discover if you have that higher calling or not? I guess from my perspective, if you’re consumed with an idea and you’re so passionate about this idea, or the concept that you just feel compelled.

Not from personal profit perspective but because you just can’t take it any longer.

You look around and you see that something is upside down and you want to put it right side up. But starting a movement doesn’t mean that you have to dream up something new either. It doesn’t mean that you have to create something out of nothing.

A lot of the people that I listed didn’t invent the things that they built. They took an idea and they ran with it and they didn’t stop. And if you do feel called to start a movement.

You can bet that it’ll grow beyond you. So be prepared for that. And make sure that you’re prepared to go for the long haul because the ride will probably be quite bumpy.

So take some small steps forward in getting your message out. See where it goes. See if anybody else jumps on board with your message. Who knows?

Maybe someday your name will be on a list of those who created their own movement.

I hope so. But the movement isn’t out there. It’s inside of you. When its your time you’ll know it. It might come at an unexpected time, but you’ll still know it.

So friend, be a force for change; movement or not. Make your mark and have influence and impact in whatever you do.

We need you.

The world needs you.

Links:

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Days Launch Plan

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

The Author's Playbook online author development course from Dennis Geelen (highly recommended by Tom)

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Welcome back to another exciting episode of the Small Business Startup Essentials Show! I'm thrilled to have you join me today as we explore a topic that many entrepreneurs face: "What should you do when there is too much opportunity?"

Get ready to navigate these murky waters with me here today about the possibilities and opportunities we face and discover how to make the most of our situation without getting sidetracked with too many shiny objects. So, let's dive right in!

You know, I don’t know where you’re listening in to this podcast episode right now, about 60% of the listeners that I have are in the United States, another 10% in Canada another 10% in Australia and in New Zealand, another 10% is in Europe, and there’s fringe countries beyond that.

But when you live in the United States, even though we’re still in the midst of a lot of struggles and I know that this country is far from perfect, don’t get me wrong, (there’s a lot of things going on lately that we’re all struggling with all around the world, actually). But life in the United States still brings a lot of opportunity.

And it’s still, I think, one of the best places in the world to live in the midst of all of our issues and struggles. And if you’re multi talented, you know, if you have a lot of different abilities, a lot of different skills that you think are better than average and you really like to make the most of all of these different skills, and you’re also maybe a little like me and you have too many interests. OK.

And you know, you have extra time on your hands and you might think you can handle taking on more than one thing. You know, my kids are grown, they’re out of the house. They’re adults. They have their own families. And it’s just me and my wife now.

So I have the struggle of you know, time and I’m always interested in learning new things and I have to fight the constant battle in my head of wanting to take on something additional something new.

And so, you know, I have too many interests and I struggle with this as well. So I’m not only talking to you the listener I’m talking to myself here as well. OK. Because having too many interests having too many different avenues that I’m involved in too many different projects dilutes everything.

And recently I worked on a writing project to hopefully publish a book And I took a break from the podcast For a little while. In fact, I took two different breaks from the Podcast. And you know what? That’s OK, because I wanted my writing to be with clarity.

I wanted my writing project to have real impact. I’m trying to see if I can publish a book. And that needs focus. So that’s what we’re talking about here, even though I have all these interests, and all these other things I want to work on, to have clarity in the writing I took a break from other things.

And I posted something on my blog on the website and I made a Podcast episode about this…episode 24 called Three Critical Steps to Gain Clarity for Your Small Business’ and just so you know, hey, I’II look back at my own advice and my own content to take my own advice.

It’s only fair, right? If I’m you know recommending a path to clarity for you, then I should be taking the same advice for myself as well.

And so I recently revisited this little task, it’s basically a Venn Diagram, 3 converging circles with three topics and the first topic is ‘What ticks you off’ and by the way, I got this idea from my business coach Mike Kim, OK, Mike if you’re listening… hope you are… thanks. It’s helped me a lot and I’m passing it along.

3 converging circles 3 topics the first circle says what ticks you off? In other words, what gets you upset about what you’re seeing? The second circle that converges in the venn diagram is ‘What breaks your heart?’

OK this is the injustice you see in the world. So, what ticks you off, what really gets you upset? And by the way, ‘Ticks you off’ is a US slang phrase. What brings you heart? And then the third circle that converges in the Venn diagram is going to be ‘What’s the big problem you’re trying to solve?’

OK, so if I’m filling in the blanks here on these three converging circles and where these three circles join, that’s the clarity of the message. If this Venn diagram doesn’t really line up with the big picture dream that I have here for independence and financial success with my business, then I’m going to table this idea for now.

I can revisit it some other time. Okay because friend, you need to stick with the dream of what you really want your life to be like and what you really want your business to be like. OK, too much opportunity, too many interests, being multi talented, we’ve got to keep our focus to be effective.

So, always remember. It’s a crowded noisy Internet out there right? We need to stand above the crowd. We need to rise above the noise. There’s a lot of people creating content, distracting a lot of other people. OK. Don’t be the 98 percent of people that just create content out there that’s noise. Be part of the 2% that really cuts through the noise with clarity.

Be part of the 2% that really makes a difference in people’s lives. Reduce your projects down to one or two things for now. Once you’ve proven success in those one or two things, you can ramp up these other things later on.

So it’s great to be multi talented. It’s great to have a lot of interest. That’s fantastic. I’m not saying it’s not. But I’m talking about being affective in our business, here and about standing out.

We need to have clarity. We need to have focus. And we need to prove our success. And saying no to an opportunity now, doesn’t mean you’re missing out, it’s just about making room for the things that really matter in your business.

Links:

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Days Launch Plan

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

The Author's Playbook online author development course from Dennis Geelen (highly recommended by Tom)

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Links:

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Days Launch Plan

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Today, we're going to tackle this common challenge that many of us have had to deal with from time to time head-on and discover how to get past imposter syndrome to help unlock your true potential. So, let's dive in!

Imposter syndrome—a very common and often paralyzing feeling that many of us experience at some point in our entrepreneurial journey.

It's that nagging voice in our heads that tells us we're not good enough, that we're a fraud, because we’re doing something new and maybe making that later in life pivot and that people just aren’t going to take you seriously.

But let me tell you, my friend, imposter syndrome is just that—a feeling, it’s not a reflection of your true worth.

Now, I’ve written and spoken quite a bit on this topic the last couple of years in one way or another.

Encouraging you to finally step out of the comfort zone and try something new. And launching an online business is definitely something new for a lot of people.

But the first step in overcoming imposter syndrome is to, well, first recognize and acknowledge that you have it and a lot of people go through it.

If you’re wondering how to figure out that you have it, and you’re in the early stages of your business building venture, ask yourself this question: ‘Why am I procrastinating with the things I know I should be doing, but don’t do?’

Is the root of the problem that you just don’t believe in yourself? You’re struggling internally with the concept of who you say you are?

Because people with confidence just do what they need to do. They say what they need to say. It’s not a struggle. It’s sort of a no-brainer for them.

You’re not alone in this journey, and when you’re making this life pivot, the ‘new you’ that you’re creating can come with some new self doubts as well. But these thoughts and feelings are only temporary.

As you prove yourself and your expertise and gain confidence, these feelings will fade and eventually go away. It’s just that initial transition you’re going through that has you feeling this way.

When I revamped my business into the coaching and consulting model, I found that the more I talked to people about it the quicker my confidence grew. And when confidence grows, it pushes out the doubts at the same time.

Time after time, I’d end a Zoom session with someone that wanted my coaching on a particular subject and I’d say to myself, ‘wow’ that felt so good.

Being able to give advice to people that they can use in a practical way…and to have it be received so well was a huge confidence booster.

And then…I had my first Podcast interview where I was the guest and I was the one being interviewed and to have the host of the other Show tell me afterward that it was great conversation that we had and that she thought it was going to be a great episode that will help a lot of people.

But then…to actually hear myself on someone else’s Podcast as the guest was a pivotal moment as well, you know.

Because part of the self doubt we have revolves around the thought ‘can I really do what I’m telling people I can do?’

But then, when you actually do that ‘thing’ you do in small bits and pieces at first and over time, you’re able to actually see yourself, over and over again doing this ‘thing’ with quality and substance, you’ll find that the imposter syndrome fades rather quickly.

It seems a little strange, doesn’t it that we have to prove ourselves to ourselves at first to gain the confidence we need to move forward?

I’ve said this before and I’m sure it won’t be the last time that we need to think about what we’re thinking about and stop playing that negative soundtrack in your head over and over again.

You made it this far in the journey because of your skills and expertise. Yes, you’ve got a long way to go to hit your goal, but we all do. We’re all a work in progress.

But give yourself a pat on the back because you’re working on a plan to more forward BEFORE you’ve got it all figured out. You’re not letting these imposter thoughts stop you to the point of giving up.

You’re listening to this topic now because you’re on the path to progress.

So try to find those small opportunities at first for you to test the waters, so to speak, which will provide those little moments that you can look back on and celebrate.

It won’t take long before this whole topic of imposter syndrome is history.

So friend, again, imposter syndrome is a hurdle that many entrepreneurs face on their journey to success. But by recognizing and identifying those thoughts and then challenging those self-doubting thoughts, you can rise above those imposter syndrome feelings and move into the version 2.0 of ‘the new you’ with confidence.

Well friend, thanks for joining me for this episode. I hope there was some real value in it for you and it’s always my hope that I can share with you what I went through to help make your journey a little easier along the way.

I’d like to hear from you on this topic. You can rate the episode and leave a comment when you click HERE.

But, as always, I want to end by saying (say it with me now) stay encouraged, follow your dream and don’t give up!

Links:

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Days Launch Plan

www.tomclairmont.com

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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So….you want to be a Solopreneur. Own your own business. Make money online by monetizing your expertise. Fantastic. I’m with you on that concept.

But when I started out, I was under the impression that I had to do it all myself. You know, that ‘solo’ is in Solopreneur for a reason, right?

And with that burden of doing it all myself, comes a bunch of stress and questions that don’t get resolved.

The stress with the misconceptions of having to do everything myself (there are a lot of things I either don’t know how to do or don’t want to do), and the long list of questions I have on how to do these things that never get answered.

Yikes!

It’s a lot for one person…a newbie in the business world, to go through.

But after awhile, I started to understand that I didn’t have to be alone on this venture. I joined a local networking group through BNI (Business Network International) and met with them once a week for a couple of years.

I met some great people and established some friendships along the way and it was ok (not great) while it lasted. I guess, overall, with the expense of the BNI membership, and then to pitch in for the extra expenses of the meeting room at a local café, plus to contribute toward the food/drinks for the group each week, I think I broke even overall.

But beyond BNI, I was able to break out of that ‘solo’ mindset. I was able to think beyond myself in how to operate and build my business.

So, if you’re not good with accounting? (I’m not) Hire an accountant.

Feel overwhelmed with some of the daily tasks that need to get done, or if you just want to finish a small project faster? Hire a virtual assistant.

Don’t have the funds to hire anyone yet? You can always get an intern to help you so they can gain experience.

The Ultimate Goal

But the overall concept of ‘Solopreneur’ is still the same. This business you want to start isn’t about having employees or a lot of overhead. It’s about having a small business that you can manage yourself, from anywhere.

As I’m typing this now, I’m on my back porch looking out at the woodsy back yard watching a neighbors cat stare down an intruding bird.

My goal is to be able to work from anywhere; to have a 100% portable business.

I can:

· create content for social media,

· do Zoom calls with clients or others that want to connect

· work on the latest book project

· develop an online course or webinar that I want to promote

…from anywhere.

But, sometimes I see people struggle with the thought of not being the only person in the business. They want to do it all. And I get it, there’s a feeling of ownership and control that strokes the ego.

This is MY business. I’ll do it my way, as the song goes (if you’re in my generation, you’ll get that reference).

But doing it alone can be a hindrance to progress and building your business. You need to have time to work on the things that can make the most impact for sales. Yep, there’s that naughty word that people don’t like to hear.

But everything boils down to sales. Otherwise, you’re just working on building a hobby.

If you’re bogged down with doing too many other things, then the things that matter the most won’t get the attention it deserves. I’ll give an example.

Recently, I needed to have some notes put into about 150 episodes to someone’s Podcast. Could I have done it myself? Yes. Did I want to do it myself? No.

So, I hired a temp to do it for me. This freed up hours of time that I could spend on other things that I needed to focus on.

Leading Yourself by Knowing Yourself

So growth, when it happens is more manageable that way. And hey, we all want growth, right? We all want more business. But we don’t want more stress and feeling overwhelmed either.

I heard of the military training concept of ‘knowing yourself so you can lead yourself’ and that really stuck in my head. Because that’s what I’m getting at here. Knowing yourself and your strengths and weaknesses and then making the best decisions on how to run and grow your business.

That way, you don’t get in your own way. You’re not making decisions on how to spend your time or money in a way that leaves you feeling like you’re the one that has to get it all done…yourself.

Now, I’ve taken some personality tests in the past and they’ve helped to shed light on my strengths and weaknesses from time to time. Getting to know how I’m wired and if there’s a short circuit in my head..just kidding. They can help to also give some insight on what skills I might be a better fit for as well.

I like the Myers/Briggs test or the DISC test, the enneagram has it’s place as well.

If I’m an introvert and like to stay to myself, then maybe I’ll be better at doing the tasks that are done in the background, like creating long form content, or writing a book.

If I’m an extrovert, then I might be better at creating a lot of videos for social media and it won’t seem like a chore to me.

But you get where I’m going with this right? Get to know your strengths and weaknesses so that you can lead yourself and your solo business better.

Now, after taking the personality test, it can be hard to accept the results sometimes though. So be open to what they have to say, but at the same time, we can evolve over the years and work on improving one area or another as well.

But the goal here is to have a thriving business that you’re enjoying. The goal is to improve your life and lifestyle so that you’re living your best life.

That’s my goal and I hope it’s yours as well.

If you want to hear a bit more on the topic of having a portable business, just go to episode 44 of this Podcast on the topic of the products you’ll need to develop for your business.

Well, that’s all for this episode. If you want to get started on your online business and need some help working through the process, I have a few options for you. You can take the brand new online course I just created ‘The Solopreneur 90 Day Launch Plan’ and go through the same coaching process that I offer 1:1 but at your own pace, or you can get direct, 1:1 or group coaching from me where we can really dig in to the issues that you’re struggling with the most. Either way, you’ll have a roadmap for your launch with a solid foundation in place. Just go to tomclairmont.com and pick the options that works best for you. I’ll put links in the show notes.

But friends, as always…stay encouraged, follow your dream and don’t give up!

Links:

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Online Course: Solopreneur 90 Days Launch Plan

Episode 44: The Products You'll Need to Have a Portable Business

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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In this episode, I was able to interview a long time LinkedIn favorite of mine, John Nemo.

I first came across John three years ago and was a regular for his 'Noon with Nemo' webinar sessions.

After buying a couple of his books on taking LinkedIn to another level and how to improve my marketing tactics, I started to see real results with my LinkedIn experience and productivity.

When people reach out to me and hire me because of LinkedIn, I know that I'm doing something right, and I owe that to John Nemo.

So listen in to this episode and get to know John yourself.

You can check out his website at: www.nemomediagroup.com

LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hirejohnnemo/

3:00 The start of his entrepreneurial journey

6:00 The mindset issues John started to conquer that were keys to unlocking his success

9:45 How he tripled his revenue in one year

13:00 How he made his first dollar online

14:45 How he started using LinkedIn to build his business

16:15 2 tips on how the average user can take LinkedIn to a deeper level

22:00 The dead end of LinkedIn groups

24:00 The benefits of having LinkedIn Pro

26:30 What's next for his writing and possible e-Books

28:00 Why he's so big on creating webinars for his marketing

If you want help launching an online business: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

The Author's Playbook online author development course from Dennis Geelen (highly recommended by Tom)

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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In this episode, we're going to hear from Danielle Jefferson, from Jefferson James Consulting about her transition out of her Corporate job and into having her own business.

Listen in on her journey through the ups and downs of the transition and how she worked out a plan for success that works for her but can also work for you as well.

8:15 The next step was to take sales training through a course

10:45 Why she changed her business model

11:50 The mindset stuggles from leaving her job to having her own business

13:15 The structure of her online courses that includes personal Coaching

15:20 How she obtained her first client

16:30 The future of her business

18:45 Why she didn't need to pick a niche

20:45 Her advice to someone thinking about starting a business 

If you want help launching an online business: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

The Author's Playbook online author development course from Dennis Geelen (highly recommended by Tom)

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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In this episode, I talk to Dennis Geelen about his journey from working in the Corporate realm to finding himself without a job and creating a new path for his life through starting his own business.

3:00 The start of his entrepreneurial journey when he was laid off from his job

6:00 The new mindset of ‘What if this works?’

9:45 How he was able to get his first clients with his new business

12:10 The need to switch the niche until he found something that was a better fit

14:30 The transition to becoming an author and how to differentiate themselves

16:30 How to pick that specific niche for yourself

18:50 His thoughts on volunteering your services to test the niche

21:00 His advice for older entrepreneurs on how to promote the business on social media

23:50 His influencers through coaching and courses that helped him develop as a business owner/promoter

26:35 What’s next for Dennis for his business

If you want to talk about launching an online business: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

The Author's Playbook online course (highly recommended by Tom)

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Friends, today, I have with me someone that I find very interesting that I came across on my favorite platform, LinkedIn. Michael J Penney. Michael J. Penney is a proven, battle tested leader.

Michael is a combat veteran of Iraq & Afghanistan. He served in the United States Marine Corps for 8 years through 2 wars. But then In March of 2016 he presented at TEDxRaleigh, “What’s Your IED: How to Add Value During Life's Explosive Situations”, combining military and personal experiences in an effort to bridge the lives of veterans and civilians.

He’s also the founder of 5Paragraph.com where he uses his military training and skill sets to help small to medium sized businesses improve their workforce efficiencies through better leadership.

You can see Michael do a multi-stream live reading of a classic book from time to time or when he’s just trying to make the world a better place and discuss a topic that he’s passionate about.

You can go to www.5paragraph.com to see his training or coaching information there.

·       Michael explains his transition out of the military and going back to school in Boston MA and how Mentors and a business development program helped him with his pitch for his patent and initial product

·       Michael explains the development of the concept of using the 5 paragraph operations order and how he made it successful in the business environment.

·       He then explains why he started the live streams and his book writing ventures

If you want to talk about launching an online business: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

The Author's Playbook online course (highly recommended by Tom)

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Friends today I have with us Marc Miller, the best selling author of Repurpose Your Career a Practical Guide for the Second Half of Life, Podcast host of the Repurpose your Career Podcast and a huge advocate for assisting older adults to make that later in life transition into a better place for themselves.

Marc has a long history of personal career pivots, after his long history with IBM and found that after helping people with their career changes, he found his own passion as well…to start his own business.

You can easily find his books on Amazon, but you’ll also see him on LinkedIn as well.

3:00 How Marc worked through his transition from having a job and being burned out to a ‘half step’ into a better place over and over again.

5:00 Started his own business ‘Career Pivot’ and hired a team

5:45 He created a false image of being an extrovert

6:15 Rule #1 ‘Know Thyself’

7:30 Knowing the balance of what you’re good at and what you’re not.

8:20 Having that personality assessment through Birkman and the benefit of knowing how you behave and how you want to be treated.

10:00 Making a lot of money doesn’t mean that you’ll be happy with what you’re doing

12:00 Knowing the difference between what you really want to do and what you can do

13:00 Getting help through hiring a Coach to reach a higher level of achievement

15:45 Getting started by pushing the ‘publish’ button for creating content.  

16:45 3 tips for success 1- If you’re going to fail, fail fast, 2-Always have a Plan B 3- Always learn something from it

17:10 How to transition into something totally different

21:00 His exit from IBM and taking risks

22:00 How he helped assisting those transitioning out of the military

27:00 How he helps those that are either close to retiring or already retired but want to continue to be productive

Marc Miller's Website: https://careerpivot.com/

If you want to talk about launching an online business: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Receive weekly emails from Tom on having a professional online business HERE.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

The Author's Playbook online course (highly recommended by Tom)

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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I came across mind mapping years ago and it’s always helped me to see an overall plan in a great visual way. Always.

If you’re not familiar with mind mapping, what is it?

Well, if you’ve ever drawn out a diagram on a napkin or piece of paper, that’s what I’m talking about, but now, it’s in a more modern, computer generated sort of way.

A Mind Map is an easy way to brainstorm your thoughts and plans and allows you to visually structure your ideas so you can see from a different angle how your plan will play out.

This is great for those that don’t retain things well from just black and white print or from reading a business plan.

I’ve also just recently learned that mind mapping is great for those with dyslexia because it’s more of a graphical representation of a plan, then textual. The Mind Map is a diagram that visually represents tasks, concepts, or items linked to and arranged around a central concept.

A Mind Map can turn a long list of boring information into a more colorful, memorable and highly organized diagram that works in line with your brain's natural way of doing things.

Enter in the Main Topic, Brainstorm your idea or other topics and Create main branches to your topic. Don’t worry about the order of the topics.

Create Sub-Topics. Elaborate on your topics by creating sub-topics. Make sure to use very short phrases or even single words.

And when you use software to make your mind map, you don’t run out of “space”, as you tend to do with larger mind maps on paper.

Some commercial mind mapping software tools enable you to export your mind map to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Project etc. without re-entering information.

You can even use it for better visual presentations or video recordings too. I use Loom to record my videos, and if you use mind map software, you can record the screen as you go over the different sections of the mind map and make your presentation more interesting, instead of using the same old boring PowerPoint.

I recently watched a webinar by Ray Edwards and he did this. Just zoomed in to the different branches of his mind map in the video and it made it the webinar a lot easier to watch.

So, how else can you use mind mapping.

Well, for starters, I use it for pretty much the same topics in my business plan, but in a visual way.

The central theme is my business, NET Essentials, and from there, I have all of the main branches of the business:

· Website

· Podcast

· Coaching

· Webinars

· Marketing

And then, from each one of those main topics, I’ve got branches of sub-sub topics on the overall details that relate to that topic.

For webinars, I’ve got free and paid webinars (some of this is in the works). But it lays out the plan for the future and I get to move things around.

I was just in one of my mind maps a little while ago and I renamed a coaching program that I have because the original one in the mind map didn’t work out so well.

And if you’re into marketing funnels, then mind mapping is probably already part of your marketing plan.

You can map out the customer experience and the path you want them to take. Throw in some details about how you want them to feel, through their customer journey if you want.

But also, in the marketing realm, you can map out each marketing funnel as well with a diagram for how you’re going to move people through the ‘know/like/trust/try/buy’ process.

Putting it in a mind map using software is a great way to quickly move the details around without the need for 50 color coded sticky notes on the wall (I’ve done that by the way).

And hey, if you’re into the 3-4 colored sticky notes and you like the old fashioned way of how you can write on them and move them around on the wall, then that’s great. Some people like the old fashioned way. Go ahead. Have fun.

But if you’re looking for a better way. A more modern way, then there’s more than a few software options for you to pick from.

I’m sure that if you search for mind mapping software you’ll get a lot of results, but just to save you a little time and effort, I’ll mention some of the top rated options for you and leave the links in the Show notes as well.

I didn’t start with Mind Meister, but that’s the one I landed on for the last couple of years. After checking out some other competitors, they’re basically all pretty much the same when it comes to functionality. The thing that stands out the most is the pricing.

90% of them have a free option for you to start with that’ll give you 3 mind mapping ‘boards’ so to speak. After that, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid version.

That can go anywhere from $100-200/year.

Your needs will vary, but if you really get into using mind maps and share them with your team, then you’ll need to get off of the free plan and onto a paid plan.

So, Mind Meister’s paid plan is $100/year. You can go to www.mindmeister.com Again, I’ll leave a link in the Show notes for all the ones I mention here.

But other than Mind Meister, you can check out Lucid Park at www.lucidpark.com. If you’re into using sticky notes for doing this stuff in the past, this is the place for you. You can put one thought on each virtual sticky note and rearrange them as you’d like. Their upgrade price for an individual is also $100/year, but when it comes to using this for a team, it’s about $10 for each team member.

Mural is also another option for you. It has a little different look and feel than the others, but you’ll just have to check it out for yourself to see what you like or don’t like about this option. Their website is www.mural.co and beyond the free version, it’s also $10/month per team member.

So, I’m really not going to get into the long list of options for you with online mind mapping software. There’s just too many of them out there. My intention with this episode was to just get you introduced to the topic if you weren’t and to just let you know about what you’re looking for with pricing from some of the top options you’ll have if you decide to start mind mapping for your business or future plans.

Now, do you need this as part of your startup launch? Well, that’s up to you, of course. As you already know, you need a clear launch plan. And if doing a mind map helps you to clearly see what the plan is, then go for it.

Some people may find that it’s a waste of time and others may think that it helps get their thoughts and plans organized better.

If you’re new to the concept, just take about 30 minutes to check one of these out and see for yourself if it’s right for you. Be careful, though, because it could end up taking a huge chuck of time out of your schedule, so only do it if you need to. Only get into mind mapping if it will help you to actually SAVE time or money, somehow.

I get nothing out of this if you click on the links and get their services. I have no affiliations with any of these services.

If you have questions about mind mapping, send me an email at tom@tomclairmont.com I’ll answer the best I can.

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We all have a past, right? Not something we can forget about or ignore, even if we try. And it’s always a mix of all the ups and downs in life. We’ve probably got more of the downs than we’d like to remember, but, that’s life.

Some good things. Some very good things, and some not so good things as well.

But we can learn from the past. We can take all the good and the bad and use it all for what we want to step into for the next chapter in our lives.

Now why would I have this as a topic under the umbrella of starting an online business? How does this topic fit in to that overall theme?

It fits (in my opinion) because, as I’m sure you know, in order to start something new, we need to take what we’ve learned from the past and make our future better.

We can become better people with all that we’ve learned in the past.

We can try things that we’ve never been able to try in previous life situations or relationships. We have choices on what to do with our past.

Your entire past, your actions, results and feelings are all available if we choose to tap into them.

So, what can we do with our past? We can:

· Study it

· Replay it

· Generalize it

· Release yourself from it

· Reframe it

· Use it

Study it.

Studying the past can be rather difficult for some. Especially if you’ve had a very rough past. But you’re not studying the past to relive the good or bad experiences you’ve had, you’re studying the past to build a mental file of tools and approaches that will help you make new, more informed and yes, even wiser decisions in the future.

I did this a few years ago when thinking about how I launched my business back in 2002 and all the struggles I had. This helped me to pivot into a different direction with my business.

Replay it.

Now, be careful with this one. Replaying a situation is different than just reflecting on it. Try walking back through the situation like you’re reliving the situation, (only if it’s a healthy one), but now, with the knowledge and perspective that you have after the fact. This replay is going to give you a new perspective and new insight to help you think how you might do something different or better the next time a similar situation happens.

For me, on this one, I rethink when I had spent a year as a so called ‘partner’ for someone else’s business. He was full of lies and tried to rip me off for all he could. I’ll never do that again.

Generalize it.

The situation in your past might never occur in exactly the same way again. But that doesn’t change the value in looking back. By reflecting on the past, we can find common threads…maybe a pattern of behavior that we can learn to avoid for the future.

Release yourself from it.

There are some things in your past that you may regret or feel guilty about, or wish you would have done differently. I know I have a bunch. But the fact is, however badly you feel, however desperately you wish you could change it, it’s in the past. The page has turned. This may mean to forgive others or yourself. Let go of pain or guilt and give yourself the freedom to move forward. Living in the past will keep you stuck in the past.

These podcast episodes are to help you to move forward with your dreams. And in order to do that, you’ll need to believe in yourself. You won’t be able to do that if you’re stuck in the past about negative things.

Reframe it.

Reframing the past is something we can do with the perspective that comes from replaying it and releasing ourselves from it. While we can’t change our past, we can reframe the situation to serve us better in the future. Was getting fired a failure or a great learning experience? If could be both, or either one (I can certainly attest to that). The fact is – if you were fired, you were fired. How you frame and use that experience makes all the difference. This isn’t about denial or lying to ourselves, but a conscious approach to use our past to help us move closer to our dream of having a successful business.

Use it.

All of the reflection, study, replay, generalization is of only intellectual (or maybe emotional) value until you do something with the lessons. In the end, the way to “productively learn” from the past is to put those lessons into practice now and in the future.

You have a past – all of the events, feelings, emotions and results are sitting in that treasure chest of your brain.

I used my trials of starting a business 20 years ago to revamp my current one and to offer coaching and done for you services that will make it easier and faster for others to get started in theirs.

And you can do the same. You’re a different person than you were then. You know more. You can do more. Use what you’ve learned to help you move forward.

The treasure is there, but you gotta look for it.

Personal brand business or Podcast launch coaching: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book and view the webinar I have for you www.diypodcastlaunch.com

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Friends, there are times in our lives when we have to make a decision. We can think about stuff all day long and put things off, but eventually…eventually, we somehow come to the point of ‘I’ve had enough of this. Something needs to change.’ Right?

I don’t know what it is, sometimes. I don’t have a formula for why this happens to me or anybody. But it does.

We sit on the sidelines and watch. We listen to others succeed and we wait. We have these thoughts of how we want things to be but we don’t act.

Why is that? Why do we act this way? Why do we think this way?

We’re either a player in the game or a spectator.

For me, I’d rather be in the game but a lot of times talk myself out of it. So…I end up being a spectator.

And sometimes I just over think things. I convince myself that either I can’t do it or I shouldn’t do it. So, I don’t.

But then looking back, there are times when I ‘pulled the switch’ so to speak. I didn’t talk myself out of everything. There are times when I took some risks.

I reached a point in working a certain terrible job and I quit. But as you’ve probably heard in episode 1 of the Podcast, I quit without a plan. And that was a mistake.

I should have had a plan in place, not just ‘I don’t know what I want, but I know what I don’t want’ perspective.

But for some, planning is part of their psyche. Planning is what they do. That’s how they think. That’s who they are. My wife and I are making vacation plans again, right now. She’s a planner. Research is part of her psyche. She enjoys it.

She spent years doing physics research when she came to the US and had that as her identity. But then she found that after assisting in the classroom, her new love. The love of teaching. But she never would have found out if she hadn’t tried something different and left her comfort zone.

I love doing this Podcast. But a few years ago, I never would have thought that I could do such a thing and that it would take off around the world the way it has.

But I stepped out of my comfort zone and bought a USB low end professional grade mic and gave it a shot.

Why was this out of my comfort zone? I didn’t like the way my voice sounded and didn’t think that it was good enough.

But, after seeing and hearing what others thought of the Show, I kept going. And I’m glad I did.

Did I wing it this time? No. I worked out a plan for the Show. I did some research.

· Target audience

· Show name

· Logo

· Content

· Hosting

· Hardware

· Software

· Promotion

You get the picture.

And I found that it was very doable on a low budget. Whatever I didn’t know, I could learn.

So, I stepped out of my comfort zone and stepped into a new direction for my business that I didn’t anticipate when I revised my business plan 2 years ago.

But if I had just sat on this idea and only thought about it, I wouldn’t have a thriving, growing, influential Show like I have today.

If I had just stopped with the planning process, all I’d have was a good plan. What good is that?

And I keep bumping into people that are really into planning. They’re really good at it. But they stop with that. And they can’t get past that.

They don’t use the plan.

What good is a plan if you don’t use it?

And I was just talking to someone recently that had this problem. He was stuck in the planning stage. He knew what he wanted and he had a vision for his future and how he wanted his life to be, but he has a hard time implementing.

I don’t know if it’s a fear of failure or a fear of success. I can’t figure it out.

But planning feels like you’re doing something productive, right?

Planning is actually doing something. And we feel safe planning. We don’t have to commit to anything when we plan.

But this episode is about ‘Doing Something Now’. It’s about taking action. And I’m just going to refer to this as DSN for short.

You see, far too many people are stuck in planning mode and they’re not implementing the plan.

So you have an idea. And that’s great. And you have a plan, and that’s great. But what’s the date for implementing the plan? When is it going to stop being just a plan.

You know you want this ‘thing’ that you’re planning. Maybe it’s an online business or a Podcast. Maybe it’s something else. You know you want it. You say you want it. You think about it all the time.

So when is the date?

DSN is hard sometimes, isn’t it? It’s a new path. A new direction. But also possibly a new future. A better future. If you want that gift, you have to reach out and take it.

Take control. Take control of the plan and stop letting the plan control you.

Take a risk. And..is it really all that big of a risk after all? Are we talking up and move and quit your job sort of risk? Is it an ‘all or nothing’ sort of risk where if it fails, you have nothing?

Probably not. When it comes to your plan and they type of risk you’re facing, I would guess that it’s not really that big of a risk. In most cases.

So maybe it’s time to give uncertainty a chance. Maybe not knowing how things will turn out is really not that big of a deal. We never know how things are going to turn out. How many things worked out exactly like the plan said?

In my case, never. There’s always some sort of twist on what happened and what I expected. And that’s ok. That’s just life.

Be active in your future, not passive. Be the one in charge of the plan you have.

You see, ideas won’t launch your business, launching will. The plan won’t grow your business, starting will.

Feel a bit stuck? Get unstuck. It takes action. It takes forward motion.

Rethink failure. It’s not so bad to fail. If something doesn’t work out, you’re now wiser because of all you’ve learned and can either do a restart with a better plan or do something else that’s totally different.

I was on LinkedIn yesterday and I read a post from someone that said he started a bunch of little ‘micro businesses’ with these ideas that he had and they all flopped.

But he didn’t let it stop him, he moved on and tried something else and it seems to be sticking.

And that’s the way being an entrepreneur works.

Try something. See the results. Make a decision. Move forward or not. This is the normal process of testing your ideas.

DSN friend. Do something now! Stop waiting for permission. It’s not coming. You decide when. You decide how. You decide who to do this plan with. Take control. Take charge.

Stop trying to figure out how to have zero defects in the plan. The plan doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to be perfect.

And doesn’t all this planning and thinking about all the ‘what if’s’ driving you crazy after all? Doesn’t it just make you exhausted constantly thinking about it but not doing it?

Isn’t it emotionally draining to have this dream that you’re not pursuing?

If you’re still not sure what you want to do, then listen in on episode 24 of the Podcast for ‘3 Critical Steps to Gain Clarity’. In that episode, I talk about the 3 questions you need to ask yourself and how the answers can be quite revealing for the direction you should take.

Friend, expand your resolve. Be determined to succeed. Step through fear and make a bold move.

What your business needs is someone that isn’t afraid to fight for what they want. Your business needs you.

DSN. Do Something Now.

Personal brand business or Podcast launch coaching: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book and view the webinar I have for you www.diypodcastlaunch.com

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn. And I think LI is fantastic.

But I see a lot of people’s profiles that totally miss the mark on the message it sends. Too many people still have that old mindset of trying to lift themselves up and put themselves on a pedestal.

All the things they’ve accomplished. How many degrees they have. Me, me, me. Look at me and how great I am.

Friends, if you’re on LinkedIn or Instagram, or whatever platform you’re using, and you’re using it to try to get clients, you might want to think about how to maximize your profile so it actually works for you instead of against you. So..what does a social media profile have to do with creating a USP? I’ll get there and connect these dots. Just stay with me for a bit.

When people have a problem they need to solve, they’re looking for a solution from someone that knows how to help solve the problem and from someone that wants to help.

My whole sales approach comes from the ‘I can help you with that’ perspective. The people that get their business are those that have a very different perspective. They give. They serve. They have a natural ability to focus on the needs of others. Not to just put the spotlight on themselves.

And I’m speaking from the perspective of being a client here as well. I give my money to those that have proven themselves worthy of my money.

They pour out content that helps solve problems. I contact them because they’ve already given me some great advice (for free) and I want to take it further.

They get my money because they’ve been able to communicate what they do, the problem they solve and how I need them.

This is the foundation of a great USP. The unique selling point.

What is a USP?

It’s the distinct and appealing idea that sets you and your business, favorably apart from every other generic competitor.

Now, I think a great USP answers the following questions:

1. What’s in it for me?

2. Why do I need you?

3. What makes you unique?

4. Why should I pay you?

And in order to answer those questions, you’ll want to:

· Keep it Simple (because attention spans are short)

· Keep it Short (because attention spans are short)

· Show the benefit (how it solves a problem)

· Address an emotion (because even though we’d like to think we look at things from different angles and use our intellect to make decision, we really buy on emotion)

· Make it memorable (say something that stands out..how I end each Podcast episode)

Now, in your USP, Is your product or service:

· Easier

· Faster

· More widely available

· Simpler

· Cheaper

· Have a better guarantee

· Prettier

· More efficient

· Smaller

· A better value

· A better design

· Of higher quality

· Cutting-edge

· More time-tested?

What’s your message? Have you figured this out yet? Can you sift in a little story in your pitch? Do you have a pitch? If you need help with a pitch, look up Martin Barnes on LinkedIn. He started Pitch Club and he’s been helping people with their pitches for many years now.

To answer the question: Why do I need you? This is where you’ll be addressing how you solve a specific problem in the pitch.

To answer the question: Why should I pay you? There are a lot of people doing the same thing that you’re doing, but if you’ve proven that you can provide real value for doing that ‘thing you do’, AND if they like you (because personality has a lot to do with getting new business), then they’ll pay you..and gladly pay you.

When my business coach sent email offers for products and services he was selling, I gladly pulled out my credit card and bought e-products as well as 6 months of coaching on a specific topic. Why? Because I liked him.

And that can be you as well. Be helpful. Be likeable. Be a servant leader.

Another way of looking at a what a good USP consists of hinges around: ‘what you have that competitors don't.’ Now, that can be a little tricky because as I said before, there’s a lot of people out there doing what you do and offering the same thing you’re offering. But this is where your uniqueness comes in. This is where your personality shines through.

Why do we pick one professional athlete as ‘the best’ when there’s always someone else out there that’s just as good? Because we like them.

And that needs to be you. You need to shine through with who you are, even in your USP.

What’s my USP?

I help people get their personal brand business launched faster, so they can be more profitable quicker. Why? Because when I started my business 20 years ago, I could have used someone to help me launch in a more efficient way instead of just ‘winging it’.

So, I created ‘The 7 Basic Building Blocks to a Successful Online Business’ course that I coach people through. What are the 7 basic building blocks?

1. Vision- where you want to go and how you want to get there

2. Website- Open for business. Who you are and what you offer.

3. Product/Service- How you can help people solve their problem

4. Marketing- Opening the relationship with your target audience

5. Email list- Building the relationship further

6. Branding- Your verbal, visual and values identity

7. Copywriting- The words you use to sell stuff

Now, all this is great information to know, but I can make your launch easier and faster by tying all the initial tech together for you. I can either coach you through it, or do it for you. That way, you can just move on to doing ‘that thing you do’ and not have to worry about the foundation of your online business and all the frustrating techie stuff that goes along with it.

That’s my USP.

But how can someone take this and figure out if I’m their guy? By my content that I post in social media and in over 100 episodes of my Podcast.

By being on my email list and getting those emails where I build the relationship a little more each time.

And by walking people through that ‘Know/Like/Trust/Try/Buy’ process I keep talking about.

So my USP just states the facts of what I do and how. My online content helps people to see who I really am and for them to either like me or not. That’s their decision.

So I hope this helps, friends. I hope I could help you think through this topic of what is a USP and how can I use it to my advantage?

It’s real important for you to get this figured out. I can tell you this, that your competitors are figuring this out. But as we all know, it’s a big internet world out there. Find out what your edge is and run with it.

So, getting back to the social media profile you’re using, put the key point of your USP in your SM profile, or banner image so people just glancing at you will know what you’re about.

Friends, if you’d like to talk about this further, I’m here for you at tomclairmont.com/coaching

Personal brand business or Podcast launch coaching: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book and view the webinar I have for you www.diypodcastlaunch.com

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

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You’re Not Alone

If you’re in the planning stages of starting a solopreneur type business, or maybe you already launched one, you’ll more than likely be having the same thoughts and questions that all the other solopreneurs have.

Questions like:

· How do I start?

· What should I focus on?

· How can I possibly get all this stuff done?

· What about all that techie stuff that I’m supposed to know and do?

Well, first of all, I’d just like to say, ‘You’re not alone.’ This is the kind of stuff we all think about and dwell on, every day.

But I’ve found that having the right mindset of an entrepreneur, or solopreneur will go a long way for you and will help you to focus on the right things at the right time, so that you can manage your time better and increase your chances of success.

And this is why I created several mindset e-books that talk about how we should transform our thinking and actions and how to push through challenging circumstances.

My mindset E-books cover a wide variety of topics, like:

· How to Turn Failure into Success

· How to Overcome Trying Situations by Changing Your Mindset

· Developing a Present Moment Mindset

· How to Overcome Challenges

· Developing Your Strengths

· Developing the Confidence to Go After Your Dreams

And, friends, I’ve been through a lot in my day. I’ve had my share of ups and downs, and let me tell you, my low points have been pretty low. So when I talk or write about how to overcome challenges and turning failure into success, it’s from personal experience, the hard way. The ‘mindset reset’ way.

So I’d like to take a few minutes to talk about the proper perspective we all should have when running and building a business.

First, we need to take control. We really need to know how to say yes to certain tasks and how we spend our time and no to the mountain of distractions and how we shouldn’t spend our time. There are a lot of distractions, every day and we’re not going to get much done if we give into them.

Another part of the mindset makeover is being able to push past the things that we assume will limit us. We can accomplish so much more if you have a bigger view of what’s possible.

You can have a worldwide business. You can have worldwide influence and impact all around the world. You can be a very successful business person. If you have a book you’d like to write, you can write that book. Or, maybe it’s creating a course to sell. You can create a course that will make you a lot of money. You can learn the things you need to learn. Push past the limiting beliefs and expand your comfort zone. Learn how to have reachable goals and then reach them.

How? By just having steady improvement and not expecting huge, immediate results. Now do I want results? Yes I do! And I expect results. I expect to make good money from my business. But at the same time, I can reduce a lot of frustration and discouragement by having realistic expectations for those results. It’s sort of like winning a baseball game with singles and doubles.

Now, some, and I know 2 people just recently, said they’d rather try to win the game by hitting home runs and not messing around with singles and doubles. So if that’s the way you want to play ball, then go right ahead.

If you have a $500 product or service and a $5,000 product or service, what would you rather sell? The $5,000 product or service, right? I get it. Some may choose to try to ramp up their business by selling a handful of the $500 product and build up a client base, but others may say that they’d rather have one or tow clients a month on the $5,000 product.

Either way, just make sure that whatever course of action you’re taking, you have reasonable goals and reasonable results. This will help with your mindset of having success more often instead of always being disappointed and discouraged.

Turn your goals into daily habits (what do I have to do every day to make my goals a reality? The short to-do list). Routine = momentum (routine doesn’t have to be boring) The more you can routine-ize your processes, the more momentum you can pick up. Ex: drip email marketing will work for you on auto-pilot once you have the initial work put in, in advance.

Another solopreneur mindset reset challenge is to embrace obstacles, instead of trying to find a way around the obstacles. I’ve found that usually the best way to deal with the obstacle is through them (book ‘The Obstacle is the Way’ by Ryan Holiday) In the book, Ryan says “It’s not just: How can I think this is not so bad? No, it is how to will yourself to see that this must be good-an opportunity to gain a new foothold, move forward, or go in a better direction. Not ‘be positive’ but learn to be ceaselessly creative end opportunistic. Not: ‘This is not so bad. But: I can make this good.”

The next challenge of the solopreneur, is how to achieve more with less. You see, when you have a job, you have people around you that can do things. You have a structure in place for how to get stuff done. But when you’re alone, you have to have what Ray Edwards calls, a ‘low cost essentialism’ sort of mentality where you can focus on just the essentials of what you need. Typically, you need less than you think you do. You don’t need to buy a lot of software/hardware. You don’t need a team of people, typically, when you’re just starting out. Now getting a virtual assistant, might be a good idea, and maybe start this person part time at first to see how it goes and if there’s enough tasks for this person to do.

But I don’t normally recommend building a team of people around you and build up your overhead.

The last thing I’d like to touch on in this episode of the challenges of being a solopreneur, is self discipline. Now, when you’re working a job, with someone over you telling you what you need to do and how to do it, and when it needs to be done, you can get a lot of work done during the course of any day.

But when it’s just you and you’re the one with the dream of having your own business, and you’re the only one that’s pushing you, how much are you really getting done? You’re now ‘working’ for yourself. It’s not that you don’t know what to do, but you’re not doing what you know.

You know you need to be motivated. You know you have this to-do list of your top priority tasks. You know you need to turn off the TV and to not go to the refrigerator every hour on the hour.

But because you’re probably working from home, you’re finding that without that external push from others to get things done, that things aren’t getting done as fast as you were expecting.

So, in times like this, let your dream be your motivator. How soon do you want that dream life, or the thought of quitting your job, how soon do you want those things to happen?

You need to go back to ‘What is your WHY?’ When you lose your ‘why’ you lose your motivation.

So, the challenges of being a solopreneur are many. Did I even scratch the surface with what I was just covering here? No. I had a very long list of things that I originally planned on talking about, but it would take all day.

Is it easy being a solopreneur? No. Is there a certain freedom you now have because you’re your own boss? Yes. Absolutely. But in this freedom, comes a certain aspect of self discipline and self motivation that you’ll need to have.

If you’re in constant learning mode, and if you can focus on the small wins you have each day and not get caught up in all the negative thinking that comes so easily to us humans, then you’ll be able to press through the challenges and push through the obstacles you’ll be facing.

Because they’ll be many. There’s a never ending supply of obstacles. So check out Ryan Holiday’s book ‘The Obstacle is the Way’. It’s available on Amazon. It helped me and I’m sure it’ll help you as well.

Personal brand business or Podcast launch coaching: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book and view the webinar I have for you www.diypodcastlaunch.com

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

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In the last episode, I covered the topic of ‘should you create a webinar for your business’. I did an overview of the process and how much is involved in making a webinar so that you can decide on your own if you have enough time or money to have one done and if you think it’s right for you.

But what I didn’t cover was the topic of effectiveness, so I have some stats on webinars today that I think will help you as well so that you can make an informed decision.

Now, I know that stats can be boring at times, but I think these are necessary in how they function and the people that they reach, but also when to promote it and when they’re viewed the most so you’ll know when to launch one, if it’s being run live in real time.

Are you wondering whether to include Q&As at the end of your webinar? The answer is a resounding yes. So stay with me for just a little bit as I go over some winning statistics you should consider if you want to host a successful webinar.

Webinar Statistics

Most marketers see webinars as a vital part of the business plan. Webinars are a treat for marketers, with a total of 95% of respondents seeing them as important for their marketing efforts. On a scale of one to five, marketers rate webinars at 3 points in relation to how important webinars are to their digital communications.

Customers rank on-demand viewing as the most valuable addition to webinars. When it comes to making the decisions for configuring the webinar on the back end before it goes live, this is an important one.

When I created my webinar, I made sure that the ‘just in time’ scheduling was enabled. This will allow the person that registered for the webinar to see it in the next 15 minutes from whatever time zone they’re in, but it also gives multiple time options as well. Great feature.

More than half of marketers rely on webinars for promotion. Research shows that 58% of marketers use webinars as a promotion tool. Studies show that between 2% and 5% of webinar attendees eventually make a purchase at the end of the webinar. Is that a fantastic number, not really, but if you’re doing a pre-recorded webinar that just sits there and runs on its own, then all you need to do is drive traffic to it and let the process run on auto-pilot.

89% of marketers believe webinars outperform other channels in creating qualified leads.

Entire industries use webinars for generating leads. The pharmaceutical industry leads the way but education and consulting are in 2nd and 3rd place.

93% of webinar participants prefer desktops with only 7% favoring mobiles or tablets.

The average cost of webinars ranges from $3,500 to $5,000.

There are several key factors impacting the budgeting of webinars, including software, cost of equipment, promotions, and the labor involved. I know from personal experience that it can be a labor intensive experience because there’s a never ending list of things to tweak. In any case, if you are on a tight budget, the least you could do is invest in good webinar software if you’re going to do the DIY method. As I said in the last episode, I compared the top vendors and chose WebinarKit.

When is the best day for registrations? 24% of all webinar registrations happen on a Tuesday. It’s not a tremendously high number, so do with this stat what you wish. Lure them in on a Tuesday but don’t even think about bothering them with registration emails on weekends. Saturdays and Sundays, as you can imagine, rank poorly.

What’s the best way to promote the webinar? Well, email is rated as the most effective webinar promotion tool. And why wouldn’t it be? Emails are free and are a great way to promote any event, including webinars. Recent surveys show that solicitations through email account for 73% of webinar signups. Webinar attendance stats also show that Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or other social media could get you up to 15% of webinar registrations.

But what about same day registrations? 33% of registrations occur on the day of the webinar. If you want to increase attendance, you should definitely send a reminder email on the day of the event. Sounds like a no-brainer, but planning reminder emails on the day of the event can be overlooked.

On that note, webinar stats suggest that the best time of the day to send your promotional emails would be between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. If your goal is to score, aim for 9 a.m. which is the “happy hour” of webinar registrations with a 14% success rate. This is where drip email marketing would be a great resource so you can plan a specific time of day to release the promotional email.

Just under half of attendees sign up more than a week before the webinar.

The best time for webinars to be announced is two weeks before the official date or even earlier. The greater the promotional cycle, the better the results. Webinar effectiveness statistics show that 47% of attendees register at least eight days before the webinar date, while about a quarter (24%) sign up more than two weeks earlier.

Thursdays are the best days for webinars. Mondays are generally busy days at work, so that’s probably not the greatest day of the week to host an event. Thursdays are ranked as the most popular days of the week for organizing webinars with 19%. Wednesdays are a good choice since they are ranked lower than Thursdays by only 1%. Basically, webinar attendance statistics suggest that any day between Tuesday and Thursday will potentially get you the traffic you need for your webinar.

2, 3, and 4 p.m. are the prime times for hosting a webinar.

What makes webinars amazing is that you can connect to people from coast to coast and even participants from across the globe. Setting the best time to host a webinar, can be tricky, especially if you have participants from different time zones. Afternoons are considered to be the prime time to accommodate viewers from various time zones, webinar stats show. But as I said in the last episode, the ‘just in time’ viewing setting is a no brainer because it’ll let them see it on their terms when it’s most convenient for them.

What’s the best length for the webinar? Well, 60-minute webinars attract more attendees than 30-minute webinars. While the general belief points to an hour as the optimal length of the webinar, some reports suggest that the longer the webinar, the bigger the crowd. In essence, 90-minute webinars are more suitable for sharing presentations with attendees who want to broaden their knowledge. That’s going to be more of a training style of webinar.

Webinars with videos rated at 7.8 out of 10. Integrating videos in your webinar will make it more compelling and more engaging which will ultimately scale your viewing time. Good, right? Unfortunately, 32% of hosts that don’t use videos in their webinars say they lack the skills to integrate them into their presentation and 27% see this undertaking as too expensive.

So how are you supposed to drive webinar attendance the best way? There’s several things that you can do to boost your webinar attendance rate. Webinar statistics show that promoting a live webinar early enough (around two weeks prior to the event) could boost signups, and so does opting for an email to announce the event and sending out timely reminders.

Now, let’s get right down to it. Are webinars really effective?

Well, the marketers sure seem to think so, with as many as 95% seeing them as important for their marketing efforts. Stats further suggest that more than half of viewers are likely to engage with the company after, by watching extra content, downloading attachments, or even requesting a demo from the sales department.

So friends, I think I’ve just about covered all that I need to on this topic. If you were on the fence about whether or not you’re going to do a webinar, then maybe this episode will help you to finally make the decision either way.

Again, they’re a lot of work, but if you’re doing a pre-recorded one where people can view them on their terms, then it’ll just sit there working 24/7 for you because it doesn’t matter what time zone they’ll be in. That, I think was one of the top reasons I went with WebinarKit. The price was good, and it was a one time payment, but not all software options have that ‘just in time’ viewing setting.

If you’ve got some questions on this topic of webinars and the pros and cons of it all and you’d like to talk about it further, just book a free 30 minute initial coaching call through my website at www.tomclairmont.com

1:1 or group coaching at www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book and view the webinar I have for you www.diypodcastlaunch.com

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Personal brand business or Podcast launch coaching: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

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Webinars seem to be the new rage lately, right? More and more, we’re seeing them pop up all over as a source of providing information by video for a wide spectrum of industries and businesses.

And for good reason, I think. If they’re created with great, informative and compelling content that meets a real need, and done with professionalism…and then add in the on-demand option so you can watch it anytime, and you have yourself a winning webinar.

But there are certain aspects of webinars that turn people off as well. Is there a strong sales pitch at either the beginning or the ending?

Is the content weak, leaving you scratching your head as to why you just spent the last hour watching this video?

Was there an issue with the video or audio quality so that the webinar lacked professionalism?

Unfortunately, after we’ve been constantly exposed to high quality webinars, we can now spot a lower quality webinar immediately.

But let’s take a little time to think about the purpose of the webinar and the overall goal of putting in all the time and expense in having one created.

I just created a free webinar on the topic of ‘Starting a Podcast’, so let me break that down for you on the steps I took to get it done.

Someone once said, “Don’t start something before it’s already finished.”

Well, what on earth could that mean? Because it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, does it.

You see, when you do a Webinar, and when you think of the purpose of the webinar (to help people, yes, but ultimately to generate sales), then you have to take care of a number of things that will work in the background for you, when the webinar visitor finishes it and sees your CTA..your call to action.

So if, in your CTA, you have something like my offer.

“Click on this link and download this product for free when you enter in this code. “ or “Go to this website page for more information on what I just talked about.” There are a number of different CTA’s that you could have, but in order to make the best use of the webinar, you’ll have to have all the background structure in place, in advance so that you can maximize the webinars effectiveness.

Ok.. let’s break that down a bit. So what I had to do first, was:

· Create a product or service (I have both)

· Price the product and service

· Pick a platform to sell the product or service

· Enter that product into that platform with an image and a compelling description (that’s where my copywriting courses kick in)

· Create a discount code for that product (special gift for watching the whole webinar to the end)

· Create a landing page for the webinar registration

· Configure all the background settings for the webinar platform that you’re using (I use WebinarKit with most of the upgrades offered and friends, there are a lot of available settings that you can turn on or off in WebinarKit) but now is not the time to go over those things

· Link the buyer’s email to an email marketing account that I created in advance

· Create a drip email campaign for anyone that gets put into that specific email marketing account and have it automatically configured to have those emails sent to them over time that will lead them through the ‘Know/Like/Trust/Try/Buy Process’

And friends…that’s just the things that I needed to do in advance for just the CTA.

Ok..so when I considered doing a webinar, I worked the process backwards. I took care of all the background tasks and functionality first, that way, when it’s time to create the copy text and the video itself, all the structure is in place in advance.

So that’s what I mean by the saying “Don’t start something before it’s already finished.” I had the background structure in place before I started the video and created the content.

Is it a lot of work? Yes, absolutely. But in my opinion, it’s the best way to have an effective webinar.

Things to consider:

· Purpose of the Webinar

· Desired outcome

· Webinar content

· Marketing funnel

· Video creation

o Loom

o Zoom

o Personal computer

Webinar style

· You on video

· You in window of screenshare

· Just screenshare

· Video editing

o Loom

o Power Director

· Audio editing

· Text added to video

· Webinar software

· Creating a marketing funnel

· Special offer at the end of the webinar?

If yes,

· What will you offer?

· How will you offer it?

· Settings and links to offers

· Call to action

· Time limit to special offer?

· Email drip marketing structure in place, in advance?

As you can see, there’s a lot of things to consider for what you want to have and how you want to have it.

So..What does a good webinar look like?

Unfortunately there isn’t a simple answer. Your success will depend on a few factors:

● What does ‘good’ mean to you? And are you shooting for good, or do you want to have a great webinar?

Rather than focusing on creating a ‘good webinar’, make your primary goal to create an effective

webinar campaign for your audience.

Creating content to generate leads

One of the primary goals of webinars is to generate more leads. There’s two types of content that you should create as part of your webinar campaign to attract more leads.

1. Content that raises awareness

2. Content that convinces

Content that raises awareness should introduce your company through storytelling that reflects your company’s values. Focus on educational content that draws attention to the issues or opportunities your audience is facing, and how your product or service can benefit them. Content that convinces focuses on building trust with your audience. Let your audience know that you understand their needs and clearly state how your business offers a solution. Video, infographics, imagery they’re all a great way to grab people’s attention and explain complex concepts in digestible ways.

Targeting your audience

Next, a few words on the marketing funnel. The best way to illustrate how webinars can help you

educate and convert leads is by looking at it from a sales and marketing perspective using a

Marketing Funnel.

The Marketing Funnel consists of three main categories:

● Lead Generation

● Lead Nurturing

● Sales

Webinars tend to take place during the Lead Nurturing stage, but can be effective at all stages.

The marketing funnel you create should have the webinar helping people through the ‘Know/Like/Trust/Try/Buy’ process. I keep saying this a lot, but only because it’s so important.

Now, earlier, I mentioned that there’s a lot of configuration that’s needed for the Webinar and that you need to make a lot of decisions in how it’ll be viewed, when it’ll be viewed and how it’ll function overall:

· Watch times

· Registration page content and settings

· Thank you page content and settings

· Replay page content and settings

· Will you have a poll at the end?

· Will you have any handouts?

· Confirmation email content and settings

· Reminder email content and settings

· Merging with email integration

These are just the highlights of how to configure the webinar.

But, if I don’t talk about how to promote the webinar, I’d be seriously neglecting a very important topic.

So..after all the work you put into just the creation of it, how will you promote it? Typically, there are 3 main ways that people promote webinars.

· Website

· Email list

· Social media

Now, for 2 of the three options here, you’ll need traffic. You put it on the website? Great. Will anyone see it? That’s up to you and how you generate traffic to the webinar page.

Post it on SM? Fantastic. Are your SM posts getting views and producing results? All the work you put into the webinar could be for nothing if you don’t get traffic or results.

And from what I’ve seen, the average cost of having a webinar created ranges between $3,000 and $5,000.

Now, you probably know by now, that I have an IT background and all the techie stuff comes easy for me, so I created and edited the video, I came up with the copy content, I added the video effects to the webinar and other supporting videos, I created the entire background structure to the CTA and the website landing page, I even purchased a dedicated domain name and created a two page website to have a landing page as well. www.diypodcastlaunch.com

Initially, it’s just about getting the free, jam packed 50+ page e-book that I created, but then, after you put in your email address to get the e-book (and get added to my email list) it automatically redirects to another page where you can download the e-book but shows that I have the webinar on the same topic as well, if they’re interested.

So…should you have a webinar created for your business? Well, that’s for you to decide, but this episode was just all about taking a ‘peak behind the curtain’ so to speak and to help you get a better understanding of all that’s involved in doing a webinar.

Do you have a great, compelling topic?

Do you have the time to do it? Or..

Do you have the money to hire someone else to do it?

This is not for the faint of heart friends. Creating a webinar is not like playing softball. It’s definitely a hardball game.

Personal brand business or Podcast launch coaching: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book and view the webinar I have for you www.diypodcastlaunch.com

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

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I don’t know about you, but there are times in my life when I think I need to make a serious course correction.

Sometimes it’s about personal things. Sometimes it’s about my business and whether or not to keep going in the same direction or to make some course corrections along the way.

And when life happens to us…things that we can’t avoid or control, and we need to make these serious changes, it’s good to have a great book in your hands to read that will help you to sort through the mental part of what to do and how to do it.

Because making a serious life pivot first starts with our mindset and the decisions we make that are based on the emotions we have.

So I’m doing this book report for you on Adam Markel’s book Pivot because when I read it, I was going through this time of ‘life version 2.0’ as I like to call it. And I’m finding that, more and more, I’m coming across people that have gone through either the same sort of situations as I went through, or something very similar.

And that’s when life throws you a curve ball. Or, more like a knuckle ball, if you know anything about baseball in the US. In other words, it’s a very hard to hit moving target.

And sometimes, this curve ball is voluntary, like me quitting my job 20 years ago because the management after the 4th buyout was terrible, or it’s that the job quit you with staffing cuts for one reason or another.

Or maybe you find yourself needing to make a serious shift in your life for other reasons. There are plenty of other reasons, so I’m not even going to try to figure that all out.

So are you ready for a serious change in your life? Then you need to get and read this book. This book shows you how to get in touch with your real self and helps you to decide who you are and what you really want.

During a time when most people are focused on reality at best or survival at the very worst, Pivot is a game changer with stories of people just like us that changed their lives by making those different choices.

So, let’s dive into this book a little bit and I’ll go over some of the highlights that stood out for me.

The Introduction

In the intro, we hear about someone that has those nagging thoughts about wanting a better life, but can’t seem to shake them. Those thoughts go away for a while and they come and go, but there’s that reoccurring theme of ‘something’s not right’. And if you ignore those thoughts, they’ll ‘eventually drown you. You’re tolerating your own, slow, agonizing death.’

For Adam, he was forced to reinvent his life because as an Attorney, he found the stress unbearable and almost had a heart attack. But for you, ‘The goal is still the same. To reinvent the parts of your life that aren’t working, so that you can live a life that brings you fulfillment.’

Every pivot requires two things:

1. Clarity- changing what you believe (or how you view yourself)

2. Momentum- forward motion without quitting

Gaining clarity is the internal change that we need. Momentum is the external change that we need. And in chapter one, he outlines the 6 steps to take to gain clarity:

1. Unbelieve the myths we hold on to that holds us back

2. Release the past and the pain that keeps us in the past so that we can focus on the present and aim for the future

3. Face your fear and get out of your comfort zone

4. Being comfortable with changing your identity

5. Envision your new future and get comfortable with how you want your new life to be

6. The Big D-making that decision to change your life to the point of no return

So, getting back to number one, he covers a handful of myths that people have a tendency to hold on to.

Myth 1 Pivoting is for other people.

‘Those who pivot aren’t extraordinary, they become extraordinary when they decide they will not tolerate the circumstances of their lives for one moment longer.’

Myth 2 It’s too risky

If you’re telling yourself that it’s too risky to pivot your life, be aware of the real risk. Watching your dream life drift away until it’s so far gone that you can no longer see it. ‘The real risk of change isn’t that you might try and fail, it’s that you might not try and you’ll regret it.’

Myth 3 You have to burn the ships

Pivoting isn’t about sudden, radical change, it’s about:

• Envisioning a realistic way to change your life

• Preserving parts of your life that serve you

• Creating a clear plan and making a sustainable change. Creating a plan B and working on shifting your life to move toward plan B where eventually, plan B becomes plan A.

Myth 4 I have to wait for…

This is the thought process that keeps you holding back from doing anything. If you want to have your own business someday, do you have to quit your job today and start a business tomorrow? No. ‘Pivoting is a process and you get to control the process. You can pivot in the smallest baby steps over whatever time period you want. But you cannot just wait.’

Now, that was just some highlights of chapter one, but I think one of my favorite chapters was number 9, Pivot People that addresses the questions ‘Where am I going and who is coming with me?’ Because no one pivots alone. Change is a team sport. ‘To pivot successfully means to involve others.’

Whether it’s through mentors or peers, chapter 9 helps you to get the help you need so that you’re not trying to do it alone.

Friends, you hear me talking a lot about making changes in our lives and getting out of our comfort zone. Taking risks and the fear of failure as well as the fear of success. But there’s something about getting a good book to help you methodically work through the thought process part of making a serious change in your life.

And a large part of having a successful personal brand business isn’t in the how-to’s of running the business, it’s in the mindset of the business owner.

You can’t reach for the stars if you’re never looking up. And you can’t move your life forward if you’re still living in the past.

These are all mindset issues. And that’s a huge part of small business success. That’s why I have so many E-books on mindset issues beyond the how-to’s of launching a business.

So check out the book Pivot by Adam Merkel and let me know what you think.

I’m positive you won’t be disappointed. It’s one of my favorite books and I think it’ll be one of yours as well.

I’d really like to get your feedback on this type of episode…doing a book report. I’m thinking about doing more of these and hearing if this was helpful to you or not would let me know if I should do more of them.

So, feel free to shoot me an email at: tom@tomclairmont.com with your thoughts.

I’ll put in a link to the Pivot book in the show notes.

And when you shoot me an email, let me know what some of your favorite books are. I’d like to know.

So..as always…stay encouraged, follow your dream and don’t give up!

Book: Pivot by Adam Merkel

1:1 or group coaching at www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book and webinar I have for you www.diypodcastlaunch.com

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Personal brand business or Podcast launch coaching: www.tomclairmont.com/coaching

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

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We live in a time where information and influence comes as easy as breathing. Whatever we want to know or learn about, we can pursue it and either read or watch videos on it. No topic seems to be untapped.

But because we have all of this information at our fingertips, we can easily get information overload. And with all this information, get lost in the process of what to do with it.

Now, I’m a process and procedure sort of guy. I like to have things done in a certain order so that I don’t waste time going backward and fixing things that should have been done the right way the first time.

I just recently launched two new Podcasts and find that having the structure of good checklists and supporting tools that I use, really helps to make my time more efficient.

But I came up with these tools..these checklists.. because I worked out the processes and procedures in advance. That way, when it comes time to launch a Podcast, I have a certain order of events that I need to work through, not only with what I need to do, but the Podcast owner as well.

You see, I worked out a strategy. A plan. A process. And I was able to do this because I’ve launched other Podcasts before. I knew what I was in for.

But when it come to launching an online business, some people, because they’ve never done it before, try to go through the business building process with:

· Little to no strategy

· Little to no planning

· No accountability

· And little to no support

And when they go through the process this way, it’s easy for them to be either misled or misdirected.

The results:

· Feeling overwhelmed

· Feeling over worked

· Poor decision making

· Poor output

· Wasting money

· Wasting time

And just for the record, in my early days, I successfully did all those things that I’m telling you not to do. That’s why my first Podcast episode after the trailer episode is about learning from my mistakes. It was originally called ‘Don’t Do What I Did’, but I changed it to have a more positive tone to it instead of the ‘do as I do and not what I say’ sort of tone.

I felt overwhelmed. I felt overworked. I made poor decisions. I wasted money…and time..a lot of time. Why?

Because I didn’t have the right plan for me. I didn’t have the right support that I needed, like a business coach.

Now, granted, I was able to have a decent business and I certainly made good money, and quite a lot of passive income as well, which I still have, but I made those mistakes because even though I had some information (and a lot of great contacts), I didn’t know what to do with the information that I had.

So, I still made money, but I could have made a lot more, if I had a better plan in place, I’m sure.

So, I ‘winged it’ as we say in the US. And, because I have a growing listener base outside of the US, if you’re not familiar with this phrase, it just means that I went forward without a plan, even though I had a business plan.

You see, it doesn’t do much good to have a business plan if you ignore the business plan. Right?

Are you sort of getting a better picture of what ‘winging it’ means now?

But I guess, it’s easy to ignore a business plan that was created out of almost 100% speculation anyway.

Why take the business plan seriously when it’s just some fantasy plan anyway with a pretend income stream and a made up strategy based on wishful thinking?

But I’ve come a long way since then. I’ve learned a few things in the past 20 years that I think now, can help a lot of people. And that’s what I intend to do. Help a lot of people.

That’s what this Podcast is all about.

In March of 2021, I did a Podcast episode (number 26) called “Starting a Business From Zero- 7 Core Building Blocks You'll Need to Have.” And that particular episode is one of the more popular ones, usually leading the list each month for downloads. And in that episode (I’ll leave a link in the Show notes) I went over, just as an outline, the framework that I created ‘7 Basic Building Blocks for a Personal Brand Business’.

Now, this framework does not focus on ‘how to brand yourself’, but provides the platform…the foundation, if you will, for the business.

What are the 7 building blocks?

1. Vision- where you want to go and how you’ll get there

2. Website-you’re open for business. Who you are and what you offer.

3. Products and Services-how you can help people solve their problem

4. Marketing plan-opening a relationship with your target audience

5. Copy-the words you’ll use to sell stuff

6. Email list-building the relationship further

7. Branding-your verbal, visual and values identity

Now, there’s no right or wrong to the order of the list, although I would say that the first one, vision, should stay first. And it’s not meant to be a timeline for the way they’re numbered either. It’s not like website should be the second thing you work on because it’s number two.

These building blocks are all intertwined. They work together.

You’ll need good copy for everything you create. The website copy, the promotional material for the product or service, the email list, course material, even the branding. And there is a right and a wrong way for writing copy, as I found out. So that needs to be solid.

But having these 7 core building blocks will help you to lay a solid foundation for the business so that you can build up and out from something that’s stable.

And I get into more detail with episodes 30-36 later on as I briefly touch on the 7 building blocks, so I recommend downloading those episodes when you can.

And these 7 building blocks to your online business are what my 1:1 or group coaching is all about.

Now, for some listeners, they haven’t even started yet and they’re just still in the ‘I’m thinking about what I’m going to do’ phase. And for some others, that may have launched a business already but they’re still trying to work out how to make some decent money, they may be missing one or more of these building blocks, as I like to call them, but that can be fixed.

It’s not an all or nothing game here. And keep in mind that these 7 building blocks is my specific framework that I developed over the years and you’re probably not going to hear it put this way from anyone else, as far as I can tell.

And that’s ok. There’s plenty of other very smart people out there that have their take on what core elements you should have, and I deliberately don’t get into the finances of what you should do, because that should be between you and an Accountant as far as I’m concerned and that’s a completely different topic.

But as far as dealing with the chaos of starting a personal brand business, I think that by having these 7 building blocks as soon as possible in your launch, (vision, website, copy, marketing, products and services, email list and branding), it’ll help to keep you focused and on a better trajectory toward a profitable business.

It’s worked for me. I’m sure it’ll work for you as well.

So, how to avoid chaos in starting a personal brand business? Lay a good foundation. Have a solid plan in place. Have a timeline.

This way, you’re not just reacting to whatever the problem is for that day. You’ll be more focused. You’ll have more purpose in the things you’re working on.

It worked for me. I’m sure it’ll work for you as well.

Book: Pivot by Adam Merkel

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Podcast Launch Webinar https://www.tomclairmont.com/podcast-launch-webinar/

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What Is a Personal Brand?

Well friends, I’m sure that there are a lot of people that already have this personal brand stuff figured out, but there may be some of you listening that need a bit more clarification to what all this ‘personal brand’ stuff is and how they should think of it.

Because for me, when I started out, the meaning has sort of shifted a bit over the past 20 years and to be honest, I really like the way the definition evolved over time.

And just to be clear, when I started my IT business in 2002, I didn’t start out with a personal brand. I thought it was a good idea to have sort of a corporate identity and had this more corporate name and logo to make it seem like I’m more professional and maybe bigger than I really was.

I started out as Net Essentials Inc. and had the domain name and website to match and I really didn’t know too much about the personal brand image and what I should even do with that sort of identity.

And when you Google the term now, you’ll get a lot of different perspectives on this but really it all comes down to your personal identity and how you present it.

Since it’s a personal brand, it’s all about you. Your:

· Ideas

· Expertise

· Reputation

· Personality

But when I say it’s all about you, what I don’t mean is that the messaging for your personal brand needs to be all about you, because that would turn a lot of people…probably everybody off and they’d run away from you as fast as they could.

There needs to be a perspective in place with your messaging that takes your ideas and expertise and your reputation and personality but you’re presenting yourself in such a way that you’re showing people how you can help them with the problem they have..through your ideas and expertise and your reputation and personality.

Your personal brand is both all about you, but all about them as well. ‘Them’ being your target audience. How you can help them.

So let’s talk a little about your personal brand identity and how it can be both all about you and all about them at the same time.

There are 3 V’s that I like to use when explaining this ‘identity’ part of the definition. Your:

1. Visual identity

2. Verbal identity

3. Values identity

So let’s talk about this for a bit.

Your visual identity

This goes along with how your presenting yourself on your website and social media. How are you being perceived? And I always recommend that you think this through when you’re putting content on the Internet because sometimes some questionable content could come back to haunt you.

And the spectrum is very wide for this visual identity. I’m not advocating that every bit of content needs to always be professional and that people shouldn’t see your personal side, and then on the flip side, it you’re too personal and not professional enough that sort of content won’t help to grow your business either.

But there needs to be a balance of both personal and professional content that you put on your website and social media accounts.

When people first land on your website or social media account, what’s the first impression that they have of you? What’s your visual identity and does it invite more people in to see more?

Or is it turning some people off?

Verbal Identity

Next comes the verbal identity. Now, when I use the word ‘verbal’ it doesn’t necessarily mean ‘what you say’ exactly, but more about ‘what your message is to the world’.

What’s your message and how are you presenting this message? What’s your content and how is it helping people solve a problem? Because remember, a little bit ago, I was saying that there needs to be a ‘I can solve your problem’ perspective in the personal brand image.

So when it comes down to your content, you can develop better content by always having your target audience in mind and by presenting your message in a way that makes them feel like you’re talking to one person. Just them.

You’re being personal to someone that you don’t even know yet. And that can be a little tricky at times, but if you’re sincerely trying to help people solve a problem, just present it in a way that makes them feel like they’re sitting across the table from you.

This will be your verbal identity.

Now last in the 3 V’s is ‘Values’.

What do you believe and how you weave that into the content. Now, I’m not talking about religious beliefs per se, but if that’s what your personal brand is all about, then yes, go for it. Tim Tebow is a great example of that. His personal brand is all about his faith and how he helps people to make their lives better.

But for the most part, your values identity will shine through as you present who you are and how you do business.

For example, I posted something on LinkedIn this morning that referred to how I can help someone that wants to have copy written for their website, landing page, lead magnet or email marketing. But when I referred to writing the copy, I put in parenthesis ‘ethical’ copy. Because the copy that some people use, crosses the line of good ethics and either misrepresents or lays a huge guilt trip on you that you don’t need to try to make you buy their ‘thing’ that they’re selling.

So when you’re putting content out there in your website or landing page or email marketing…or whatever…you’re always giving people a glimpse of who you are as a person and the values that you have both personally and professionally as well.

So those are the 3 V’s. Visual, verbal and values.

Do You Need a Personal Brand?

But what if you’re still trying to decide if you actually need a personal brand? Am I saying that everyone needs to have one? No.

You may be in a situation with your business where you don’t actually need to have that personal brand image.

There are plenty of examples where someone started an online business but used a more corporate model. Prudential Insurance, for example. Since it has ‘insurance’ in the name, we know what it’s about and what they offer.

‘The Family Foundation’ is a non profit organization, but you can tell by the name, that they’re into solving problems that have to do with the family unit.

So if you’re not going to have a personal brand image, then I would recommend that you include the purpose or type of business in the name.

· Richmond Real Estate

· Advanced Auto Repair

You get the picture.

What to name your personal brand business?

But if you’re thinking about a personal brand, then I usually recommend that you call it after yourself. That’s what makes it personal. Because, really, when I was Net Essentials Inc, I didn’t want people to think of me as ‘the president of Net Essentials Inc.’, but I wanted people to say ‘hey, call Tom’, or ‘we need to get Tom Clairmont over here to help us with this.’ That’s what I wanted. I wanted them to think of me, or to refer me, not ‘you should call Net Essentials Inc. They’ll help you with that.’ Because there was no ‘they’. It was just me anyway.

So, if it’s just you in this picture, then use your name. But be aware that the Internet has a memory. A long one. So if you’re using your name, you’re putting yourself out there for everybody to see. Friends, family, potential clients, potential employers…it’s all visible.

Now, just as a side note, so you can see a little bit more of where I’m coming from, I, of course, registered the domain name www.tomclairmont.com, but I also bought the domain name www.thomasclairmont.com. Why? Because if there was a Thomas Clairmont out there in the world that wanted to have a website and give the world a totally different message and image as to what I was presenting, then it would totally confuse my target audience. So for a few dollars a year, I own both domain names so that I can control my personal brand image better and protect that image better.

OK? So I hope that this helps to clear up some misconceptions that are out there on this topic and that this episode will help you to form your own personal brand…or not. But either way, if you do pick a personal brand or you want to have a more corporate name, you’ll have at least thought it through a little better.

Does all this sound good? I recommend you spend some time thinking this through because if you decide to start a personal brand business or if you think it’s time to switch, like I did, you’ll need to make some changes to the business plan and how you’re going to market and promote yourself.

Because when you do make the switch, from a corporate brand to a personal brand, you’re now claiming a new identity in a way. Yes, your clients and prospects probably already knew that your business was just yourself, but now, after making the switch official, you have to turn off the corporate image and promotion and turn on the new personal brand you in all your documentation, social media and email marketing. It can be a big deal, depending on how many marketing and promotional tools you already have in place.

So think this through. You’ll be glad you did.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Podcast Launch Webinar https://www.tomclairmont.com/podcast-launch-webinar/

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

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Is there a ‘right’ time to start a business?

Hello again friends, I have a topic here today that is a very popular one for sure. When should you start a business?

Is there a right time, a right opportunity, a right situation, a right…answer?

And if you go to Google trends and type in ‘the right time to start a business’, you’ll see that over the past 5 years, the results, in the US, and around the world, shows that this topic has been gaining steam since around May of 2020.

Why? Well, starting a business has a lot of advantages. And when people need other options for income because of internal or external forces around them are either failing or just not meeting the need, or if they just want more opportunity in general, then starting a business is a good idea.

But there are a lot of details that we need to go through when we start a business, right? There’s a lot to think about. And that’s part of the big picture for me here in this Podcast as a whole, is to help people think through the mountain of topics that there are around having your own full or part time personal brand business.

So for today, in this episode, we’ll be talking about the right time and the wrong time to start a business. But keep in mind that this is my perspective on this and my advice for you and that you’ll be getting a lot of different advice from probably everyone you talk to on this issue of ‘when’.

So, let’s start off with flipping the coin here and talk about not necessarily the right time, but the wrong time. Because the signals for the ‘right’ time are harder to see than the signals for the ‘wrong’ time.

When is the wrong time to start a business?

So, when is the wrong time to start a business? My first answer is…

Tomorrow.

Well, for starters, tomorrow was the first thing that came to mind. Now, am I literally talking about ‘tomorrow’? No. I’m talking about the ability to put things off…for tomorrow. And then the next day. And the next.

You know how it goes, right? I’ll work on it someday. And then someday never comes. Because ‘someday’ (you might have heard me say this) someday is just code for ‘never’.

So if you’re saying to yourself that you’ll get to it soon, ask yourself the next question. How long have I been saying ‘soon’?

When you can’t get your message straight

Getting your message straight is huge. What do you do? What problem do you solve? Why should anyone pay you? Why are you better than someone else?

If you don’t have your message straight, then you’ll be wasting a lot of time. Maybe years. So spend time on your message in advance.

I’ve said this before in episode 57 of my Podcast that you need to have 3 critical stories for your personal brand business.

· Personal story

· Professional story

· Client story

Get your 3 stories down to as short as it needs to be and at the same time, as long as it needs to be. So listen in on this episode to hear how I explain in more detail how to use those three critical stories to build your business.

When you don’t know who your target audience is

If you don’t know who you’re selling to then how will you sell anything? You may have heard it before, but if you’re trying to sell to everybody, then you’re selling to nobody.

Work on who your target audience is in advance so you know how to shape all your content around that audience.

You can look at your target audience in two different ways.

1. Demographics-the stats about a particular type of person and what the data shows about their particular situation and buying habits so you can sell a product or service to them easier

2. Psychographics- who they are as a person and the knowing the struggles they have so you can meet their needs through a product or service

I can think of my target audience from the demographics angle by saying ‘Joe is an upper middle class married man, age 48, that is looking to get out of the corporate rat race and start an online business using his current investment or retirement savings as seed money.

Or, I can look at my target audience from the psychographics angle like this: Lily is a stressed out teacher that has had enough of all the politics and political correctness of teaching, wants a better work/life balance and would like to gradually supplement her income with online courses and eventually have a full time business through tutoring and online learning so she can be home with her family more and not be stressed out grading papers until 1 am in the morning.

When you’re not doing well emotionally

Starting a business requires a certain amount of mental strength and clarity. You’re playing for the long game, not short term results. You need to be in a good place emotionally and mentally as well. Trust me, I sort of know what I’m talking about. I’ve been doing this for awhile.

If you’re not in a good place emotionally, then wait until you are. Otherwise, you’ll be burning yourself out real fast.

If you can’t commit to some time each day

Think about the structure of your day right now. Are you exhausted just thinking about it? Are you trying to be that ‘super mom’ or ‘jack of all trades’ guy?

Are you really doing this for the right reasons or just trying to impress someone?

Hey, I want people to reach after their dream, but I don’t want to see people start something and then fizzle out after a few months because they really didn’t have the time to commit to this venture.

You need time each day to focus and get specific things done.

You need structure.

You’ll need a plan.

How much time? That really depends. I can’t answer that. Just know that you can’t get a lot accomplished in an hour a day. It takes time just to wind down and to stop thinking about everything else that’s on your mind.

If you can commit a block of time each day, then great. Otherwise, wait until you can stop doing something that’ll open up some extra time for you to focus on this dream of yours.

If you’re getting resistance from a close relationship

This is important because I don’t recommend that you start something that will cause a lot of friction in the relationship. Starting a business isn’t worth a divorce or losing someone important to you. There’s usually a different approach you can have.

If you don’t have strong support, you’ll not only be struggling with the normal aspects of starting and growing a business from external forces, but you’ll be struggling with all the internal resistance as well.

It’s not worth it. Enjoy what you do. Otherwise, what’s the point?

The right time to start a business

So.. when is the ‘right’ time? How do you know how to interpret all the signals of the economy and society?

Well, I recently read something that showed how major, profitable businesses were formed out of the US great depression of the 1930’s BECAUSE of the bad economic times. Business leaders that didn’t know what the future held, just made the best decisions for the present time and were able to reap great financial benefits even though most of the country was struggling financially.

And it’s not like people got rich because the poor became poorer, businesses created new products and industries that were in demand.

So friends, if you’re waiting for the right time, you’ll be waiting for a long time. The right time is now. Why? Because you’re motivated now. You’ve got the energy now. You’ve got the skill and the will now.

So get started now. Create something new now.

There’s a lot of people that need your product or service. They just don’t know you yet. So get yourself out there and get started today.

You’ll be glad you did.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Podcast Launch Webinar https://www.tomclairmont.com/podcast-launch-webinar/

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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If you’ve been listening for awhile, you may have heard in episode 58 titled ‘the tools we use’, I briefly went over some of the software tools I use to run my business and why I use them.

I even created a free download of a pdf on this very same topic with the links to click on to get them in order for you to save some time. And that’s what this is all about for me here in doing these types of things…saving you time and money and helping you along the way by learning what works for me so that you don’t have to go through the hassle of trying to figure this stuff out.

Now, I get it, we all have our personal favorites when it comes to software tools and my favorite tool might not be yours and that’s just fine. But if you’re looking to skip the research part of the process because you’re more interested in launching your business sooner, rather than later, these types of episodes are for you.

So, in episode 58, I went over the following tools:

• SiteGround

• WordPress

• Elementor Pro

• MailerLite

• RedCircle

• Fiverr

• Audacity

• Canva

• Headliner

• SmartMockups

• Zoom

• Loom

• Gumroad

And I think I covered the basics pretty well on these tools, but now, I’d like to get into some other tools…and just assume that when I use the word ‘tools’ I’m talking software tools.

So, in this episode of ‘The Tools We Use’ part 2, I’d like to say a few words about these tools (and I’ll have links in the show notes for you as well, if you want to get right to it faster):

· Easyprompter

· Google Trends

· Calendly

· Unsplash

· Udemy

· Mindmeister.com

· Google Drive

· Premiumbeat.com

Easyprompter

So, for the first one, EasyPrompter, I picked this tool because I needed a better way to do longer videos and be hands free as well. This tool came recommended to me from another business pro that does a lot of longer videos.

With Easyprompter, you can just enter in the text you’ll be using for the video, adjust the font size and speed you want the text to scroll up on your screen and press play.

Why do I think I need this? Well, without using this, I have to look at the screen and keep one hand on the keyboard down arrow or mouse and keep scrolling down as needed to the pace I’m going at.

With this tool, I can know, in advance, how long it will take to read the script (EasyPrompter tells you) and be totally hands free when I’m doing the video.

Why do I need to be totally hands free? Well, when doing videos, part of the way we process information on the receiving side is to look at the hand motions of the people giving the information.

And you’ll see this from a lot of other people as well when you’re watching videos. They use both their hands during they’re message. We don’t normally think of this, but subconsciously, we need and expect hand motions when we take in information.

And, some people have done research on this topic. I won’t get into the details of all of that, but when it came to people doing TED talks, this is what I found.

The least popular TED Talkers used an average of 272 hand gestures during the 18-minute talk.The most popular TED Talkers used an average of 465 hand gestures—that’s almost double!

Using your hands when talking helps to increase the effectiveness of the non-verbal form of communicating.

So, when I’m making videos and my hands might be in view, I try to use both of them as much as I can. You see, we’re born to talk with our hands. And we learn from a young age to use our hands when talking, so why stop when it comes to presenting important information through our videos.

Since I want my videos to be the most effective use of my time, I want people to remember what I’m saying and to be able to process it better as well.

Thus, the use of EasyPrompter. There’s a free version that works just fine, or an $8/month version that gives you more options, but I think the free version will work for most of you just fine.

Google Trends

Next, is Google Trends. Now I know that a lot of you may already know about this tool, but I’d still like to cover it for those listeners that may not be as familiar with it and why they should use it.

Google Trends helps me in a couple of ways. With the use of Google Trends, I can do some quick research, in advance for what topics people are searching for and how important (or trendy) it is in both the US an around the world.

In other words, I use it for content ideas. Here are 4 ways you can use Google Trends to create better content as well:

· You can find relevant topics that are trending

· Do better keyword research

· Use it to create a meaningful content calendar

· Improve your branding efforts

But there are other reasons to use Google Trends for your business as well:

· Understanding Keyword Search Volume

· Identifying Seasonal Trends

· Avoiding Temporarily Popular Keywords

· Optimize Your SEO Strategy.

· Enhancing Your Video SEO Strategy

Overall, plenty of reasons to use Google Trends. And when I created the ‘Starting a Podcast’ E-book, I included screenshots of how I used it when I created this Podcast.

Calendly

So now, the next tool I’d like to talk about, is Calendly. This is a great tool for anyone who has a website and needs a professional-looking booking tool to take appointments. No surprise that there’s a free version and a paid one that, of course offers more options, but for the most part, you’ll probably be ok with the free version.

I’ve been using it for awhile and I love it. Plus, when you book on someone else’s Calandly feature, it automatically takes that time slot out of yours so that you don’t get a double booking of your time.

You can customize your availability as you choose in advance for a couple of months and you can add the link to a button on your website so that the whole world will see when they can book a time with you.

Using this tool helps to avoid the hassles and delay of going back and forth through email on what times work for both parties involved. Check it out. I’m sure you’ll like it as much as I do.

Unsplash

Now for the next one, Unsplash, I’ve seen first hand the huge problems a website owner can have when they (or the people that build them) don’t take the extra effort to use royalty free images. Legal issue can happen, and I’ve seen it first hand. You could potentially lose thousands of dollars because you just right clicked on an image that you Googled.

You see, sometimes people place markers in the images that can be traced. And why would they trace them? For situations just like this. To get easy money.

Unsplash has quite a variety of images to use, but keep in mind that others know about Unsplash as well and you just might come across some images that you use on someone else’s website or promotional material. You’re going to have to be ok with that. You can set some search parameters in advance to help you get what you’re looking for quicker, like orientation and topic.

Check out Unsplash if you haven’t seen them yet. You’ll be glad you did.

Udemy

Now, this next one, is a little different. It’s not really a particular tool but a resource. I go to Udemy to learn stuff a lot faster. They have a huge list of topics and you can get full blown courses for not a lot of money. I took a copywriting course with over 11 hours of instruction that was on sale for about $45. A lot of courses go on sale for only $10-15.

Now, there are other websites you can go to that’ll offer the same thing as Udemy but this site is my favorite. And I have no affiliation with them. I get nothing out of promoting them, but my goal here is to just let you know what I use so that you can just jump right into launching your business faster. That’s it. So, I hope you get a lot out of Udemy.

Mindmeister.com

Now for this next one, Mindmeister.com, I use this to map out a plan that will give me a visual scope of a particular topic. If you want to map out a website plan or a marketing funnel plan, this website is for you.

Take your big idea and create a ‘mind map’ as they’re called and put it in a visual format. I like to see a bit plan this way. Some people are more visually oriented than others and like to see the plan all laid out in one of these mind maps.

Yes, there is a free and paid version, so you can start using it and save a few maps to get the feel of it.

Google Drive

Now for the next one, I’m sure that most of the listeners are already familiar with this one, and I won’t spend much time on it, but just in case, I use Google Drive to upload large files and share them with others.

And in my ‘Done For You’ podcast launch program, I help others launch their Podcast and actually edit and prep the first bunch of episodes for them, but I need them to record those episodes first and get them to me. Google drive is the way to go.

Premiumbeat.com

Now, the last one on the list, is PremiumBeat.com. This is the resource that I use and recommend for quality Podcast background music. If you have a Podcast, or are looking to start one, check out this site for a great selection of audio tracks that you can purchase for $50. You get the rights to use this audio track on one site only but you can slice up the full version of the audio track any way you want for your intros and outros, or if you have a midroll clip in your Podcast as well.

For season one, I used a different audio track than season two. Did I have to? No. But I just thought it would be a good way to separate the seasons that way.

Well, friends, I hope that this additional list of tools will be helpful to you so that you won’t have to spend so much time figuring all this stuff out. That’s the goal here in the Podcast to help you launch quicker, with a plan, so that you’ll be more profitable quicker.

I’m just trying to help you launch whatever it is you’re trying to launch. A personal brand business, a website, a Podcast. Whatever it is, I’m here for you.

So check out the show notes for the links because it’ll get you to these tools a lot faster.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Podcast Launch Webinar https://www.tomclairmont.com/podcast-launch-webinar/

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

Products: www.tomclairmont.com/store

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

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Imposter syndrome. It can be very real. And it keeps coming up in conversations that I have with people. Feeling like a phony. Feeling like you shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing. Feeling like you’re not the person that you say you are.

You see, when you’re just getting started, and you don’t have clients or customers yet, and you’re just spending time tweaking your website and poking around on social media, it can feel like you’re just going through the motions.

You’re telling people you’re an expert in ‘that thing you do’, but you’re looking for others to verify your claims. You’re looking to others to provide your own confidence in yourself.

For some, it can be hard to believe in yourself and to take what you already know and make money from that through your own business. There can be a lot of self doubt or negative thinking…

‘I don’t have enough degrees.’ Or ‘Who am I to get paid for this, when others know so much more?’

Or you may be in the beginning stages of reinventing yourself. I’ve talked about that from time to time. And that’s a valid concern. You’ve been doing something else for a couple of decades and you’re taking a new path with a new dream.

This is the new you. You’re not being dishonest. You’re not deceiving anyone. It’s just that you’re starting something totally different.

And you’re having a hard time convincing yourself that this is the new you.

Really, the negative thoughts can go on and on. We’re wired, for some reason to think negatively first, not positively.

Why is that?

Why is it so easy to think negative thoughts about ourselves first and to put ourselves down?

Is anyone LITERALLY calling you an imposter, or a phony, or in any way putting you down?

Is anyone LITTERALLY stopping you from doing what you want to do, or saying that you CAN’T do what you want?

I’ll bet all day long, that the answer is no. because I’ve never seen that happen yet. Now, will everyone understand what you want to do? Will everyone support you in what you want to do? No.

There will be some that don’t support you, but will they stop you? Probably not.

But the fear of imposter syndrome can stop you in your tracks. The fear of ‘what will others think’ could prevent you from a brand new future that’s just waiting for you out there.

Now, there are some that struggle with not having credibility, because they don’t have credibility. They haven’t proven themselves yet to anyone.

They may be just making stuff up about who they are and what they claim they can do. Not everyone is honest out there in the land of the Internet.

Some people may not be who they say they are. But I’m not going to address that in this episode, I’m going to focus more on those that are who they say they are, but they’re just in the very beginning stages of their business.

They’re a great speaker, or trainer, or teacher, or author, but they’re trying to figure out how to make money doing what they love to do.

They’re trying to get past their own insecurities. But friends, if, or when we feel insecure, people can pick up on that. It will be noticeable in one way or another. And it’ll be those little insecurities that will hold you back. It’ll be those insecurities that keep you thinking you’re an imposter.

But we both know that that’s not true, right? We both know that you’re great at what you do, but you’re just trying to get your business off the ground.

We all have to start somewhere. We all have to start sometime.

Should I care about how others see me or what they think of me?

Will my friends and family ever really understand what I do and why I do it? Some may, but the rest, probably not. I don’t need them to understand and give me their approval.

I’m going to do what God has put in my heart and go with that. That’s the approval I need.

What will the future bring? Who really knows? You can plan it all out if you want, but the goal is not to reach the end. The journey is the goal.

Learning. Growing. Forming new relationships.

Helping people solve their problems.

This is the journey. This is the goal.

So the first step in getting past imposter syndrome is believing in yourself. Really believe that this new path you’re taking is valid and true.

This new you that you’re telling the world about will accept you for who you are as long as you can prove that you can do what you’re telling people you can do.

You can solve a problem they have.

You can offer a product or service that they need to make their lives easier or to help them make money somehow.

Really, only you and some others around you know you’re on a new journey. 99.9% of the world will not know that this is something new for you. So believe in yourself. Believe that you can make an impact and have influence in people’s lives.

If you can’t believe in yourself, don’t expect others to believe in you either.

You are who you say you are. Now move on. Move forward. Do what you need to do to get the word out. Put the effort in to having a product or service that people are looking for and the clients will come.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Podcast Launch Webinar https://www.tomclairmont.com/podcast-launch-webinar/

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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So, you want to finally go forward with starting a business. This is something you’re sure about and you’ve got the confidence and determination to work through the problems and find a way to succeed.

But you’re finding that there’s a lot more to learn than you originally thought. A lot. And it seems that with every step forward, you’re getting the impression that you’re taking two learning steps back.

You have all these ideas but you’re not sure how to put them into action and piece this puzzle together.

So you hit YouTube. And Google search. And Udemy. And maybe you pay for a few courses thinking that it’ll help you to launch sooner.

But weeks and maybe months are going by and guess what? You’re still no further along now then where you were awhile ago. Did you launch? No.

Are you getting clients? No.

And it’s a double edged sword having all this access to information, isn’t it? We can get addicted to learning, right?

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s great to be learning all these things that people tell you to learn. We should all be in learning mode for the rest of our lives. But we need to have a balance here with both learning and actually doing those things that we say we really want to do.

And it’s never been easier to learn things with all the information that’s on the Internet. You can get it anytime and anywhere. Whatever you want. There’s no limitations anymore.

Not too long ago, you had to have a desktop computer in order to do most of the things you wanted to do. Now, you can do a lot of things on your phone or tablet as well.

And getting stuck in learning mode can be a sign of fear as well. We use learning something as an excuse to not actually do something.

It’s not a bad thing to want to learn about how to launch and grow your business. But in order to do those things, you’ve got to launch. Then, you’ve got to get clients.

Friends, this episode is going to be more direct with my perspective today. I’m probably going to ruffle some feathers here, but sometimes, people need to hear the truth about something and sugarcoating the issue isn’t going to get anyone to take action and accomplish the harder things.

Every once in a while, I need someone to give it to me straight and get me to really think about what I’m doing. That’s the kind of coaching I get for my business and that’s what I’m going to do for you as well.

Because we all want to have profitable businesses, don’t we? We all want to make some serious money, right? Well, having a hobby, an expensive hobby that keeps us busy and keeps us looking like we have a business, but really don’t, all this time and effort, is just for nothing.

Hey, it’s easy to live in fantasy land and talk about having a business. It’s easy to just sit there watching videos or buying courses giving the impression that you’re actually doing something.

But at some point, you have to just stop. At some point, you have to take a step back and look at what’s really happening. What have you really accomplished in the past month?

Put the things you’ve already learned into action. Catch up with your actions to the things you’ve learned before you go searching for more videos on the subject.

Take a deep breath and just let it out. Now take a step in the right direction. Commit. Commit to something. Launch a website. Start a Podcast. Create a course. Write a book. Start a consulting business. Whatever your dream is…do it.

But have a plan for success. Because friends, this is what I’ve always been saying. Launch, but with a plan. Step out and start something, but with a plan. Because success has to be part of the plan. It’s not just you that wants to see you succeed, it’s the rest of us as well.

We all want to see you start and grow your dream. You’ve got a fan club out there that you haven’t met yet. Because when you do succeed, the people will respond. The world will respond. And you can take your plan A and build on it.

I see people taking their businesses into new areas that they never thought of two years ago. Authors are becoming speakers. Speakers are becoming investors. One on one Coaches are excelling in starting Mastermind groups.

Friends, you don’t know yet what the future holds, but you have to be in the game to win it. You can’t win by being on the sidelines.

You have more control of your future that you think. You don’t have to be limited to one path. My path has changed over the years as well. Because part of the plan is to let the plan change and flow. Part of success is to take what you’ve learned and make something better.

So prove to the world that you’re an expert in something. Prove it to those that don’t believe in you.

Pick a date. Start with something. Because starting with something is better than nothing, isn’t it?

Learn but launch. Try, test and measure. Then tweak it. Make it better.

But you need clients. You need sales. You need some measure of success to build upon. You can’t just keep tweaking something to make you feel busy. You need to confirm that you’ve got something that people want to buy.

So, are you stuck in learning mode? Be a lifetime learner. I’m all for it. I’m doing it myself. But commit to starting something.

Get help. It’s ok to get help. It’s better to get help. I get help from time to time from people that know what they’re talking about. I get help from people that have already done what I want to do and learn from their mistakes.

That’s why I write the E-books. That’s why I have the mini course on how to start a Podcast. So you can take what I’ve learned in a year and compress it down to a couple of weeks.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed. If you’re feeling like you don’t know which direction to go in. Or, if you’re just looking to bounce some ideas off of someone else, find that person you can trust. Find someone that knows what they’re talking about.

Find someone that will encourage you to go for it. There’s plenty of people out there that are willing to help you, including me.

You’re not alone. We can do this together. I need some of you to succeed, and some of you need me as well.

So, are you feeling stuck? Let’s talk. Let’s work out a plan for you to move forward. You’ll never know if you don’t try.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Podcast Launch Webinar https://www.tomclairmont.com/podcast-launch-webinar/

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Hey friends and loyal listeners. I’ll be taking a 2 week break from the Podcast while I’m on vacation. After almost 100 episodes, I’m still far from finished talking about one of my favorite subjects…helping people get their online business launched and helping them with both the how to’s and all the tech involved.

Some of the topics I’ve been working on for future episodes are

· Getting past imposter syndrome

· Do something now!

· Confidence beats formal education

· My favorite tools part 2

· Is your dream becoming a nightmare?

· Can an introvert become a successful entrepreneur?

So stay tuned for some of these future episodes and keep the episode ratings and questions coming because I really like to hear from you directly about the content that you’re looking for.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Podcast Launch Webinar https://www.tomclairmont.com/podcast-launch-webinar/

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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In this episode we hear about how Alexis started his entrepreneurial journey and how he initially started as a consultant in a large firm, but becoming more aware of the needs of both big and small businesses.

He saw others around him that were considered successful, but weren’t able to spend time with their family and friends.

He created his first company called Spidergap, which creates and runs 360° Feedback assessments that help your employees to take action on personal development. But he found that the products and services weren’t meeting the needs of the market as much as he expected and the company was not able to scale up and grow.

Taking what he learned thus far, he created another company called AirManual which helps companies to document processes and procedures to make management more effective and easier.

He was determined to figure out a way to have more personal time for his family by having a business that runs more effectively.

Alexis then explains how he built a team and the problems he had initially because he didn’t have the onboarding processes and procedures in place to help train new employees and make them feel supported.

After the onboading process was created, he was able to have great retention for the new hires.

Next, we learn about how he was told that he would never be a good manager by someone before he became an entrepreneur, and how he proved them wrong by developing his staff to become great managers themselves.

We end the conversation hearing about how the startup business changed since he launched his first company.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Podcast Launch Webinar https://www.tomclairmont.com/podcast-launch-webinar/

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Gina started out as a Financial Advisor in 2014 and wondering if she really wanted to do this long term even though she was successful in this role. She had a desire for a different future and wanted to change and grow her skills and take a new path into another career, her vision for how she wanted to live and have a growing business with more control over her time and life.

She learned how to do freelance writing and was able to take on few clients and started her side business as a Virtual Assistant.

She dispels the notion that VA’s are mostly overseas and work for a very low rate, and found that there are a lot of VA’s in the US that have thriving businesses with US clients.

She explains how she got her first clients through job boards and cold pitches to companies that were hiring and her original pitch techniques and how she recommends pitching now.

Gina tells how to price your services and how to pitch yourself as the solution and also how she shifted from an hourly rate to a weekly rate.

She continues with how she was able to increase her side business rate and eventually quit her day job.

Gina now helps people to become self employed with control over who they work with and what they charge.

Taking things to the next level with professional business coaching and how she created her own course ‘Fully Booked VA’ that includes freelance writing, project management, customer service, tech services and a lot more. Even job leads for the graduates of the course.

You can get more information about Gina Horkey at: www.horkeyhandbook.com and www.fullybookedva.com

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Podcast Launch Webinar https://www.tomclairmont.com/podcast-launch-webinar/

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Friends, I just had a thought about competition lately and I was reminded of a conversation I had with a professionally trained and educated photographer a few years ago. She wasn’t practicing her trade, even part time and I asked why?

She said that there’s already a number of other photographers around and why would anyone else want one more in the mix?

I used an example that I frequently use in these types of conversations, (because it wasn’t the first time I’ve heard this sort of example). I said ‘look at all the burger joints around. Look at all the grocery stores around. Look at all the pizza ‘mom and pop’ businesses around. Why did they start their business when there were already so many others of the same type already up and running?

Life in the USA

Life in the United States lives and breathes competition. We see it all over the place. Wherever you go, there are multiple, and sometimes, many multiple, same type businesses. Whether it’s on the Internet or off the Internet, it doesn’t matter.

The more the merrier

We really have this ‘the more the merrier’ view of business and competition. And we can see that all the way to the top with Elon Musk. Now, I don’t normally like to talk about Elon, because he’s more of an exception to success, than the rule, but he doesn’t mind other businesses copying his work and ideas, because it will just crank out more quality products for the world.

Why do we have favorites?

And when we have that choice of products and services, we’ll still, somehow choose one over the other, and why? Why do we make those choices? How do we make those choices?

We make those choices based on personal preference and needs. Take, my business coach Mike Kim. He’s hitting it big in the personal brand space lately and that’s fantastic. But I remember, about 5 years ago, he just started his blog and then the next year, his Podcast.

But he became my favorite personal brand ‘go to’ guy because of all the free information he just gave away. All the ways he helped people and answered questions for free. And it wasn’t just that, the quality of information was like I was getting a gold nugget every time. And so I signed up for one of his coaching programs and paid some decent money because I knew that I was going to get quality content. Quality coaching from him, and I did.

But to have him as my favorite went one step further. You see, it wasn’t just that he gave away a lot of information for free and it wasn’t just that it was quality content. The fact that I liked him as a person was the deciding factor in him being my favorite.

He poured out a lot of content in video and with video, we can see more of his personality and behavior. We can see this in anyone that pours out content. And that’s how we ultimately make our own decisions on who our favorite ‘anybody’ will be.

So, how is Mike Kim beating his competitors? How is he hitting it big while others in the same space are floundering? By just offering content, quality content, and just being himself. Mike Kim being Mike Kim. His personality. And his genuine desire to help people.

Is there a limit?

“But (you may be thinking), is there a limit? Could there really be too many photographers around for the community? Could there be too many burger or pizza joints to go to?” Well, yes, there could be, but let’s let the market volume decide that, and see. Let’s at least try and then determine by the lack of business or volume that there are, in fact, too many of something. But if the business fails, if the business doesn’t thrive, you’ll at least know by trying.

Don’t just assume and by default, think that there are too many of a certain type of business in your niche and you give up before you even try. If there’s a limit, let’s see for ourselves.

When is enough, enough?

But I’ve found that that is rarely the case. I’ve found that no matter how many of a certain type of business there is, usually, there’s space for one more.

Now, of course we’ve seen businesses in our community go under from time to time, but I’m not talking about physical brick and mortar businesses, I’m helping people in the online personal brand space. So, because it’s a big Internet and the online population keeps growing, there’s always space for one more online business.

Can there be too much of something?

So, if there’s a thousand online speakers, coaches and consultants, there’s space for one more. Why?

Can there be too much of you?

Because there can never be too much of you. As long as your contributing good, helpful, quality content, you will always be in demand.

So get the word out. Get your business out. Get your content out. Be heard. Be seen. Be a force for change in the world.

The world needs you. People need you. There are many people out there that will be wishing they knew of you earlier.

Hey, maybe I need you too.

Inspiration and motivation

Friends, in the business world, if you're a true warrior, competition doesn't scare you. It makes you better.

So get your product or service out there. Don’t hold back.

People need you. They need your product or service. And there’s plenty of people out there waiting to pay for it.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Webinar video series: Starting a Podcast

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call through Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Having the dream

It’s great to have a dream. Right? I think we all have some sort of dream that we’d like to accomplish someday. And having that dream of a better life is always a good thing. Because not everyone can have those positive thoughts and ambitions. Not everyone even knows how to dream big…or even dream at all about a better life.

I know I wasn’t brought up to think that way. It never even came up. I’m certain of it. My dad didn’t graduate high school and my mom never went to college, but somehow, I really don’t know how, she learned how to take shorthand and become a secretary at the Towns City Hall.

But for some, dreaming can come harder than others. For some, it can be something that maybe exists in the back of their head, but if it seeps up toward the surface, it can quickly get squashed down to where it came from…the depths of the inner conscience.

And that’s really a shame, isn’t it? Because I think we’re made to have those dreams of a better life someday. That’s how the US was founded, on a dream of a better life. Better than being oppressed.

And so…when we’re working that job…that J.O.B. where we grind out every day, just waiting for the weekend to come…when we’re hoping for a better job, or a better life, and maybe, just maybe, someday, I could have my own business…doing…whatever. It doesn’t matter sometimes, does it?

You keep seeing others with their businesses and how they, somehow, made it work, and you think to yourself, ‘could that EVER be me?’ And you’re thinking ‘I see this guy on LinkedIn or on some Internet ad and he’s talking about how much he makes and that I could make that too.’

Getting the courage to act

And then…it happens. Something finally clicks or snaps in your head and you just can’t take it any longer. You have to have a way out of whatever situation you’re in. You can’t go on like this. You have to change something because if you don’t then everything stays the same. And that’s just not acceptable anymore.

And it isn’t about the money for some people. It’s beyond that. I know for me, when I quit my job, back in 2001, it wasn’t about the money, it was about my personal happiness. It was about the situation I was in and how terrible it was.

And that’s what you’re looking for as well. Your personal well being. Your sanity.

So…you get the courage to act. You get a book, or you sign up for a course, you may even start talking to someone about what to do next. But you take the first step.

And then, after some time goes by, maybe a few weeks or a few months…you take another step toward the dream. You start to shape the dream and feed the dream. The dream shifts from being a dream to something that you really believe is now possible someday.

So, you create some time by giving up some things..whether it’s TV or some other time consuming thing that you were into (for me it was the long bike rides). But now, with this extra time, you’re starting to put some pieces together in this big puzzle called self employment.

Making the leap

And then…there comes the day, when you’re convinced it’s time to go in a different direction. You’ve got the confidence now and you believe in yourself now and you’ve had enough of the old and you’re all on board with bringing in the new life you’ve always wanted.

So…you quit.

What do I do now?

And for awhile, you’re riding on adrenaline and the excitement of new beginnings and things are great. For awhile.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of things being great. I’m not even hinting that I don’t want people to have a great new path.

But I’ve been doing this for awhile now, myself and I have some inside information here about being self employed. I’ve also talked to a lot of people along the way that are in the same realm as I am and believe me, usually the same thought hits them all at some point or another.

They’ve make the commitment to have their own business and then it hits them. ‘What do I do now?’

And for some, they may have a business plan or they don’t, that part really doesn’t matter. It hits them all the same. Because the business plan…even though it’s supposed to lay out The Plan, it still focuses more on strategy than the actual tactics you’ll be using to fulfill the strategy.

So when it finally comes time to fill the day with the most meaningful tasks…like, oh I don’t know..selling something, there can be a lot of distractions along the way.

Now that you don’t have the commitment of having to go to work every day and be totally accountable for your time, now that you don’t have a boss, and you’re your own boss, you keep finding that the days can just fly away one after another and that being self employed isn’t really what you thought it was going to be.

Too much free time

Why? Because in the structure of a job, you have to do certain things at certain times and there’s no other option. It’s just the way it is. You may have had a schedule or something else that planned and controlled your time. But you didn’t have a choice.

But now…things are different.

Now you not only have a choice, you have 1000 choices every day. YOU now decide how you’re going to spend your time and what you want to do.

And that’s a problem.

You see, if you’re working from home already, then you know first hand what I’m about to say.

But once you’re in that self employment role, and you don’t have the discipline or focus, your days…even weeks can fly by without really accomplishing much. Certainly no sales happened.

And this is what I see happening over and over again.

The fridge is too close

Things that aren’t normally distractions are now distractions. And I’m not talking about just cell phones, even though that’s got to be the number one distraction. There are some others as well.

No matter how far away it is, even if it’s on a different floor that where you’re deciding to work from, some things are just too close for you to remain focused in your business.

Take that refrigerator. How many times do you find yourself just looking inside…for…who knows what?

And then…there’s the TV. The one thing you gave up to get yourself more time to learn about having a business…and now it’s back in focus for all those shows you want to catch up on, now that you’re not working a job.

Or maybe it’s not the fridge or the TV, but that you just get caught up in being busy? And that’s easy to do, right? Because there’s a lot of things we can fill our day with that keeps us feeling and looking like we’re building a business.

But if you’re just busy being busy, and you’re not closing sales, then there will come a time when you’re just going to have to pay those bills that keep rolling in and you may find yourself wondering if you need to go back to that J.O.B. scenario again.

How do I focus?

So how do you deal with all this freedom that you’re now bestowed with? How do you find the self discipline you’ll need in order to focus and actually build a business?

It’s easy to make a to do list every day. It’s easy to put a plan in place and have a strategy. But what about the focus to do all that?

And what do you focus on anyway? Sales? Marketing? Networking? Social media? These are just a few of the mountain of topics that you can focus on.

What works for me? Having hard deadlines to get things done by a certain day. I pick a day for podcasting, writing, finances, social media. These days have a hard deadline. I must get these things done before a certain day, not ON that day.

Getting help

Now, I’ve said many times that you’re not alone on this journey, and I’ll say it again. You’re not alone. You can get help. Whether you get an intern or a VA or a coach, or even hire someone to be part of your staff. You don’t have to do everything yourself.

I offer my online tech services to other small business owners and non profit organizations to be an ‘on call advisor and tech guru’ when they have a need. It’s harder for me to plan the finances that way, but another service that I offer is to be on a stipend each month (typically $500 a month) to do specific tasks:

· Email marketing

· Copywriting

· Website updates

· Website security

· Podcast production

So you see, you don’t have to do everything yourself. You can get others to help you do the things you either don’t like to do or don’t want to do.

If you feel overwhelmed, you don’t have to.

I like to put it this way.

If you want to take a trip…go on a journey…to…let’s just say the west coast of the United States (I live on the east coast). You can get there a number of ways.

You can take the low budget way and:

· walk

· ride a bike

You can pay a little bit more and:

· drive

· take a train

Or you can get there the fastest by getting on a plane and arriving the same day. You’re paying more, but you’re getting there faster and now, you can jump to the next goal of the journey because you’ve got that first one out of the way.

This is why I offer the ‘Done With You’ and the ‘Done For You’ option for launching your new Podcast. They have different price points, but they both get you to your destination faster than the walking pace.

And that’s why options like these work. If you want to move at the walking pace, I have the DIY ‘Starting a Podcast’ E-book mini course I created for you. Over 50 pages that cover all the basics you’ll need to know to get started. But…you’re at the walking pace.

So, when you’re finding that reality is setting in and having a business wasn’t what you thought it was going to be, just keep in mind that you can outsource some tasks to take the most burdensome things off your shoulders.

Then, you can focus on just a few tasks that only you should do. In episode 6 of the Podcast, I talked a bit about staying in your ‘zone of genius’. Check out that episode to hear more about what you should focus on and not focus on.

But be encouraged friends. As time goes on in your new small business journey, you’ll improve many skills. And one of them will be how to focus. It will get better. Your small business survival depends on it.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Webinar video series: Starting a Podcast

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call through Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Welcome back to part 2 of the 7 P’s to profitability. In the first part of this 2 part session, we covered

Personal story, Platform and then positioning. Next, we’ll be going over

1. Product

2. Packaging

3. Pitch and

4. Partners

So remember, each step compliments the one before it and is in this particular order for a reason.

No one step can be independent without all the others in place.

So.. let’s dive in.

Product /(Service)

To profit from your personal brand, you (obviously) need something to sell. In my business, I primarily ‘sell’ labor and services in small business startup coaching as well as digital downloads of documents. Ideally, when I have coaching clients, I’m selling what I know and get paid to speak and help people through issues and situations to either move forward and do something, or to see if they need to stop doing something in order to move forward. Either way, I’m getting paid to speak. In years past, with my old business model, I had to go and perform a service in the real of IT, information technology, and get paid for my time.

But for you, what will you be selling? A product or a service? Or both? You might have a book or a service to sell so it’s just a matter of positioning your products or services to the right market and at the right price point, but we’ll be covering some of that in a bit. I don’t want to get ahead of myself here.

Product or Service

There are 4 types of products that I can promote:

1. Affiliate income-promote the tools I currently use and have others sign up for them also

2. E-books, Document/Swipe files- documents/forms and templates that you could use to help you start or plan the launch of your business

3. Mini-Training-short videos that teach helpful strategies and tactics

4. Online Coaching program-simple way to generate both content and revenue

Your business plan will have the details of how you will be marketing and promoting these services. Each one should have a completely different approach. Some will be promoted through your blog. Some products will be more appropriate through a webinar.

Whatever it is that you’re promoting, you’ll need an individual marketing plan for that product or service only.

Now, Marketing strategies come in all shapes and sizes, but they all have the common goal of attracting and building relationships with customers. The style is up to you, but it should include these basic elements.

1. Marketing Goals and Objectives

2. Define Your Target Audience

3. Research Marketing Tactics

4. Plan Your Marketing Tactics

5. Marketing Goals and Objectives

You will need to develop some realistic but measurable marketing goals. Create a plan that cover a full calendar year. and make sure it still fits your business plan. Your strategy will help you achieve your goals through the tactics you use. Think about the type of products or services you are selling, and how and where you plan to sell them.

1. Define Your Target Audience

Fully describe the characteristics of your potential customers, as well as their media viewing habits. Take the time to define your audience and customers for your products or services, along with their unique demographic characteristics, such as age range, marital status, gender, income level, or education. This will also help you lay out your plan for distinguishing yourself from your competition.

1. Research Marketing Tactics

There are more marketing tactics available today than ever before and trying to determine which one is best for your business can be overwhelming. Take the time to do some research but don’t take too much time. Getting caught up in the analysis paralysis will get you nowhere. A good understanding of these tactics will make you more comfortable in selecting which ones are best for your business.

1. Plan Your Marketing Tactics

Once you have completed the research, it’s time to pick the tactics and channels you will use to accomplish your goals and reach your target audience.

Packaging (Pricing)

So, there’s a lot of information to go through on this topic. The do’s and don’ts of pricing. And if you really want to dig deep into the psychology of why people buy the way they do and how people respond to different price points, I recommend that you check out Nick Kolenda. He’s an expert on the topic and he presents his research in a very readable way.

But for now, in this episode, I’ll just be covering some surface level information on all of this in the hopes that it’ll get you started on your path here when you create your own products or services.

So, I’ll give you 3 different ways you can price products and services. This is not an exhaustive list of course, but as I said, it’ll get you started:

1. Product-digital or physical products, course created

2. Value- fees can be set in 3 different ways

3. Hourly

Some people will set pricing based on what the market will bear; what is the highest price point they can set it at so people will still buy it. Typically, the first tier will fall under $100 (Ex. $29, $49, $97) and will usually be some sort of document or easy download.

The second tier will be under $500 (Ex. $197, $297, $497) For these products, they might come with a little support behind it.

The third tier of products will be of higher value that may come with bonus products or even a live event included into the price like giving a seminar or workshop.

Hourly pricing isn’t normally recommended because both sides end up watching the clock instead of concentrating on the coaching session, which will be counterproductive.

Value Pricing: How do you set fees?

1. Create pricing options (I did the DIY, DWY and DFY option)

2. Groups of time or items (3 coaching sessions for $XXX, minimum)

3. Set a single fixed price

4. Set payment terms

When thinking about your pricing options and price points, consideration should be placed on how much time and effort you will need to spend on each product/price point. Some products being sold may bring a lower level of return for the client and some product (or service) may bring a higher level of return for them (thus, a higher price point).

If I’m going to sell some small business document templates that helps a client save time by not having to create these things themselves, yes, they save time, but the value isn’t as high as if I spent 3-4 hours of my time in proofreading material for a course someone is putting on where they make many thousands of dollars. That would justify having a higher price point.

When it’s time for the client to see the proposal, don’t send it to them, present it to them. If they’re having a bad day and they’re opening it up after they’ve been in an argument or they’re stuck in traffic, this will give your proposal a bad taste in their mouth and hurt your chances for success. Present the proposal to them by using a video call and share your screen, revealing one page at a time while you talk them through it.

Setting Payment Terms

1. 100% up front

2. 50% up front, 50% when the project is almost completed (most common for me)

3. Payment terms (monthly payments, install payments etc.)

Pitch

It’s very important to pay close attention to the quality of the copy you’re using and that the message that’s being conveyed is clear and concise. Whenever a title or heading is being used, the message needs to grab their attention.

If you are creating content, or have a blog, use titles that draw people in, in a way that they WANT to click on the post and read it.

Pictures being used need to be of high quality and match the text of the heading and blog post. This also rings true for other situations as well when pictures are being used with copy text. Every page of your website, product or services information etc. You can refer to my blog to see what I’m referring to at: www.tomclairmont.com/blog

If you’d like to dive deeper into the topic of pitch and how to refine yours, I’d like to recommend you to Martin Barnes, the Pitch Coach out of the UK. He created ‘The Pitch Club’ that meets online once a week as a group so you can practice your pitch (along with others) and get some feedback. You can find Martin on LinkedIn daily and also through his website at https://eightsecondstoconnect.com/.

Partners

Normally, when the topic of ‘Partners’ comes up, people naturally think about someone that will be a partial owner of the business and share the expenses or risk involved. This isn’t the intent for what we mean here, in this document.

Establishing a team of people that you can rely on and collaborate with to reach your business goals is crucial to your success. It’s not possible for you to know how to accomplish every function necessary for your business and you’ll need to rely on others to handle critical tasks. This team of professionals you’ll need goes beyond the concept of having others do things that you cannot do. It deals with the concept of having others do the tasks that you should NOT do.

Knowing your ‘zone of genius’ through a personal evaluation (one of the tools I use) is important here because some tasks could be done by you, but some tasks could ONLY be done by you. These specific tasks are what separates you from others in your business space and makes your business unique. If you’re able to focus on your ‘zone of genius’ and delegate the tasks that an office administrator could do (either in person or virtually), then you won’t be bogged down with the host of menial tasks that you should NOT be doing.

There will also be others in your realm that you could recommend clients to, if you’re not able to produce the products or services that they’re looking for. Recommending someone else and passing business along will build your reputation and trust in the business world and may bring repeat business back to you in the future.

If you have questions, or just want to talk about your situation for a bit, you can set up a free 30 minute discovery call by clicking on the calendar link on the website at www.tomclairmont.com

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You want to start an online personal brand business. That’s great! I converted my business from offering on site services to other businesses to an online business and I must say, that it’s a lot better to make money without having to leave the house, than it is to having to go to another business and be onsite, driving around all over the place and putting up with all the gas, car and toll expenses. Not to mention eating out all the time. It gets real expensive, real fast.

The key to building a PROFITABLE personal brand business is to use the stair-step approach. And a quick shout out to Mike Kim for this concept. I heard this through his coaching program and I’d like to pass it along to you as well.

It helped me to understand, first, what’s necessary, and then in what order to do them in.

The idea is that even if you have the correct elements, it’s better to build them in this logical order. Otherwise it’s like having the correct digits for a phone number, but having them in the wrong order.

So, what are the 7 P’s to a personal brand business?

1. Personal story

2. Platform

3. Positioning

4. Product

5. Packaging

6. Pitch

7. Partners

We’ll go over each step one by one, and get into more details about how each step compliments the one before it and is in this particular order for a reason.

No one step can be independent without all the others in place.

Personal Story

The first step, Personal Story, is the foundation of your personal brand business. It all starts with having the right kind of story to tell instead of a sales pitch. Storytelling has become the new way of selling that is much more effective approach than ‘Here is my thing that I want you to buy. Isn’t it great?”

And I mentioned in episode 57 ‘The Three Critical Stories You’ll Need for Your Small Business’ and about how storytelling is critical for your sales in your business.

People don’t really care about a story about your business and why it exists. People care about THEIR story and if you can or can’t help them. In the book ‘Building a Story Brand’, Donald Miller says “Your customer should be the hero of the story, not your brand. This is the secret every profoundly successful business understands.”

Pretty websites don’t sell things. Words sell things.

So what’s your message? Can you say it easily? Is it simple, relevant and repeatable? How many offers are you missing because potential customers can’t figure out what your offer is within 5 seconds of visiting your website?

Platform

If you don’t have a website and a blog in today’s online world, you don’t exist. Using WordPress, these two things can be easily set up in short order if you have the textual content and images to use in advance.

If you need help with that, email me at tom@tomclairmont.com and we can talk about what you need and who I can connect you with to help you through that part of the process.

Remember to use the story part of the message that we just went through above.

Two Big Mistakes

A lot of websites make two mistakes with the content that’s being used.

1. The first mistake that brands make is that they fail to focus on the aspects of their offer that will help people survive and thrive. All great stories are about survival-either physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual. A story about anything else won’t work to captivate an audience.

If we position our products and services as anything but an aid in helping people survive and thrive, good luck selling anything to anybody.

1. The second mistake brands make with their message is that they cause their customers to burn too many mental calories in an effort to understand their offer. It’s just not simple enough. It’s like they have to run a mental treadmill to figure it all out. This is how you lose customers.

The most powerful tool we can use to organize information so people don’t have to burn too many mental calories is a story. But the key here, is clarity.

Your customers will have questions. If you aren’t answering those questions, they’ll move on to someone else. If the story isn’t clear, the message just becomes noise. What we think we are saying to our customers and what they are hearing can be two different things.

A good story can hold someone’s attention for hours. Why do I have attention problems and daydream far too often, but then when a good movie is on, don’t have attention problems at all? Because the story of the movie is meeting the criteria for giving my mind and emotions what it wants. The story of the movie (or book) is doing the daydreaming for us.

Here is the structure of nearly every story you see or hear in movies and the most popular books, in a nutshell.

A character who wants something, encounters a problem before they can get it. At the peak of their despair, a guide steps into action, helps them avoid failure and ends in a success.

Your personal story is the foundation for you, marketing your business in a voice that is unmistakably yours.

What point of view will you tell the story?

• Bird’s eye- giving the overview of your story in general terms

• Eye to eye- giving the details from a more personal perspective

Platform

In this day and age, far too many people are relying on just Facebook or a couple of social media platforms as the sole basis for their business. Social media has its place, but should not be a substitute for a traditional, but necessary website.

All the content that’s placed on the social media platform is owned by them. You don’t own it, and they can block you or take you down if they decide to do that.

With a website, you own the domain name, the account, the content, and you control the uptime and visibility (if you keep paying for the account). You control who has access to the information you’re putting on the website as well.

When you have your own website with an internal blog or a Podcast, you control the content and don’t have to worry about another service forcing your hand with how your information is managed.

You’ve probably heard me talk many times about the advantages of having a Podcast and I’ll keep it brief this time, but if my Podcast hosting provider goes out of business, I still have all the episodes on my computer to upload to another hosting service. They’re still my episode recordings. It’s still my Show. Nobody can take that away from me.

There are some pretty generic elements that need to be in place to having a solid platform for your startup business. This next step will go over these elements from a high level perspective only.

Positioning Yourself

The purpose of this step is to provide you with a clearer understanding where you stand relative to the competition.

What do you give that your competitors can’t provide? What is your

unique selling point (USP)?

What do I give that my competitors can’t provide?

• personal experience with online tech

• more affordable pricing

• numerous free online tools

• over a dozen e-books on various small business topics

• tech support on a number of online personal brand issues

• mindset coaching

What I can’t give that my competitors can:

• Large number of blog or podcast postings

• large supply of videos on the same topics

• One new E-book per week

There are two things necessary for positioning:

• Strategies (master plan, grand design) a ‘how’ and not a ‘what’

• Tactics (plans, procedure)

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

What are the differences?

My goal is to ‘position myself as a sought after small business launch coach’. The strategy is the ‘how’ the goal will be accomplished.

• Website

• Social media marketing

• Blog

• Podcast

• Videos

• Speaking

Tactic:

• Create content for the blog and podcast and social media

• Play one type of ‘music’-one continuous message that stays on the same theme

• Connect with leaders in the same space as where I want to go in the industry

• Post to social media on a regular basis with a consistent message

• Create one Podcast episode each week on a useful, relevant topic on the theme of starting an online business or Podcast

Goal: Increase passive income stream

1. Strategy: Create digital downloads of content that is both relevant and provides value in either the process of starting a business or to help improve the motivation or mindset of the person desiring to start a business

2. Tactic:

a. Promote value of the digital download content to prospective or active clients through the website, blog, podcast and social media

b. Communicate on a regular basis with email list

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

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Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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We go through the workforce doing so many things, right? I mean after a few decades of having different roles we can sort of be really good at a handful of things.

And we can start to lose a little bit of our identity of who we are when the lines get blurred. Maybe you’re working a bit to narrow down that one things that you’re really good at? Maybe you’re REALLY good at a few things and that’s great.

Some people spend decades doing pretty much one or two things but some people spend the same amount of time having many different roles. I know I have.

Project management, operations management, general manager of a family fun center. Shipping, receiving, purchasing manager, creating SOP’s. and the list goes on.

But also, as we get on in years and start to think about retirement and all the things we know and can do…we can start to wonder about what’s coming.

We can start to think about those later years and what place we can have in the world.

We know so much and can do so many different things, but how can we put it all together? How can we connect those dots and use what we know to make a difference in the world?

But at the same time, (I know I’ve been through this), we can have a never ending list of negative thoughts that don’t propel us outward, but keep us cringing inside.

What if, those dots we’re trying to connect keep on moving?

So..here come those negative thoughts.

“Is it too late? Is the opportunity lost? Should I just give in and give up? After all, it’s a young person’s world out there. I’m really good at what I do and love to speak on the topic but how do I get all that I know out of my head and into people’s hearts and minds? Am I just going to retire and let all that I have to say retire with me? And there’s so many things I don’t know how to do, so it just doesn’t seem worth it.”

Friend, if you’re thinking this, let me just say, most definitely, there IS a way.

You can have 100% certainty that whatever it is you know and love to talk about, can get out and into the world…the WHOLE world.

You can have an online personal brand business or a Podcast.

Now, don’t just dismiss this and zip on to the next LI post. Stick with me on this.

Whatever it is that you’re talking yourself out of, needs to stop. Right now. But YOU have to be the one to stop it. Only you.

Take that broken record, negative speaking soundtrack that keeps playing in your head and turn it off. It’s time to start playing another song with a better message.

Did you write a book but find that it didn’t get into enough hands and you’d like to get your message out into the world in a different way?

Or maybe you didn’t have time to write that book, but you know enough to write it in an E-book instead.

Whatever it is that you don’t know, you can either learn some things or have someone else do it for you. Whoever told you that you can’t learn what you need to learn, or do what you want to do, is probably not accomplishing much themselves. Am I right?

So what is that one things that you’re great at? What is that one thing that defines you? What is that one thing that you keep thinking about even when you have the opportunity to think about so many other things?

Does something in the world really bother you and you’d like to help make a change? Are you looking around and telling yourself that the book you wrote didn’t get into enough hands and you’d like so many more people to hear it?

Friend, many, many people are starting their one personal brand business or Podcast and getting their message heard or seen around the world. Every day. Every day!

And if you’re looking for encouragement from family and friends, you might get it, but in talking to a bunch of people about this, I’ve found that your biggest supporters are strangers and the biggest critics you’ll have are the people closest to you.

Now, don’t get me wrong, my wife loves me and doesn’t criticize me but when it comes to family and friends in general, there will be many people that just don’t understand you or believe in you.

So…if you have a dream. If you have a hope of doing something or starting something or building a business…whatever it is, don’t give up on yourself.

It’s not too late. It never is.

So…what’s that one thing that you’re good at? Why am I asking about just one thing? Because if you do step out and start something…whether it’s a business or a Podcast, when people want to know what you’re about, they’ll want to know that whatever you’re talking about…whatever it is…that you’re an expert in that one thing.

And when you decide on that one thing, it doesn’t mean that you’re stuck in that rut of being a Johnny one note for the rest of your life. It just means that for now, you have an identity with that one thing and when you’ve built that up to the point of getting business and recognition, you can expand your identity and reputation into other areas that you’ve already been doing for quite some time anyway.

Look, take my business coach, Mike Kim. He’s a personal brand expert. And he wrote a best selling book ‘You Are the Brand’. And he’s also an expert in a bunch of other things. But he wants to be known for just one thing. He can throw in the other things like writing copy or marketing, things like that when he wants to, but his image…his ‘brand’ is in the personal brand space. And now, he has mastermind groups and courses that he sells. His book is a best seller, he has high ticket speaking gigs that he does.

But he didn’t start out that way. He started when he had a job in NYC and created a blog. And just wrote for a year. Then he started a Podcast and started talking about starting an online business. Then he started to talk about branding and the other things that he knows about.

And eventually, the niche that he found…the demand that he saw the need for and what people were most interested in, was the personal branding. The ‘how to create an image for yourself that makes an impact’. That’s what personal branding is all about.

What’s that ONE thing that you do?

If you spend any time on LinkedIn, you’ll see that in the majority of the profiles you’ll see one, maybe two things that they want to be known for. Now, can these people do more than one or two things? I’m sure they can.

But what do you want to be known for? What do you want people to introduce you as?

A speaker? An author? A political expert? A marketing expert? A copywriter? A non profit builder?

The choice is yours. The future identity that you choose is waiting for you.

What do you need to do to have it?

Do you need to learn some other things so you’ll get to have that expert identity that you want?

Do you need some coaching from someone that can help you through this journey to have an online business or Podcast?

There’s plenty of people out there willing to help you through this.

I am. If you’d like to talk about this, I’ll set aside some free time for us to talk.

You can book a time slot on my online calendar if you’d like. Just go to tomclairmont.com.

Don’t think that there’s not enough time. Don’t think that you don’t have the opportunity. You do.

Let’s get started.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

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Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Podcasts seem to be everywhere. Right? They’re being played in the subway, in cafes, in the gym, wherever you go. And you can listen to them everywhere, whenever you want.

I’ve been listening to them for about 15 years… back when they just started. Back when they weren’t even called podcasts but ‘audioblogs’. There was a small business show out of the UK that I would download to the computer and transfer to my mp3 player so I could listen as I walk around.

So I go way back with listening to a lot of different type shows. Educational, entertainment, small business, corporate management, non profit management shows… the list goes on and on.

And I’ve seen a lot of them come and go over the years. But recently, it seems that more of them are coming and going. A lot of people are starting podcasts and a lot of people are abandoning them as well.

So, before you do start your own show and invest your valuable time and resources in, perhaps the wrong medium for you, think about why maybe you shouldn’t start a podcast.

According to survey findings shared by Edison Research, as many as 50% of US households are fans of podcasts. They’re listening to podcasts of different genres, with comedy, education, and news being the most popular ones.

Podcasting has a certain glamour to it, and many people think about starting a show so they can be part of a smaller, elite group. Or maybe they just want to call themselves a Podcast host because they like the sound of it.

But with 50% of US households listening to Podcasts, those numbers make podcasting very attractive, but if you are someone who is toying with the idea of starting a podcast just because of such numbers, you need to sit down and think through things.

While the huge number of listeners make podcasts look very attractive, let me tell you that many shows don’t grab the attention of listeners.

Worse, there are many dead podcasts too – as podcasters abandoned them in between.

Less than 50% of podcasts are active, meaning only half of shows had a new episode published this year.

And that’s why you just shouldn’t start a podcast if you are not sure about certain things that I will discuss in this episode.

So if podcasting is your plans, make sure you aren’t doing it for any of these wrong reasons, or otherwise, your podcast would die a quick death and you’d be wasting a lot of time and effort, for nothing.

All about you

Friends, people like to listen to podcasts for 3 reasons.

· Education

· Entertainment

· Inspiration

They don’t want to listen to you going on and on about you. Podcasting shouldn’t be to stroke your ego or just be a way of having an audio resume.

You’re not unique

The best shows are the ones that stand out. They’re interesting. They’re engaging. They’re worth the time you’re going to spend listening.

If you can’t figure out a way to stand out, then this isn’t for you. If your personality is bland, think twice…maybe three times about doing a podcast.

You thought it would be easy

Look, I get it. You’re confident and that’s great. You can learn a lot of things and I’m sure you can learn how to create a good podcast. But don’t think that just because a lot of other people are doing it that automatically, it makes it easy. Coming up with content that’s engaging every week after doing 5- or 60 episodes gets more and more challenging each week.

Creating the time to come up with this content is just as challenging. So if you thought it was going to be easy, then think again.

You have no plans on promoting the Show

If you barely have time to come up with the topics for each episode and create the content, and you don’t set aside time to promote the show or the guests, then you’re going to run out of steam very quickly. If you’re going to do this podcast thing, then do it right.

Do you want to have more than 10 downloads every day? Do you want to grow the show and have others recommending it and promoting it because you’ve promoted it? Then it’ll take some time on social media every week, multiple times each week.

You don’t personally listen to podcasts

If you’re personally not listening to other podcasts and you’re not a fan of podcasts, then it’ll eventually come out in your personality, your content and in your promotion..or lack of it.

Hey, if you’re into sports, and you have a favorite team, then how much do you watch their games? How much do you get into the stats and the nitty gritty details of the sport? You’re a huge fan of the team, so you’re investing your time and energy into being excited about them.

Well, if you’re not personally invested in learning and growing in the podcast community, then don’t bother.

You’re not able to be consistent

One episode every now and then will throw off the rhythm that the listeners are used to. Not having a schedule that you follow or to have them expect won’t draw serious fans of your show.

Coming out with a new episode once a month, once a week, twice a week, every day… pick one. And stick to it. People need to know that you’re serious about the show before they’ll be serious about it.

You love to hear yourself speak

I know a couple of guys that love to hear themselves talk. They just keep going and it’s hard to even make a little comment or inject something. If this is you, and podcasting is just a way to feed your appetite to hear your own voice, then try something else. Don’t bore any potential listeners with rambling on and on about…well, it doesn’t matter what. If this is again, all about you, then it’s not for you.

You’re expecting too much

Now, it’s reasonable to have expectations about doing a podcast and the benefits of having a quality show, but

· Fame

· Fortune

· Recognition

· Downloads

· Fun

These things happen with very successful Shows that can generate a lot of income through sponsorship and affiliate sales. Yes, it can happen, but don’t get your hopes up within the first 5 years or so.

You didn’t think it through

So…you started doing a few episodes and you found that it wasn’t really what you expected. You told a bunch of people that you were going to do it, you invested quite a bit of money in equipment or coaching…or even production of the show.

And now that you’re in the middle of it all, and have made this commitment, you’re wondering if you really should have started this in the first place.

All that time. All that money. All the hype you’ve done. Now you’re committed and doing it out of obligation, not for the love of doing it.

You don’t have the time

Hey, busy people are the ones that get the most done, right? You figured out a way to squeeze in other things and doing a podcast is something that’s in the business plan so now you need to just ‘figure it out’ and get it done.

Well, we all know that when you say yes to something, you’re saying no to something else, right? Or are you just saying yes to one more thing and not saying no to something?

If you really don’t have the time, then you’re going to realize very quickly that your show will suffer in one way or another.

Friends, this takes time. Quality time. Coming up with original content and putting in the effort to be engaging, educational, inspirational or entertaining, takes time.

You don’t know why you’re doing it. Everybody else is.

Hey, are you the type of person that does TikTok videos because everyone else is? Or are you on YouTube for the same reason? Are you looking back and finding that you’re just in this pattern of trying to keep up with everyone else and do what they do?

Because if that’s the case, then it’ll show in the type of content that you come up with. It’ll show in your voice when you’re recording each episode.

If you’re doing a podcast and you don’t know what the plan is and why you’re doing it, then rethink this whole endeavor.

You don’t have a clear message

If your Show doesn’t have a clear way of communicating a specific message..a narrow niche about…anything, then you’ll be taking your listeners down a wandering path to nowhere. If one day your episode is about parenting and then the next one is about how you like to repair your car, you won’t be able to establish a listener base that will be engaged with your content.

As John Nemo, a content marketing expert says…’The riches are in the niches.’

Have your message be clear and narrow. Have your content be about one main topic that you can break down into a lot of different sub topics.

Give the listener, in advance, a clear understanding of what the show is about, even before they listen.

This is what I did in this Shows description on the hosting provider, RedCircle.

These are the topics I cover in the Show description:

· Starting a business with a solid plan

· Who is this Podcast for?

· What will you hear?

· About the Host

· Resources to help you succeed

With this detailed Show description, the potential listener will know, in advance, what they can expect to hear and who they’re hearing it from.

You don’t have a target audience

Part of the basic requirements for having a successful Podcast is knowing what you’re going to say, how you’re going to say it and who you’re going to say it to.

Remember what I said before when I quoted the content marketing expert, John Nemo? The riches are in the niches.

You must know who you’re talking to. You can’t speak to everyone and think that your message to the world will sink in and resonate with everyone.

Different people groups have different needs and expectations. Sports enthusiasts are looking for specific content. Business owners are looking for specific content. Coaches and Consultants are looking for content to help them in their realm. Even men and women have different needs and expectations.

But don’t forget the age groups and how that affects your message as well.

The 30-40 age group will have different perspectives than the +40 audience.

This needs to be figured out in advance. If you don’t… or can’t, then don’t do a Podcast until you do have this ironed out.

You don’t have a quality mic

I understand small budgets. I really do. I run my business on a small budget. But some things you just can’t skimp on and think that you’ll just record your audio from you computer mic.

If you expect people to plug your message into their ears and pay attention and be engaged, then you’ll need to have a certain level of audio quality that keeps them engaged.

A room with an echo, tinny audio or not being able to hear you clearly will be distracting and give people a reason to not tune in. Don’t give people a reason. Do this the right way. If you can’t afford to buy a $130 mic just yet, then wait to do this until you can afford it.

Quality audio is a must.

Well, friends, I normally spend a lot of time talking about how to help you start your own Podcast, but I thought it was necessary to help you understand all that’s involved with taking on this venture.

When I have people reaching out to me for a coaching call on IF they should start their own Show, I go over these things so they’re better informed. I just don’t want to take their money, help them get their Show up and running and leave them stunned a few weeks into it, wondering why they did this in the first place.

It’s just not fair to them, the audience or the Podcast community to have one more failed Podcast hanging out in the search results, taking up valuable search space for people that are genuinely looking for a good Podcast to listen to.

So I hope this helps. Again, I normally like to encourage people to take action toward these types of things…and again, starting a Podcast is a great way to grow your business, or even have the Podcast AS the business…but you have to do it right.

There is a right and a wrong way to do this.

If, after listening to me taking a full episode to talk you out of it, you still want to have your own Show, I’d be glad to help. You can book a free discovery call or shoot me an email at tom@tomclairmont.com

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

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Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call through Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

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Have you ever thought of reinventing yourself? Maybe you’ve been in a situation that forced you to do that. Maybe you’re thinking about doing it voluntarily.

But why would anyone even think about doing that? Why would anyone want to?

Well, I’ve been in situations before where I knew I wasn’t living my best life…at all, and I just wanted to do something about it. It’s sort of that ‘ok’ lifestyle. Just working in an ok job and getting an ok paycheck. Just settling. Just accepting. Just paying the bills.

But friends, there’s a better way. There’s a better life out there…for you. For many of us, we live in countries that still offer opportunity and a hope of a better future.

So…Don’t settle. Don’t settle for an ok life in an ok job and an ok relationship. Because being ok is safe. Being ok keeps you in your comfort zone. Being ok doesn’t rock the boat and make any waves.

You know what is ok? Getting out of your comfort zone. Taking risks. Trying something. Failing at something. Learning from that experience and trying something else.

Hoping for a better future and making plans on how you’re going to make it happen.

But how? How are you going to do that? What will you do to make a better life for you?

Now, how does any of this fit into the theme of this Podcast?

Because making an impact can be done with either your full or part time business, or a Podcast.

Remember, paid speaking is a business. Copywriting is a business. Solving problems for people or any business in any realm can be a business.

So if you’re wondering how you could make your impact in the world, just turn whatever skills you have into a focused business plan and then…start your business or Podcast.

In Ep 28- Limiting beliefs that will hurt your success, I said this:

“We live in a time where it's very easy to get discouraged and think that only the wealthy can have opportunity and success.

We seem to have a knack for dwelling on the negative, not the positive. We have to be taught to be positive thinkers and many people even pay to hop on someone's course or community just to be part of the positive mindset and get help thinking and believing that a positive future is possible and obtainable.

And when it comes to our goals and dreams it can be easy to talk ourselves out of the very dream we thought up in the first place.

You can make a lot of excuses why your business won't fly OR you can come up with a lot of reasons why it WILL succeed.”

To be a person of impact first requires the desire to be a person who lives a particular kind of life. A life where a difference is being made that matters beyond just what people think of you. It is not about being impressive or becoming a celebrity. It is about the lives you can and will change and the impact you have to improve people specifically, or society as a whole.

No matter your age, income, education, upbringing, history, or status, you can make an impact in the world. How big or how small is up to you. The effort, the self confidence, the size of the dream and goal, is all up to you.

Will you make a more local impact by addressing a problem or need in your local community? Or will you be engaging into a topic that solves a problem on a national level.

Will you be talking to people 1:1, or one to many?

Will you be in front of people leading for change, or doing things behind the scenes. You see, you don’t have to be an extrovert to make an impact. You can do huge, wonderful things being behind the scenes. Being that person that organizes or manages someone else’s business.

So, pick a goal. Take a little bit of time to think about this. Now, stretch it a little. Get uncomfortable with your goal. Stretch it to the point of making you a little nervous. Stretch it to the point of not even being close to knowing how to accomplish this newly stretched goal.

But get a clear picture in your head of what this goal is. Don’t make it fuzzy. I know what my goal is, and it really doesn’t revolve around money. That’s part of it, but the focus of my goal is more on the lifestyle freedom that I’ll have.

So… now that you have a thinly stretched goal, commit. Commit to it. Do you really want this goal? Then what are you going to give up?

TV? Sports? (I’m not talking about exercise, I’m talking about the time consuming task of watching a full game of …anything). Can you give up staring at your phone for hours on end (that may be the hardest thing of all). Can you (I must be crazy for suggesting this), turn your phone off and focus on your goal? I put my phone in the other room on a charger. That way I don’t have it right next to me and if it beeps and bloops I’m not going to get up and check it every time it happens. I’ll get to it later.

But the point I’m trying to make in all of this, is that, now that you have the work experience, or the life experience, or the drive to finally do what you want to do. Now that you have the money to pursue this ‘thing’ that you want to do… to have influence and impact…treat this goal with the theme of ‘time is short’, so I have to get to work.

Do what you need to do. Learn what you need to learn.

Who do you need to become to reach this goal you have? I’m not talking about being a phony, but we all have things we need to learn. We all have things we need to focus on for our personal development. We all have to stretch out skill sets and abilities to get to where we want to go in life.

I took some copywriting courses. Paid courses. Why? Because becoming a better persuasive writer is critical for building my personal brand.

· Website copy

· Landing pages

· Email marketing

· Blog posts

· Podcast episodes

· Course material

· E-book writing

I had to learn how to become a better writer. I had to learn how to be a better persuasive writer so that the words I use will move people to take some sort of action. This is what I mean when I say ‘who do you want to become to reach your goal’?

I learned how to do a Podcast. And , I’m sure you can hear it, but the audio wasn’t as good for some of the beginning episodes until I learned how to make it better through split channel recording using Zoom.

I actually re-recorded the first batch of episodes because the original audio was so bad. And friends, that’s ok. If you need to learn how to do something, then learn it. Give yourself some time to learn what you need to know and go for it.

If you want to be a professional, paid speaker, then you’ll need a speaking coach. If you want to have a great Podcast that reaches people all around the world and moves them in some way or another to jump on your bandwagon, then you’ll need a Podcast coach.

Whatever you choose to do, you should seek some sort of help in learning what you need to do and how you’re going to do it.

Take your personal and professional experience and channel it into something or someone. Put what you know to good use.

If you’re over 40, or 50, you’ve been through a lot in this world. You’ve probably got a lot of stored up wisdom that you don’t even realize yet.

Start making forward motion toward your goal so that you have the opportunity to get that wisdom out.

Do whatever you have to do.

Do you need to write? Then write. Do you need to speak to people? Then figure out how to get in front of people.

Four Steps to Becoming A Person of Impact

Ultimately, to be a person of impact, you need to follow these five steps.

1. Think for yourself.

2. Speak for yourself.

3. Take Personal Initiative to make a difference that matters.

4. Begin with small steps of impact, then grow.

Impact is WHAT you do, HOW you do it and WHO you are. Your impact is your reputation. Your personal brand.

Dare to ask, dare to stretch, dare to grow, dare to think big and act bold!

Become a Person Of Impact. Three words that could change you, your life and your family…even your legacy.

Are you going to wait for permission, or will you take initiative?

Are you going to be controlled by fear, or will you get out of your comfort zone?

Will you procrastinate, or can you be determined to get things done?

Will you open yourself up for feedback, or will you buckle at even the slightest criticism?

Will you be distracted, or will you be focused?

Now, you may be thinking…Why me? And I get it. You’re not feeling the confidence right now. You’re not seeing a vision of your future self right now. Like me, you weren’t brought up to be a dreamer or a risk taker and coming up with an uncomfortable goal is making you uncomfortable.

But think about this. Is anyone LITERALLY telling you that you can’t have a goal to make an impact in the world?

Is the only thing stopping you, your own thoughts? Your own negative thinking? I learned to say this to myself about 20 years ago…’Think about what you’re thinking about.’

Stop your negative soundtrack in your head that keeps playing the same thing over and over again, like a broken record stuck in the groove. And if you’re over 50 you’ll really understand what I mean here. If you’re not sure what a broken record sounds like, you can actually go on YouTube and see and hear what that sounds like. Yes, someone made a YouTube video of a broken record and how it skips and plays the same thing over and over again.

You might also be asking yourself, Why now?

Well, friends. If you have experience in something and can solve a particular problem for people or a business, then the world needs you. Now. Why? Because the world needs to be a better place. And it needs you to get out of your comfort zone and turn the TV off or stop staring at your phone and make an impact.

Who influenced you? Did anyone make an impact on your life, ever? Who are the people who have had the greatest impact on my life? Why did they do it?

Do you see someone you admire because they’re making an impact in the world? Well, could that be you someday in some sort of variation if you take little steps toward that goal every day?

Friends, don’t limit yourself. Don’t just think that impact and influence is something for others and not you.

A friend of mine Steve, started with a dream of raising funds for one water well for an impoverished village in India. And so he asked his friends to all chip in and they did. And, they figured out how to communicate through the channels necessary to get a well installed. There are organizations out there that do this.

Well, his friends said ‘Let’s do another one.’ And they did. But after the second one, he said to himself. ‘Maybe this is an opportunity here to start a non profit org so we can do this over and over again and make an impact on the world?’

And so, Fresh Water Friends out of Buffalo NY was formed and they’ve installed more than 200 wells to date.

But he didn’t start with a goal to do that. He didn’t know where his original goal of doing one well would take him. He moved forward doing something good in the world and one thing led to another.

So think about Steve’s story and how it might apply to your situation in your life. If you’re already doing something that makes an impact in a smaller way, maybe that’s the one thing you could do on a larger scale.

I had a Zoom call last week with someone that has a team of instructors teaching people how to play instruments in local schools, but also over Zoom. We talked about his idea and how to expand it and build the business around that so he can grow and scale it to a new level.

Friends.. think about how you can make an impact. You don’t have to have all the details on how to do it now. You start with a dream. Start with a goal. Make an impact in a small realm and then think about how to build on it.

You can do it. How do I know? Because many, many others have done it before you and for the most part, what do they have that you didn’t? If they can do it, then so can you.

Hey, if I can do it, then so can you.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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You know, it can get a little overwhelming sometimes when we see everybody around us jumping up and down about the latest social media craze. Not long ago…like just a few months ago, people were actually telling me that Clubhouse was the place to be.

And I looked up a guy I know and used to work with awhile ago on Clubhouse and he said it was the best thing that ever happened for him because he could just talk and talk and talk…like for 8 hours a night. On Clubhouse.

You see, he loved to hear himself talk. And he was under the impression that even though he never did anything outstanding, his opinion and perspective was something that people should pay attention to and that he should be followed.

But because he loved to talk, he could develop a following.

But what did it get him? Did he get any money out of it? Did Clubhouse sponsor him in any way? No.

And where is all the hype about Clubhouse now? Just a few months later.

I really don’t hear anyone talking about it. Am I missing something? Is it really all that it was cracked up to be?

Is anyone making money on that platform? Or is it just a lot of talk?

And now, the latest thing is, of course, Tik Tok.

And for some reason, well, I sort of know why, people are flocking to that social media app now.

Making a lot of short, funny videos.

But I guess, I don’t know, maybe because of my age, or maybe not, but I don’t have Tik Tok on my phone. I really don’t see a need for it yet.

My focus is on raising awareness on Twitter, and Instagram and building relationships on LinkedIn and how to walk people through the ‘Know/Like/Trust/Try/Buy process.

And I know all about how much time can be wasted watching SM videos. Hours can float by on Instagram and YouTube alone.

But on the topic of small business and sales and marketing, there are a few questions we need to ask.

Q1. Where and how does our ideal client get their information? What social media platforms do they hang out on?

Q2. What are the demographics of the various sites? Who do they reach and how do they reach them?

Q3. Do you have the time, talent, and money to pursue this social media strategy with excellence?

So let’s talk about the first question. Where and how does our ideal client consume their information?

It’s common knowledge that LI has a more professional user base as well as Twitter, and Instagram and Pinterest has a more personal and casual theme to the content that it has.

There’s plenty of stats on this that you can search for that will break social media apps down by age groups. Well, by overall percentages of adults that use SM:

· YouTube- 81%

· Facebook- 69%

· Instagram -40%

· Pinterest-31%

· LinkedIn-28%

Which age group is most likely to use what social media app? You need to know this so that you can target your message to the right audience using the correct social media application. Otherwise, you’re wasting your valuable time and sometimes money on producing content for the right audience, but it’s going on the wrong app.

Well, for the age group 30-49, 77% are on FaceBook, 48% are on Instagram and 36% are on LinkedIn.

I’ll put in a link to these stats in the show notes so you can see all the different demographics yourself and you can parse the data in a way that meets your specific needs. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/

So, I covered questions 1 and 2 but now for question 3.

Do you have the time, talent, and money to pursue this social media strategy with excellence? Because it takes a very different strategy for each different social media platform.

First, let’s talk about the time involved. In order to do something well, you have to put in the level of time and commitment so that your efforts aren’t wasted. If you dabble at doing anything, you know what kind of results you’ll get.

So…whatever platform, or platforms you pick, you have to understand that it’ll first take time to figure out what kind of strategy you’ll be using. And that’s important here, because you can’t just ‘wing it’ for how you’ll be promoting yourself and your business.

For example. On LinkedIn, I:

· First, took the advice of John Nemo, a LI expert and optimized my profile. What does that mean? Well, if you get the book LinkedIn Riches, you’ll be able to see his template for what he recommends. It covers all the bases and gets quite deep on how to really get the most out of your profile information. Why? Because first impressions are very important, but second impressions are when people really start reading what you’re about. You really don’t want to mess that opportunity up. In short, all the content should focus on your target audience and how you can help them. The theme of the content is all about THEM not about YOU.

· Engage in other people’s posts and respond with some meaningful content.

· I reach out to others that I have connections with, with a targeted question for a specific purpose (I have experience with helping an NPO through a time of growth and transition, so I started reaching out to local NPO leaders in my local area to find out more about what they do and their NPO to see if I could help). Now, when I say ‘help’, this usually means helping them in some sort of paid capacity.

· I send quick, personalized response ‘thank you for connecting’ text thank you messages with a short thank you video offering to be of assistance if they need it

· I promote other people’s posts on my feed when appropriate.

· I use targeted hashtags on posts that I create to gain exposure and open up the conversation for greater engagement

· I add Articles that I want to highlight in the Featured Content section

· I post short videos on certain topics so that people can actually see and hear me in order for me to build engagement and trust.

· I monitor the notifications that I get in order to see if an event is coming that I want to participate in or if someone was mentioning me in a comment, so I can keep the conversation going.

· Attend LinkedIn live events that I think are only relevant to helping build my personal brand business

So, you see, that having a LI strategy for yourself will take some time to create, but then following up on the tasks necessary to implement that strategy will take the most time.

Now how do I implement my strategy? I make lists. To do lists. Little ones. Each day. Because the longer to do lists usually don’t get done. It’s easier to bang out the short lists. And then I feel better about my day when I can throw out the entire list because I got it all done.

But the strategy for LI is very different than the strategy for Twitter. Or for any other SM platform that you want to use. You have to think this through. You have to have a very specific goal and a very specific outcome that you’re trying to accomplish.

But I recommend just picking one to three platforms and leaving it at that. You shouldn’t spread yourself too thin.

The point I hope I’m making here, is that to do social media well, it takes a lot of time, effort and planning.

Now, as always, you can hire a VA to do your SM content, and see if they can learn your online ‘voice’ so to speak, but from what I’ve seen, the content is somewhat bland and generic. Only you can crank out the content that makes you, you.

People want to know YOU. They want to hear from you. They want to get to know you. Not your hired ghost writer.

So think about this… you think you’re getting to know a person through social media, and have been having ongoing conversations about a number of things, but you’re really not. You’re not getting to know them at all. Come to find out, that you’re really going back and forth conversing with someone that they hired to manage their account, because they’re too busy to do it themselves and they want to keep their exposure up on the SM platforms.

Would anyone listening do this in real life? Would anyone manage their personal conversations this way? Would you pay to have someone else you know call a friend up and try to have a conversation about personal topics that you’re supposed to be in the middle of talking about? Of course not.

So don’t get caught up with the ghostwriter or social media manager argument because what people really want is genuinely you. Not someone else pretending to be you.

Be real. Be authentic. Be engaging. Be helpful.

But all this phoniness that keeps wasting everybody’s time and energy is useless.

And why does some of this phoniness happen? When somebody thinks they really need someone else to do your SM management and posting because they’re trying to be on too many platforms and they need to pay someone to do it for them.

So, my advice for you is to stay narrow and go deep on a few platforms that the data shows are relevant for your ideal client.

You’ll be glad you did. You’ll see the results. And the results will be in dollar signs, not likes and shares.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Jeff talks about his early years an an entrepreneur turning his part time side hustle into a full time business and then started his Podcast, Read to Lead that interviews authors about their book and to focus on the theme of how reading good books helps people with their personal and business development.

He eventually turned his Podcast into a full time business, and created a course for how others can start a Podcast, but then co-authored the Read to Lead book and turned the book into another revenue stream as well. .

Jeff's story about his journey from losing his job in radio to very successful business owner is truly inspiring. He shows us how a simple side hustle can lead to much, much more down the road and that if you believe in yourself and your abilities and trust in sound counsel from others, you can truly turn your dream into a reality.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Very pleased to have with us today, Martin Barnes, the Startup Pitch Coach.

So, do you have a small business but pitching make you feel anxious at the thought of being the center of attention?

Are you a bit confused about how to simplify your message?

Maybe a little tongue-tied, struggling to express yourself?

Do you turn down the opportunity to pitch because you feel your pitch isn’t ready?

Well those feelings, struggles and roadblocks can change real fast with Martin’s help.

Feeling anxious, confused, tongue-tied or turning down opportunities will soon be a thing of the past. Martin will help you flip the anxiety to anticipation, so you relish every pitch.

Craft a message so clear people will be pitching your pitch back to you.

Speak with charisma and personality making you magnetic.

After working with Martin, you’ll make the stage yours and never give the moment to pitch to someone else.

You will be AMAZING at pitching.

Martin is currently located in the UK, but helps people all around the world.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Paul Davis is a gifted intuitive personal advisor, an entrepreneur, a best-selling author and an award-winning business growth consultant and speaker.

He is exceptional at identifying what will bring an individual fulfillment, joy and meaning by identifying their true unique life purpose.

He has worked with countless business owners, leaders and celebrities from around the world and across all industry sectors and has helped to transform several unprofitable enterprises into multi-million successes by structuring their businesses around their life purpose and make a greater difference in the world.

Listen in, on this episode how someone can discover their genius driver property, so that they can know what their true purpose is in life.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

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Kaisha spent decades working up through the ranks of Corporate Management, but then decided the timing was right for her to start her own business.

She saw the need to show people how to do what she did for over 20 years, but to do it better and faster.

If you've ever wondered if you have what it takes to succeed, Kaisha can look at your situation in a holistic way by looking at your personality profile, your resume and by just talking to you to hear what your dreams and goals are.

Her only goal, is to make sure that your next job is your best job!

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Paige Wilson left the Corporate financial banking realm a number of years ago after her mom passed away. She looked back on her time of trying to take care of her mother while still working and decided to come up with a solution for the Community so that others wouldn’t have to go through the same problems that she faced while doing dual roles.

She saw an article about how the personal home care is on the rise, but fewer people are able to provide it.

She tried meals on wheels but could not commit to the fixed schedule. Her friend found that a flexible schedule was part of the solution (like Uber), for her to be able to help in the community, and that was the initial concept that started Naborforce.

The real problem that needed to be solved was to have a neighbor to help out with some of the non-medical, personal tasks that an elderly person needs done. “It’s kind of like volunteering, but not really, you’re making a little money on the side. But it’s better than volunteering because you’re impacting their lives and making a difference.”

She explains the struggles she had with the Naborforce startup process and the demands of being her own boss.

She then goes on to explain how Naborforce expands and opens up into a new community and how she built her team through raising capital.

https://naborforce.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paige-h-wilson/

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· His transition from the Corporate Management realm to becoming an Entrepreneur.

· He initially, really didn’t see himself as a business owner, but came across an article from a business coach that made him rethink where he was in life and asked three questions:

1. Are you stuck?

2. Do you feel like life could have more for you?

3. Do you want to control your schedule?

· This was the beginning of the process for his transition out of the Corporate merry-go-round and to take control of his own life, income and schedule.

· He hired a business coach to help him have the confidence to make a transition.

· When he saw other successful entrepreneurs, he thought of them as ‘another form of human’ and had to really see himself as the same kind of person, but just hasn’t done the things that he needed to do to become successful yet.

· He finally realized that it’s not that some are born with the necessary attributes for success and some are not, but that we all have them.

· We talked about how taking risks are necessary but sometimes stop people from making decisions or taking a new direction in life.

· We touched on the imposter syndrome and how we can have a hard time seeing ourselves as having the skills to be successful.

· You don’t need to become a different person in this transition, just be more of yourself. What do you need to learn and how can you develop your existing skills to become an entrepreneur?

· Keith talks about the pros and cons of risk and leaving your corporate job and asks these questions:

· How do you want to live your life?

· What example do I want to be for my kids?

· Was the transition easy? No. He had some rough days, but his vision for the future lifestyle kept him moving forward.

· He helps people to first have a side hustle (part time business) by learning how to make the first sale and then to repeat the process over and over again so that the proof of concept is made valid.

· “How many customers do I need to have each month so that I can quit my job.”

· He also addressed the questions of:

· How do you help people work through the concept of failure and the fear of failure?

· How do you help people through the fear of success and to help them recognize the difference?

Contact Keith at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithjohns/

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Tiya and I talk about a number of topics relating to her transition out of the Corporate life as an Engineer and how she worked through that transition into becoming a successful entrepreneur:

· Leaving the corporate realm and how that was for her

· Bypassing the mindset of having a traditional education and career path and how to make a living

· Deciding what to do for a business and how she was going to do it

· Being happy with your work choices

· Using a personality test to help her decide what kind of work to do as well as what kind of clients to work with

· Started her business in the social media management realm but shifted her focus to be a VA because of her diverse skill sets.

· She talks about her initial mindset obstacles she had and how to get past the discouragement of the startup process and to keep moving forward.

· She gives us some insight on how to manage boundaries for office hours from different time zones and even different countries.

· Tiya also discusses the contract details about her working environment and how to set the clients expectations.

· Her ideal client is someone that knows what their business goals are and the specifics of what they’re trying to accomplish.

https://smallbusinessspecifics.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiyaroberson/

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Show Notes

It’s time. It’s finally time to start something new in 2022. You’ve been thinking about this for a while now and you want to make a change in your life.

You’re tired of the status quo and you have a vision of your future that looks quite different than what life is like in the present.

You have a lot of skills and experience and you’d like to make some money doing what you love for a change instead of being tied down to that J.O.B.

So.. whether you’re starting a full time or part time side business (or as it’s being called lately, a side hustle), there are a lot of things you certainly need to do, but the first thing you need to focus on is your mindset.

Be convinced that you have skills that are needed (who knows, maybe I’ll be calling you someday) and that you can contribute to the World in a huge way.

But there are also some things that we should go over today that will help you go from Zero to Hero in not necessarily a faster way, but in a more reliable and sustainable way.

1. Start Small

My advice for you, today, is to start small first and then, based on what’s working, build on that to get you on a more solid foundation.

I have a bunch of different paths I’d like to take, but I’m staying focused on what’s working for me now, and in time, I can branch out into different things based on budget, time and opportunity.

You may have a lot of great ideas in your head, but the timing might not be that great for you right now.

Which leads me to the next topic…

2. Test Your Idea First

It’s always a god idea to test your idea first so that you can see the data for yourself that:

· There’s a need

· The price is right

· The timing is right

· You can deliver the goods like you say you can

Because, you can have a great product at a great price, but if there’s not a current market need, what’s the point?

If your idea is to sell kitchen gadgets (because you love cooking and you’re a gadget guru), but people can just go to Walmart and get the same thing (probably for less money), then why should they buy from you?

And I know someone who created a business with this idea (she did this on her own) and she travelled all along the East coast of the US selling these gadgets at kitchen shows, but she couldn’t sustain it because you don’t make decent money selling little gadgets.

The point isn’t to just get sales. The point of putting in the work to have a business and build a business to make enough money so that you can have free time to live the life you want to live. Not spend 16 hours a day trying to sell kitchen gadgets.

You can have a great product at a great price, but if the timing isn’t right, what’s the point?

And then, you can have it all, right? A great price, market need, the proper timing, but then if you can’t deliver the goods, because you a solopreneur and you just don’t have the time or the resources, then that doesn’t work either.

So testing these four things, in advance, will help ensure that you can take your idea and make it happen. You can make money off this idea. Good money.

3. Prepare for hard work

But you better be prepared for some hard work. A lot of hard work. Now, of course, when some people think of hard work they’re thinking of manual labor.

And I get it, I’m not talking about hard, manual labor, but the hard work I’m referring to, is usually in the mental space.

Because having a strong, solid plan in place takes a lot of work.

Working through the mountain of issues of:

· Business model

· Business type

· Target market

· Target audience

· Product pricing

· Delivery

· Getting customers

· Retaining customers

· Keeping expenses down

· And the list can go on and on…

So, is the work physical? No. But is working through all this time consuming, complicated and hard? Yes, it certainly is.

Why Do Some People Have a Higher Success Rate?

But why do some people that have multiple businesses seem to succeed more than others? Why do some people seem to have a higher success rate than others?

Well, there’s a number of reasons that this may be true, and I know I can’t give you a list of all the reasons why, but let’s go with these things that come to mind for me today.

1. They Know Their Strengths

I’m a big fan of doing personality test and getting to know your strengths. The reason why some people succeed almost all the time is because they understand their core strengths. They don’t waste precious time trying to fix their weaknesses.

Knowing your strengths and building on that will also help to reduce stress in your life as well.

2. Using Time Wisely

The reason why some people succeed almost all the time is because they understand the value of time and they use it wisely. They direct their efforts toward the most important tasks that need to be done for the day and they don’t get distracted.

They’re able to prioritize what absolutely needs to be done from what would be nice to get done.

3. They Have a Plan B Already in Place

The reason why some people succeed almost all the time is because they don’t leave things to chance. They have a back-up plan—for just about everything.

Why? Well, how many times did Plan A really unfold the way you thought it would? How many times did you go down a different path than the original one you intended to go down?

I would bet that it’s probably, always. I don’t think there’s ever a time when Plan A worked out exactly the way I planned and I’m guessing that you’ve experienced the same thing as well.

4. Not Afraid to Take Risks

There are risks in everything that we do. Everything. There are always unknown circumstances and outcomes that we can sometimes anticipate but can never be certain of.

For some, it handcuffs them and they just can’t seem to pull the trigger and make a commitment. But for others…it doesn’t stop them at all.

Do they have all the answers in advance for the path they’re about to go down? No. Do they need to have all the answers for the path they’re about to go down? No.

They’ve packed their parachute and trust that it will work, and then they jump out of the plane. That’s all you can do.

Put the work into the process. Trust the process, and the business will come.

5. Help People

The reason why some people succeed almost all the time is because other people like being around them. They’re helpful. They care about others. They really care.

And it will show in your P&L that you care about others too. ‘Givers gain’ as I like to say from time to time.

Now, just to be clear, that when I say someone can go from zero to hero, I’m not at all implying that this process is quick. This is not a quick process. It all takes time. How much time, well, if you spend the time planning this path out in advance, then it’ll take less time than doing all of the same things without a plan.

Plan your start. Plan the testing of your idea. Plan how you’re going to work on the business plan. For some, this process could take 6 months to a year. For some, maybe faster, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

For some, this process could take longer, because there’s no guarantees with anything that you do. You have to try, test, see the results and try again a little differently. A little better the next time.

It all depends on what you’re trying to do and sell and what the market demands. Do you have a hot product or service? Then success will be faster for you. But it’s still a lot of work.

Lay it all out. But don’t think for a minute that when you’re done with the plan that you’re finished.

You’re just getting started. Because the plan will change. Events will change. The data you get to analyze will be different than you expect. People’s reaction to your product will probably be different than you expect.

And so then, you’ll need to change the plan. And that’s ok. You’re doing what’s expected. Change is ok. Get used to it.

But this process is not quick. The path is not easy. It’s work. A lot of work.

But overall, if you want to increase your chances of success,

· Know your strengths

· Use your time wisely

· Have plan B in place

· Don’t be afraid to take risks

· Help people

If you like to cook, there’s a winning recipe for your business.

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Show Notes

Increase Your Chances

Most startups fail after 5 years. Why? Mainly because of cash flow problems. There’s more going out, than coming in. And, usually, not keeping expenses in check was the culprit.

There’s a never ending supply of the things we ‘need’ or don’t need, but still purchase.

But overall, putting the money part aside, there are certain ‘traits’ that people have, that have proven themselves over time, to be ingredients of the 3 S’s. The ‘Secret Sauce of Success’.

So in this episode, I’ll be going over these three attributes of having ‘The Right Stuff’ for being an Entrepreneur.

What am I calling the ‘Big Three’?

1. Believing in yourself

2. Willing to get help

3. Not giving up

1. Believing in Yourself

It all starts with believing that you can and WILL succeed. Somehow, some way, at some point in time. Now, later, it doesn’t matter when.

What does success look like? Well, that’s a different subject for a different time. But overall, you’ll get to a point where, looking back, you’ll have a clear path of progress and either making money by helping solve a problem that people have, or significantly helping other people to succeed (if that’s the goal).

Because that’s what it’s all about, in my opinion. Making money or making an impact. Preferably both.

Start Acting Like A Leader

The hope is, that someday, you’ll have a business with others employed beyond yourself. But first, you’ll be leading yourself before you’ll be leading others.

Are you ready for this? Are you able to step up and lead yourself every day?

Show yourself that now that you have the day, the week, the month, to plan out, that you’re able to stay focused and on task to systematically plan and grow your business.

Be a leader to yourself.

Roll With The Punches

Even though you’ve worked through the business plan and you’ve got a lot of the details all worked out, you’ll probably find that you’re in for a regular surprise of the unexpected.

You can have all the strategies and formulas all laid out, but it’s inevitable that the way your Plan unfolds will be different than you originally expected.

And that’s ok. That’s normal. We can plan and strategize all day long.

But what’s also considered normal is that we’re flexible enough throughout all the unexpected to tweak the Plan and change the Plan, so that the end result is that the Plan still works even though some of the details didn’t.

2. Willing to Get Help

There’s a lot of pieces of the small business puzzle to put together in this high-tech world. And the Founder has a lot of hats to wear initially.

I don’t expect anyone to have all the skills they need in order to get all the pieces in place. Even Superman needed Clark Kent.

So please don’t think that if you don’t know how to do something that you MUST learn it and figure it out on your own.

It’s ok to get some help. It’s very common. You might not hear about it all the time, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not happening.

Founders regularly hire temps, outsource work or get some coaching or consulting for a time. That’s just the way it is.

So don’t try to take on the Superman role and get all stressed out over the To-Do list.

Get some help.

Typically, you’ll need help for the following:

· Marketing

· Website

· Branding

· Finances

· Legal

The first for me, was Legal. I Incorporated my business at the very beginning to protect my personal finances.

Then, it was finances and I hired an Accountant.

Now, just because you have knowledge of the industry doesn’t mean you will be a success automatically. You also need a solid strategy.

How will you acquire users or customers? How will you make money? How will you deliver the product or service that people want?

Without a strategy, you are shooting in the dark and just working like a chicken with your head cut off. Gary Vaynerchuck describes this well in his article “First Comes Smarts, Then Comes the Hustle”. Without a proper strategy, hustle is aimless and ineffective. Get the strategy right and the execution is easy.

The point I’m trying to make?

Get some help.

3. Not Giving Up

I’ve been saying for awhile that not giving up is half the battle. You’ve already achieved 50% success by not giving up.

Because the day you give up, is the day that you lose. And you lose it all.

But be aware, that there will be many days where you’ll feel like giving up. For some reason, we’re geared toward negative thinking and we need to be told over and over again reminders of how to stay positive.

We need computer backgrounds with a slogan. Or something taped to the wall, right where you are sitting now.

We need something taped to the bathroom mirror. We need books and videos and some people will pay a lot of money to attend high ticked events to hear someone say things that they’ve probably heard before.

Stay On Track

Startups don’t have it easy contrary to what other people say. There’s risks to consider and being able to address those risks, early on, can help give your startup a smoother launch.

Remember, you spent a lot of time on that business plan, so look at it once in a while as a reminder of what you were originally planning to do so you’ll stay on track.

But hard work alone won’t see you through. You need the right team in place, at the right time.

For example, if you are trying to build a software product to solve the problem you’ve identified but don’t have anyone on your team that can build it, the expertise and strategy don’t mean anything. The nice thing about our world today is that there are so many people that have skills you can leverage to help with the execution. You don’t necessarily need to have everyone directly on your team.

So those are the three things I think you’ll need for startup success.

Yes, there are a hundred other ‘things’ I’m sure you can think of to add to the list, but looking at it from a 30,000 foot perspective, I’ve come up with these three.

So what do you think about these three? Do you see yourself as an Entrepreneur?

Have you already made the jump yet or are you still thinking about it?

Did you try all this in the past and it didn’t work out, so you’re hesitant to try again?

Friends, I’ve been through both sides of the coin with my business. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs along the way over the past 20 years.

I’ve worked it part time and I’ve worked it full time. You do what you have to do, or whatever you can do based on the situation.

And part of not giving up, is being flexible. It’s not an ‘all or nothing’ game.

Let me know what you think about all this and send me a comment through the rating link in the show notes. I like hearing from the listeners so I know what’s resonating and if the content is right on track or not.

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Show Notes

Getting older often means taking fewer risks. It shouldn’t. I’m not saying that we should take up sky diving in our 60s or invest our retirement savings in a friend’s start-up. I mean risks of a deeper and greater kind.

I mean taking risks in order to create the life you want, whether that means quitting your job and starting a business either full or part time.

It’s no secret that starting your own business is risky business. There are many hurdles to jump over and walls to knock down. I was talking to someone today about the hurdles he faced and he said ‘you name it’. In every aspect of the startup process, there will be struggles and problems and issues…it’s just the way it is. This is part of the process.

Even when you have a solid plan in place, you’re not immune to the problems…or potential problems that seem to be the norm:

· Product problems

· Service problems

· Pricing for the products and services you offer

· Staffing/outsourcing issues

· Money problems

· Time constraints

· Legal issues

· Accounting problems

This list can go on and on.

So why would anyone want to spend a chunk of their life going through the guaranteed struggle of launching a startup? Do the benefits outweigh all the hassles?

Well, if you have that Entrepreneurial spirit engrained in your psyche, then, yes, they do. Because you’re a problem solver. You want to create things and build things and make an impact in the world, somehow.

But the risks you’ll face are not all on the same level. There are risks that are on the low end of the ‘risk spectrum’ so to speak. Level 1 risks, like ‘deciding what the company logo should look like?’

And then there will be those high end risks that you’ll run into, like: ‘When should I quit my job to go all in on my business’? That’s a level 9 or 10 risk, in my opinion.

I would say, that when relationships or money is on the line…like if your spouse or significant other is not in agreement with your decision to have a business and doesn’t support your decision, or if there’s a lot of money at risk, that would be the highest level of risk for you to take.

But some would say…maybe more than some, that by not taking risks, that, that in and of itself, is a risk.

By staying in your comfort zone and not pursuing that other option of making money another way; by making decisions that are based on fear…the fear of the unknown. That IS a risk.

And when there’s no risk, there’s no reward as well. So friends, if you want the reward, you have to take some risks.

And we all know this to be true already in life, right? We all make those decisions that are risky with a lot of the decisions that we make throughout the years.

What College or University should I go to? Should I marry this person? Should we have children? How should I invest my money?

So when it’s time to make that decision about having a personal brand business, and be a coach or consultant, or an author or speaker…whatever you want to do…when it’s time to pursue your dream and do that ‘thing’ you really want to do; is it risky? Of course it is.

But that’s what life is all about. Taking one risk after another.

And there is a way to limit your risk, right? If you do a risk assessment, and identify the risks, and how to deal with those risks and to see what course of action would be the best way to reduce the risks, then when you go through that situation, you’ll at least be aware of what to expect and how to shift gears into plan B or plan C if necessary so that you ‘re not devastated by the risk. And this is where a risk matrix would be helpful.

And there’s other ways to reduce the risk of starting your own business. If time is on your side, then you can use that to your advantage and prepare for your new venture.

· Learn some new skills. Brush up on new methods or strategies that people are doing that helped them to be successful. What worked 10-20 years ago may not work in today’s modern, online realm.

· Save some money, or put some money aside that you can allot for the startup process until you start making money through your business.

· Simplify your life. Reduce your living overhead down temporarily until you can afford to ramp it back up again.

But there’s another aspect to the element of taking risks, and what kind of risks you’ll take. And I really don’t hear too many people talking about the aspect of your personal mindset and how it relates to what kind of risk you’ll take.

What do I mean by that? Well, because this is a topic that has to do with starting a business and your personal performance and commitment to the planning, launching and running your business, how do you view yourself and the possibility for success?

What’s your personal opinion of your abilities? How do you view opportunity?

If you don’t know how to do something, can you learn it? Will you learn it? Will you want to learn it?

If, when the topic of starting a business comes up for you, do you see it as a wall, or just bricks that are on top of one another? Do you look at it like this is something you could never do, or do you see it as a challenge that you’d like to do but just haven’t done it yet?

Because the people taking the larger risks are the ones that believe in themselves the most. The people that take the smaller risks are the ones that have a limited belief in themselves. This is what I meant before when I was referring to how your mindset relates to your personal risk.

But if you have a strong belief in yourself and take the larger risks, does that automatically mean that the chances of success are smaller? I don’t think so at all. Because if you have a strong belief in your abilities, then I think that reduces the chance of failure and increases your chances of success.

So with a strong positive mindset about your abilities and your potential, you can make those larger decisions that would normally be riskier for others, but for you, it’s not that risky at all.

Now, are you thinking that it’s too late to take risks in your life? Do you have that ‘I’m too old for that’ perspective? Because you’re not. I quit my job when I was 39 and started an IT business full time and I didn’t have any experience doing anything like that before. I just knew that I was done working for that lousy company under lousy Management and I wanted to make money for myself. That was motivation enough for me.

And now that I’m 59, I’m still learning new skills and expanding my horizons. I’m still learning how to have a better mindset and how to embrace the opportunity for greater success.

But maybe you’ve been burned before with something and you feel that that’s all you need for proof that you can’t do it again? That ‘been there, done that’ perspective.

I get it. That can be easy to settle into. But now we’re back to what kind of mindset you have and how do you view yourself?

Just because something failed in the past, doesn’t mean that it’ll fail again in the future. The only way that could happen is if you do it all over again exactly the same way. But we both know that’s not going to happen, right?

You’ve learned from that experience and what went wrong. You now know a lot more about the process and what to do and what not to do.

You have more experience and information that increases your chances of success.

And if you need support, you can get it…through me or others out there that will help you through the process.

Look, no matter what you do, there’s no guarantee that anything will turn out the way you want, or even expect. But if you wait too long, you may be decreasing your chances of success. Too much thinking about what to do and not enough action.

Get some forward motion in this endeavor. Get up and start walking toward your dream.

Risks don’t have to be huge, and the consequences don’t have to be permanent. They just need to lead us to a place where we look forward to getting up in the morning and can envision feeling that way 20 years from now. The first step might be learning something new. Or maybe it just means telling somebody that you’re going to do it and making it real.

Embrace the fact that you might still feel afraid when you take the leap--and that's OK. Facing your fears is an important step in developing the mental strength you need to be successful.

The takeaway here?

Taking a risk to achieve a goal, any goal, requires courage to face the fear of uncertainty. No matter what the outcome will be, either way, we grow through the process and become more resilient and confident. Better yet, building those skills helps in taking more risks and improves the chances of achieving our dream for the future.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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In this episode, I interview Gayla Scrivener from Scrivener Solutions. Gayla made that 'later in life' transition from the Corporate world to building her own business and creating a new life for herself.

After researching ideas for her new venture, she found that being a VA was a viable option for her to have a portable lifestyle and business.

She landed her first client by local networking but found another long term client by just spreading the word through casual conversation about the need to have a VA.

Through the support of her husband, she was able to continue that portable business lifestyle and take some risks and create a new path for herself.

She eventually built a team of people around her so that she could concentrate on the managerial aspect of the business and get more clients.

As time went on, more and more clients came on board for social media management and writing Copy. The growth continued from solopreneurs that needed to pass along the time consuming, tedious tasks to Gayla’s team.

She has big plans for the upcoming year to have a Community platform full of resources for launching your online business.

I hope her story has been an inspiration to you about how, if we believe in ourselves and what we can accomplish, and take a risk...on ourselves, we can shape our own future and create a path of success.

https://scrivenersolutions.com/

If you've been having thoughts on starting your own Podcast, I have a FREE E-book I created called 'Starting Your Own Podcast'. I like to call it a 'mini-course' on how you, too, can have an International voice and create influence and impact by building your own platform and following.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

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There are times when we realize that, looking back we see that we really didn’t accomplish much the past year. And now that currently, it’s late November, the end of the year is approaching and I’ve noticed that I’m seeing those end of year conversations on social media.

When December hits, people start talking about January. And January conversations usually include those ‘resolutions’ we think up in order to help us feel good about ourselves. It sort of gives us that warm and fuzzy feeling on the topic of goals and gives us a pseudo impression of moving forward with something.

But resolutions, from my perspective, are only talked about from those that don’t have the drive to just get stuff done on their own. And when you think about it, most (or all) resolutions are sort of shallow anyway, aren’t they?

· I’m going to lose 5 lbs.

· I’m going to laugh more

· I’m going to be a nicer person

· Go a whole day without checking your email

And don’t get me wrong, usually, these resolutions are good things. I mean, I’ve never heard anyone say ‘I’m going to beat somebody up each day’ as a resolution. But when it comes down to the real value of a resolution…so what?

This is not the stuff that driven people even think about. If you know what you want, then you just do it. You don’t need a resolution statement.

But in the world of small business building, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone talking about resolutions. I mean, what would that even sound like anyway? And why?

Because if someone is serious about getting something done, they don’t need to turn their goals into some annual resolution that they wait to announce in January and then forget by February.

But while we’re on the topic of goal setting for the new year, I’m sure that you’ve already got a list of things that still need to be done from that list you made up a couple of years ago…am I right?

Look, we’re all like that. We come up with a long list of goals and good intentions, and I get it, they’re easy to write down on paper, but then the time and motivation for getting that ‘thing’ done is a bit too much to handle, so …it doesn’t get done.

But I’ve found that we can have a tendency to put things off on purpose (even if we won’t admit it) and our dream ends up on the back burner…again. I just did two episodes on the fear of failure and the fear of success and I think that’s got something to do with it as well.

“Tom, maybe next year I’ll have the time. Maybe next year I’ll be able to focus on my dream. Let me just get through these New Years’ resolutions first and then I’ll think about my dream.”

Friends, this year is last years’ ‘next year’. Remember when you said last year that you were finally going to do something about having a plan to transition out of your demanding job and start a part time side hustle or full time business?

You don’t need to wait until every January 1st to make changes to your life. You have the dream. You know what you want. You just need the internal drive to go after your dream.

And it doesn’t matter what your dream is. There are a million different dreams that people have and want to pursue. Do you want to write a book? I was talking to someone today that said he wants to write a book one day. And I believe he will write a book some day. Why? Because he’s driven toward action and accomplishment. He’s not the kind of person that sits and watches TV all night every night. He has energy and forward motion in a number of areas of his life.

But if someone said to me ‘I want to write a book someday’, but didn’t show any forward motion in their life or show any sign of personal development or accomplishment, I’m going to have a hard time believing what they say when it relates to the topic of discipline and ambition in order to achieve a serious goal.

So if you’re having a hard time being motivated or getting motivated and actually getting things done and moving in a forward direction toward your dream…whatever that is...how do you turn that around? Are you struggling with a lack of motivation? And why does that even happen to people? Why does it seem like some people are just naturally motivated toward action than others? Why do some people have an enormous amount of energy and positive outlook and others…sitting right beside them… or even members of the same family with the same upbringing and influence, just can’t seem to get off the couch and turn the TV off? (you can tell I’m not a fan of watching a lot of TV)

Well, let’s look at some of the reasons people might be de-motivated and then look at some ways on how to get motivated and to become more driven.

Here are 10 types of demotivation and the strategies that will help you find your fire:

1. You're Demotivated by Fear

Now, if you’ve been listening lately, I just covered this topic of ‘The Fear of Failure’ in episode 68. Then, in episode 69, the topic was ‘The Fear of Success’.

When you’re afraid, even if you’re entering territory that you’re comfortable with, a part of you could still be hesitant to go forward. Fear slows you down and makes you hesitant and careful, which can have some benefits, but sometimes your fears are based on your imagination rather than on the facts of what the actual risks are.

How to get motivated again: To get motivated, you need to deal with your fear. Start by stepping out of your comfort zone just a little and see, time after time, that it wasn’t so bad after all. Some of your fears will start to fade away.

2. You're Demotivated by Setting the Wrong Goals

If you’re trying to figure out the small business success plan on your own and sort of just ‘winging it’, you might be spending a lot of time going in the wrong direction. And going in the wrong direction, for any length of time, will feel like a waste of time…and maybe money as well.

How to get motivated again: Take some time to review your goals to make sure you’re on the best path possible. Not sure yet what the best path is? Then ask someone that might have a better answer because they’ve already been down that path before.

Start building a short list of successes that will help you to be more motivated. Celebrate the little wins in your new business journey.

3. You're Demotivated by Lack of Clarity

When you haven’t consciously and clearly defined what you want and how you’re going to get it, your picture of your future will be vague. Our brains like what’s familiar, so we resist what’s unfamiliar and vague and we stay with and re-create what’s familiar to us. That’s why people stay in their ‘comfort zone’ a bit too long. If you’re not clear about the business you want to build, then it makes sense that you’ll lack motivation to build it, because you’d rather stick with what you’re already comfortable with.

How to get motivated again: If you want to create something different from what you’ve been experiencing, it’s not enough to just know what you don’t want. You need to know what you do want, and you need to articulate a clear and specific vision of what you want to create so that you can become familiar with that new outcome and feel comfortable moving toward it. Take some time to really clarify what you want and why you want it and how you’re going to get it.

4. You're Demotivated by Burnout

Sometimes we can put ourselves in a situation where no matter how much we’ve accomplished, we’re trying to get more and more done each day. If you’re feeling tired all the time, you’ve lost your energy for socializing, and taking a nap turned into not being able to get out of bed, then you’ve probably pushed yourself too long and hard and you may be burned out.

How to get motivated again: Sleep. Get it. You need it. Then take a little time off and do something fun. And then when you’re done sleeping and you find that you can focus again, start building sustainable ways to do more of what’s important to you.

5. You're Demotivated By Fuzzy Next Steps

Your end-goal might be nice and clear, but if you haven’t taken time to break it down into smaller goals, you’ll get stuck, confused, and unmotivated when it’s time to take action. Some projects are small and familiar enough that they don’t need a plan, but if you’re often worrying that you don’t know what to do next and you don’t have a clear plan, then this might be the source of your demotivation.

How to get motivated again: If you want to keep your motivation flowing steadily through all stages of your projects, take time to create clear project plans and to schedule your plans into your calendar.

Write down all of the things you’re not clear on doing and turn these into research questions. Sometimes you just can’t do everything yourself and that’s ok… get some help if you need it.

The first part of any planning stage is research, and you’ll find new research questions along the way, so realize in advance that research should be part of your action plan at every stage of your project.

Call for help when your motivation is fading. Having trouble? Ask for help. Email me. Talk to someone that will understand your situation. It doesn’t matter who, just tell them your problems, and talking about it will help. Ask them for advice. Ask them to help you overcome your slump. It works.

Think about the benefits, not the difficulties. One common problem is that we think about how hard something is. Exercise sounds so hard! Just thinking about it makes you tired. But instead of thinking about how hard something is, think about what you will get out of it. The benefits of something will help keep you moving forward.

Squash negative thoughts; replace them with positive ones. As I like to say ‘think about what you’re thinking about’. It’s important to monitor your thoughts. Recognize negative self-talk, or that ‘negative playlist’ you might have running in the background of your brain.

When you’re more aware of that negative thinking playlist, you can be more proactive for being in a more present moment mindset.

The list of benefits we get by living in the present is nearly endless. Scientists are discovering more and more benefits every day. One thing is for certain, I doubt you could do anything for yourself that would be more helpful than adopting a present moment mindset. It’s challenging, but well worth the effort.

Some of the advantages you can enjoy by keeping your mind in the present:

• Lower blood pressure

• Enhances sleep

• Relieves stress

• Reduces chronic pain

Friends, these are some serious benefits.

But the goal of the Podcast isn’t to just talk about health issues. The goal of the Podcast is to address the issues of starting and launching your online business. But part of that is dealing with mindset issues. And the lack of motivation is definitely one that I keep coming across in my travels and conversations with people.

So if you’re wondering why you seem to be stuck in a rut or just looking back into the past couple of years and not seeing much progress, it could be because you’ve lost your motivation toward progress and pursuing your dreams.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Show Notes

When it comes to having an online business, you have to put together a solid plan of attack when it comes to becoming and staying profitable. And in episode 44 I talked about having digital products and how to have both active and passive income and even how to create an E-book.

And as you probably know by now, I’m a huge fan of having digital products. I have several different types myself:

· How-To Guides

· E-books

· E-book summaries (for those that want a quicker read)

· Free, downloadable resources, like

o Checklists

o Worksheets

And having variety is great…it gives people a lot of choices. ‘Do I want the free stuff, or do I want to dive deeper into the fee based content?’

But then what are you supposed to do with the fee-based content? How are you supposed to offer it to people in the format that works for them? How are you supposed to offer it in a format that works for you?

These are some of the questions I had to work through when figuring this out for my business and I’d like to share some tips in this episode that will hopefully help you to not only save time and money, but also avoid the frustration of working through a mountain of potential issues when it comes to selling digital products.

This Gumroad review will go over almost everything you’ll need to know. The pros and cons. The good, bad, and ugly of what Gumroad has to offer, and whether it’s right for you and your online business efforts!

Here’s a little background on Gumroad to help you get a better understanding of how and when they started.

Starting in 2011, Gumroad attempted to carve out a specific niche for itself where it could better serve artists and the very creative type people that wanted to sell products.

They imagined doing this with an easy payment acceptance/shopping cart solution without the need to be tech-savvy.

In some ways, this works really well. This e-commerce and shopping cart platform has several features that make it a great fit for artists, creatives, or marketers who are looking for a very specific style of platform.

But, there are some drawbacks to Gumroad, as well. You don’t have to dig too deep to find out that there isn’t a lot of “middle ground” territory.

Some will find Gumroad to be the absolute answer to what they’ve been looking for. Others will find that the cons of Gumroad will make it a complete non-starter.

There’s plenty of tools out there but in the end the main question comes down to this: is Gumroad the right tool for you to increase your bottom line?

What Gumroad Isn’t

Gumroad is not an online marketplace. It is a platform where you can build your own website or landing page and then display your craft. When you register for an account, you will be able to create a link for what you are selling, and then use this link on social media or send it directly to your clients.

The client will click on this link, and he will be able to purchase what you are selling, such as digital goods, written materials, music, and the list can go on and on.

It’s through Gumroad that you will deliver the orders, and where the clients can pay.

With Gumroad, you are not operating like you would in an online marketplace. In online marketplaces, there are hundreds of freelancers offering the same services as you do, and then customers have to make a choice who among all of you is the best fit for his needs and budget.

How does it work?

To start using Gumroad, you need to first create an account. Next, you need to set-up your payment information, which includes how you will pay your fees and how Gumroad will transfer your earnings to you in cash.

The next step is to create your portfolio. Here, you can upload samples of your work, write a little bio about yourself, add your photo, or add products. This is the profile that your customers will see if they click the link you sent them.

Once this is done, you will receive a link from Gumroad that you can share to the whole world. You can share it in your social media channels, your website, or even create paper flyers for distribution.

People have the option to like your link or become a follower. If they decide to order from that link, they need to enter their credit card details to get the job or order started.

After they pay, they’ll receive a link where they can download the order. Gumroad will now transfer the funds to your account, and this happens every Friday.

Be aware that there are fees before you receive your payment, so you need to consider that when you’re coming up with your pricing.

Gumroad Features

Although it works like a social media channel, Gumroad is actually more than that. It is packed with marketing and analytics tools that you can use to improve your sales.

Payment Checkout

With Gumroad, you automatically have a shopping cart where customers can place their purchase. Along with this shopping cart is a payment gateway where customers can enter their credit card information, or pay you via PayPal.

The way you get paid is through direct deposit or PayPal. If you are from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, or Australia, the direct deposit will be paid in your country’s currency. If you are not from these countries, the only way you can get paid is through PayPal.

Customer Library

This is a feature where your customers will be able to create an account and store their purchases online in Gumroad’s database.

This is great if you are selling digital products. For example, you may be a musician who creates song snippets for advertisements. After a customer buys a product, he can leave this product in Gumroad for access later on.

You can also be a course provider. In this case, your customers can download your video courses, or leave them in Gumroad so they can access the courses anywhere, anytime.

Since Gumroad is focused on digital goods and products, a feature such as this is a great way to attract customers. The files can be accessed anytime, to be used at the customer’s convenience. This is great for online courses since a lot of people typically only study during their break time or when they have a little time to spare.

These customers don’t have to use their personal storage space on their mobile devices since they can access your files any time they want for as long as they are online.

On-Demand Streaming

This feature works best for digital products that are instantly accessible. If you are a writer, this is a great feature that you can use so your customers can read your materials right away.

For example, you may have written a series of articles or instructional materials. If your customer bought an article, he could read it right away, with no need to download or wait for you to send them their copy. They also don’t have to create an account if they do not want to.

But if they want to get their files stored in their device, they need to download it.

This feature is great for on-demand products like instructional videos, how-to articles, or even musical pieces that can be owned by many people.

Send Files

Since most of your products are digital goods, it sort of goes without saying that you need to be able to send these files to your customers. With Gumroad, you have the flexibility to send files to a customer’s personal device, or even their Dropbox or Kindle account. They can choose.

This is an automated process, and the customers only have to click on a link to start the file transfer process.

This is important because each customer has a different preference about how to access their files. And a simple file transfer service like this can make a customer want to buy your product now.

From a customer’s perspective, they don’t have to buy or download another app just to store your files and read, listen to, or watch them.

Sell Anything

Although Gumroad was made primarily for artists and those who sell digital products, you can also sell physical goods here.

The thing is that on this platform, you can sell anything that you created. So if you are a woodworker, a craftsman, or a painter, you can post your items for sale on Gumroad. After the purchase, you can configure Gumroad to redirect to a specific web page if you want that will handle the rest of the purchase experience.

For digital goods, you can also create your own custom offer codes. These are coupons that provide discounted prices to customers. You can create coupons and discounts based on percentages or fixed amounts.

You can also choose to sell in different currencies, if you’d like. This is a valuable tool to be able to sell internationally. Most customers feel better if they buy in their own currency because it’s easier to understand how much the cost would be without having to do any conversions on their end.

When you sell here, you can create different customized cover pages for your material. You can use images, videos, and audio.

Another tool in your digital product tool belt is that you can also rent out videos. If you’ve created a short film, customers can rent it, and they would have 72 hours to watch it. It is like renting a film from big companies like YouTube, Amazon, iTunes, or Google Play.

For physical products thought, it’s still your responsibility to package, label, and ship the items. Gumroad will handle the purchase experience but you’re still responsible for everything else. You can also create codes to give discounts and be in full control of your coverage. What this means is that you can choose to sell in specific countries only, or sell to the whole world.

Gumroad also allows you to offer subscriptions, or automatic payments. I like this feature because, as a small business startup coach, I can have a client that wants to purchase a 3 month, 6 month or yearly coaching plan and I can configure those options in Gumroad, send them the link for that option and keep these private so that the general public doesn’t see it so I can use them as needed. Gumroad will charge the customer’s credit card or PayPal account on a regular basis, but you have to ensure that you deliver your products or services in a timely manner.

Analytics

Gumroad has a powerful analytics feature that can tell you how your business is performing. With this feature, you can build your audience and learn more about your customers.

From your dashboard, you can see how many lifetime followers you have, how many of these followers bought your product, and whether your follower count is increasing or decreasing.

You can also see if people are more likely to buy your products from mobile devices or from laptops. The analytics feature can show you how many people downloaded your product, or how many chose to simply watch, listen, or read it.

If you know all these things, you will be able to make the best decisions possible about your marketing strategy and if it’s working.

Gumroad has an app in iOS that can also show your real-time updates about your sales performance. The Android app is still in development and somewhat limited, so keep an eye out on the Andoid app in the near future.

Social Media

You can post your Gumroad products in your social media accounts. In these posts, you can add a snippet of information to tell potential customers why they should visit your Gumroad profile page and make a purchase.

You can tell them who you are, what you are selling, and what the customers can get if they buy your product.

In the social media posts, you can add a link, which, when customers click, will take them to your Gumroad page and take a closer look at your products and services.

Affiliate Marketing

This is the cherry on top of Gumroad. With this, you can create a program where sellers can re-sell your products and earn a commission.

Usually, you need another service provider to allow you to create this program. But with Gumroad, it is already included into your account.

Affiliate marketing is a process where sellers will market your products. In return, they get a commission for every sale. The trouble with affiliate marketing is that you need software to run it, manage it, and monitor the results.

Gumroad allows you to do all this, and you can track the sales per affiliate marketer, and then pay them accordingly.

Fees and Pricing

So, how much do you have to pay for all these features?

Gumroad, in and of itself, is free. There is only a charge for each transaction and that percentage gets lower the more volume of products and services you sell.

Summary

Gumroad is made for artists and creators who do not want a limited kind of service from their selling platform. Usually, you can display your services in online market places, but you have too much competition, and the typical transaction fee is 20%.

In Gumroad, the highest you pay is 9%. Also, many online selling platforms only allow you to create subscription-based courses, but they do not allow you to sell books, artwork, or physical products.

Gumroad is special because it is a program that lets you sell everything you can create from music, videos, tutorials, online coaching and courses, subscriptions, physical arts and crafts, and so much more.

I’ve been using it for awhile now and I see others I know switching to it as well.

Well, I hope that this episode has been helpful to you. Again, I don’t have any affiliation with Gumroad, I’m just a huge fan and thought I’d share this information with you today.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Show Notes

Hello again friends, and welcome to another episode…a very important episode today…sales funnels.

Well, what is a sales funnel anyway? Well for those of you that already know, please bear with me, I won’t dive too deep into this topic, because it’s a very deep topic. But we’re just going to go over some sales funnel basics here and talk about first, what it is. Then we’re going to talk about why you need it and how they’re structured.

Why? Well because this episode…this whole Podcast is to help you to have that great online launch that I didn’t have when I started out. Now granted, things were very different back in 2002 when I officially started my business, but sales funnels still existed…just in a different way.

But people are still the same. People still want and need to go through that typical sales process of getting to know you first, then getting to trust you and your content…what you have to offer. And then to test the waters and try something basic that you offer. And then, if they like that, they’ll continue on and try something else of higher value.

When a customer purchases your product they go through multiple stages, we call this the buyer’s journey or sales funnel.

What I just described, is that sales funnel process that I keep talking about called the ‘Know/Like/Trust/Try/Buy’ process that I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about in other episodes. And why do I keep talking about this in so many other episodes? Because it’s so important and ties into a number of other aspects of the whole online business realm.

The sales funnel is part of the entire strategy for having an online business. Because having a business is all about sales right? You’ve got to sell something. Even if you don’t have a product, you have a service and you’ve got to sell that.

And in my coaching program, we’ll cover this topic and how you’ll help others go through that sales process also.

So, what exactly is a sales funnel and how is it structured?

A sales funnel is a marketing strategy designed to turn cold prospects into long-term customers by funneling them through five stages. The “funnel” metaphor means you’ll begin with a large audience of prospective buyers that will eventually pare down to a smaller group of highly-targeted, high-value customers.

A sales funnel in its simplest form, converts leads to sales. If you can picture how a funnel is shaped and how it has a wide opening at the top but a very narrow opening at the bottom, the sales funnel is exactly like that where a lot of people are aware and attracted to you and your business, but then only the ones that are interested in purchasing something from you are the ones that make it through the funnel.

A simple acronym called ‘AID’ will help you to understand the functions of the top, middle and bottom of the funnel. AID stands for:

· Awareness (top of funnel)

· Interest (middle of funnel)

· Decision (bottom of funnel)

A sales funnel is usually separated into three parts:

1. Top of the sales funnel: Target audience - During this phase, leads are just becoming aware of your product/solution and are discovering information about it.

2. Middle of the sales funnel : Potential customers - During this phase, they are gaining interest in your product/solution and are actively engaging with content, and communicating with you

3. Bottom of the sales funnel: New and existing customers- During this phase, they need to make a buying decision and are now looking into the product or solution that is the best fit for their pain points, budget, and goals.

The final goal is not to just make a sale, at least not a single sale. Instead the goal is create returning, repeat customers that will in turn, refer you. That’s a home run.

Having a Platform

But let’s take a minute to talk about getting people into the top of this sales funnel. How are you going to generate the traffic you’ll need to get people through that sales funnel process? Well, that’s why I take a few different approaches to this topic of traffic.

1. First, I do extensive SEO on all the blog posts I have on the Website and within those blog posts I have call to action links or buttons as well.

2. Second, I have this Podcast that gives me a world-wide platform for me to get the word out on who I am and what I do.

3. But third, I also use social media to connect with people and increase awareness about the products and services that I have to offer.

And when you put all this together, it brings in that initial traffic to the top of the funnel. That’s what you’re looking for; as much initial traffic into the top of the funnel as you can get.

With everything else in place in advance, the rest of the process should be on auto-pilot up until the email campaigns.

Creating a Sales Funnel

So now that we understand what a sales funnel is and what it’s supposed to do, we need to talk about how to create one.

Since we’re just going to cover the basics here (there’s a mountain of content on this topic) and some funnels actually have more than three phases, but for now, we’re just going to stick with the three phases that I already mentioned.

The top of the sales funnel will bring in the leads from your target audience. In order to get leads and have them actually enter into the top of the funnel, you’ll need what’s called a ‘lead magnet’ which some people like to call ‘the hook’.

A lead magnet is a marketing term for a free item or service that’s given away for the purpose of gathering contact information, typically, just an email address, but some lead magnets require more information.

For example, lead magnets can be trial subscriptions, samples, white papers, e-book, helpful pdf document or a free consultation. Marketers use lead magnets to create sales leads.

So what are some specific examples of Lead Magnets? Here are 9, time-tested types of Lead Magnets. All you need is one that works for you and you’re golden.

1. Guide/Report

This is the most common and straightforward Lead Magnet you can offer, but just because it is used most often that doesn’t mean it isn’t effective.

In fact, one of the main reasons the guide/report is a go-to Lead Magnet for marketers is that they work so well. The key with all Lead Magnets, but especially guides and reports, is specificity! Focus on one specific goal for one specific buyer.

2. Cheat Sheet/Handout

Cheat sheets and handouts work well because they usually provide highly-tactical information that saves the prospect a lot of time.

Although they’re usually delivered in PDF format (mine are), cheat sheets take a different approach than reports and guides.

Cheat sheets are usually only a page or two long and they get straight to the point. You’ll often see these presented as checklists, blueprints, and mind maps.

3. Toolkit/Resource List

Toolkits and resource lists make great Lead Magnets for the right buyer persona. This provides one piece of reference material for them to use over and over, without having to track down all of those tools or resources on their own.

I offer a resource list called ‘The Tools We Use’ that helps people to get a quick recommendation for software tools that will help them get their small business work done faster, or at least help them to decide on which tool to use (because there’s so many to pick from).

4. Video Training/Webinar

Video is a highly-engaging format, and if you’re comfortable in front of the camera and have a skill you can teach, this could be the perfect Lead Magnet to offer.

Instead of a live webinar, you can send leads to a private page with a recorded video or you can send them a recording of a previous webinar.

5. Software Download/Free Trial

So if you're a software provider, you could offer a free trial of your product for a limited time (15 days, 30 days, you decide)

6. Discount/Free Shipping

People love discounts and getting things for free. For many people, giving away their email address is a small price to pay if they can potentially save hundreds or thousands of dollars on a purchase.

This Lead Magnet works best for companies selling physical products or anything where you get a lot of repeat purchases from customers.

7. Quiz/Survey

In some industries, quizzes and surveys have tremendous value and are very effective as a Lead Magnet. Before you make assumptions, I’m not talking about the Buzzfeed quizzes that end up in your Facebook timeline – I’m talking about quizzes that actually solve a problem.

8. Assessment

An assessment or test is similar to a quiz, but it is particularly effective for companies selling a service.

In this case, prospects aren’t simply looking for an answer – they’re also looking for an expert opinion.

9. Consultation/Sales Material

Some of your buyer personas are already interested in what your company offers and the most desirable Lead Magnet for them is specific information that’s used to make a purchasing decision – usually pricing.

But once you come up with creating that ‘thing’…that you choose to be your lead magnet, you’ll need to put it on what’s called a ‘landing page’.

Now a landing page is just a web page that’s sole purpose is to promote the lead magnet and collect that contact information you’ll be using at a later time with email marketing.. but that’s another time.

Now typically, the lead magnet is free and that’s the ‘hook’ that’s used to get people to give up their contact information in the first place.

So the top of the sales funnel is the landing page with the lead magnet.

I have a few different landing pages on my website and they’re not part of the menu of selections for the official pages, but you get there by clicking on a call to action button describing the lead magnet.

For example, currently, I have a free E-book on the home page called ‘Turning Your Passion to Profit’. There’s a brief description of the E-book and a list of some benefits for getting it, but when you click on the button…the call to action button, you’ll go to the landing page to see a bit more information about it there.

If someone is a little skeptical about putting in their email address (some people are), I have a series of short videos they can watch on the landing page that will help them to hopefully, feel more comfortable about getting the E-book.

I have another landing page for a different E-book on how to start a Podcast. If you go to tomclairmont.com/podcast, you’ll see the CTA button that will bring you to that specific landing page.

But the goal here is to move people along the process of trying something for free, then offering something for a small dollar amount, then ultimately, after they feel more comfortable with the low dollar item, they’ll receive an offer for a higher priced product or service and help them to decide on purchasing that product.

You see, it’s nice to offer free stuff to people and help them with the lead magnet, but we’re in business to make money. Every business needs sales. A lot of sales, usually.

But online sales doesn’t just happen with things that are just on the landing pages. Online sales can also happen when we use those emails that people give us to keep the relationship going through email and by sending them regular emails on what you have to offer and how it can help them solve a problem.

So we come full circle with the sales funnel process by getting an email address in order for them to get something free, but then use that email in a marketing campaign that helps them to get to know us better or feel more comfortable with purchasing something from us.

But we’re not going to get into the huge topic of email copywriting for now, but I would just like you to know that when someone talks about sales funnels, it also includes the process of having an email campaign.

Now not all email campaigns lead people to but your stuff. And that’s ok. Some email campaigns just want to raise awareness or truly be helpful.

I have a fully automated email campaign for the E-book of the month club that I offer to anyone that signs up for it. It sends a small business startup E-book that’s totally relevant to the online business realm, right to their inbox automatically, each month.

But sprinkled in between those monthly E-books that go to them for free, are other emails about the small business startup process and some info about me as well, so that people can gain more trust in me and the services that I offer.

Now yes, I have things they can click on that’s considered a call to action, like the Podcast, or a Resources page that I have that provides free content (no email necessary), or a video series I’m working on…things like that. But for the most part, the email campaign for the E-book of the Month Club is generally just free and helpful information.

So friends, I know I covered a lot of ground here in this episode, and the great thing about Podcast episodes is that it can always be replayed if I went a little too fast or if, for some reason, just didn’t explain it the best way for you. So if you’re taking notes to some of the podcast episodes you’re listening to like I do, and you need more clarity on the topic, feel free to send me an email asking how I can help you through this funnel journey to tom@tomclairmont.com.

Now just to be clear, you don’t need to spend a lot of money using a funnel service like Click Funnels if you don’t want to. You can have a basic lead magnet, landing page and funnel created for you for not a lot of money. If you’re on a smaller budget, don’t give up hope.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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In the last episode I brought up the topic of ‘The Fear of Failure’. But now, I think the topic to come after that should be… ‘The Fear of Success’. Why? Because the fear of failure and the fear of success sort of go hand in hand. If you’re prone to give in to your fears, then if you don’t pick one of these, you just might pick the other.

And to some, the fear of success doesn’t sound like much of a fear. But it’s very real and it can hold you back in a big way.

But if you think about it, it’s probably not success in and of itself that you fear, but the potential price of success. Sometimes, it’s your own behind-the-scenes manipulations that keep tripping you up on the road to success. Or maybe it’s the concept of a significant change in your life. Either way, we’ll walk through this topic today and dive a little deeper into it to hopefully shed some light on it in a way that will help you on your journey.

What is the fear of success, anyway? Is it real? Some people may have a hard time accepting that it is, because they’re in a situation where they long for success and can’t imagine anyone passing it up, but the fear of success is when you have an ongoing fear of succeeding, so much so that you might be inadvertently self-sabotaging your efforts SO THAT you don’t succeed.

Now, it’s not that you think you can’t succeed. It’s more about the fear of change that may come and whether you’re up for it. For example:

· With success, you might be put in the spotlight, but you’re an introverted sort of person and maybe uncomfortable with all the extra attention.

· Public success might cause some lifestyle changes that isolates you from family or friends because you have more demands on your life now.

· People might think you’re bragging or self-promotional.

· You fear being knocked off the pedestal you didn’t want to be on in the first place.

· Success may not be all it’s cracked up to be. And I get that. More time, more commitment, more focus, more problems to solve, a team to manage…and I could go on and on.

· Success might change you, but you fear it won’t be for the better, and that’s something you’re unsure about.

Fear of success can be easily confused with fear of failure because either one can keep you from reaching your goals and dreams.

Fear of failure has to do with beating yourself up when something didn’t work out and you don’t give yourself the option to fail or even learn from mistakes.

Fear of success is more about anticipating how you or your life will change, or maybe how others will react to your new lifestyle.

What does the fear of success look like?

Fearing the consequences of success can reveal itself in subtle but obvious ways, like:

· Low goals. You set the bar low to keep yourself from being challenged.

· Procrastination. You stall just enough to let opportunity pass.

· Perfectionism. You strive for perfection and when you inevitably fall short, that’s reason enough not to proceed.

· Quitting. Just when you’re on the verge of success, you find a reason to quit.

· Self-destructiveness. Substance abuse and other self-destructive behaviors may serve to derail success.

Any of these behaviors can keep you from realizing your full potential.

But why does anybody have a fear of success?

Even people who appear confident can have their doubts. Why? Well, if someone’s making a life pivot and trying to shift gears and have a different focus on their business, or launch a new path, it might not be hard to convince others of your new skills or abilities.

It might be harder to convince yourself. It may be that they’re having some doubts about the future and their new path and can they really do the things they say they can do? And this is common for newcomers into a new field or new business launch. Until they can have a longer track record, they may be having a bit of imposter syndrome.

And it’s not that they’re being fake or phony, it’s just that they lack the confidence in themselves because they need to prove who they are to themselves.

So Tom, how does somebody overcome a fear of success?

If you’ve identified your fear of success, you’ve taken the first step. From here it may take trial and error to find the strategies that work for you, but here are some ways to get started.

Why Do We Fear Change?

We fear change because it means that outcomes are unknown. Our brains are designed to find peace in knowing. When we don’t know what will happen, we make up scenarios and, in turn, create worry and stress.

I’ve found that the situation that I’m concerned about usually plays out better than what I was dreaming up in my head. I guess it can be easier to think of the worst case scenario instead of the best case scenario, but I found that the worst case scenario almost never happens.

And sometimes we can find it hard to move on when something known and sort of comfortable comes to an end. The fear of success and failure also comes into play to create a fear of change. If we don’t know how something will turn out, we might not even try because the outcome is unknown.

But if we have faith in ourselves and our skills and have confidence that we can land on our feet because we make wise decisions, then change…and the world of the unknown doesn’t seem so bad after all.

Now, the theme of the Podcast is planning and launching your new online business. But even if you attempt a business launch and it doesn’t work out, you’ve learned so much, that you’ve just increased your chances for the next time.

Success is complicated. What does it mean to you? Remember in the last episode I talked about visualization and how important it is?

Well, we’re back to that again for a bit. Because whether you have a fear of failure or success, this is something that can help you either way. By visualizing your success, and not only seeing it your head, but believing in yourself with your heart, you can get a better handle on your fears.

Now we all know that the road ahead won’t be all roses and sunshine. I’m not suggesting that you visualize or anticipate perfection ahead; nothing’s perfect. But I know it can help to shift your focus onto the positive and not the negative.

Think about your progress. Think about the victories you’ve had. Even the little ones. They’re important as well. If you’re making progress and you’re moving forward in your goals, even if it’s just a little bit, it’s worth dwelling on and acknowledging.

I’ve found that usually you don’t have people giving you high 5’s for the progress you’ve made, so why not give one to yourself? It’s easy for others on the outside to look in on what you’re doing and either not think much about it or not understand the struggles you’ve overcome to get to where you are today. They may not get it, but all that matters is that you do. You’re belief in yourself is what’s most important.

But there’s two more recommendations I have for you to help you overcome the fear of success.

Volunteer.

If you’re a bit unsure of your skillsets and need some validation and confidence, try volunteering in either the same or similar role that you hope to do on your own someday.

For example, if you want to have your own speaking business and tour someday, practice your speaking skills by offering to do a few for free at the type of events that would be similar in venue. That’s a win-win for both sides. They get a free speaker and you get experience.

If you want to be a small business virtual assistant, then take on a small client for free for the first 60 days to see how it all plays out for you. This can be pre-arranged with the client so that you can then start billing them for your time.

By testing the waters for free, you get to see what skills you’re strong in now and what skills you need to work on in the future. This can help to build confidence, which will reduce your fears of success because it starts to take away that realm of the unknown for our performance.

Practice “What if” positively:

Sometimes, when we don’t know what will happen and have that fear of the future and default to the worst-case scenarios like I mentioned before. But instead of going through all those different scenarios of ‘what if’s’ for things that can go wrong, you can practice some positive self talk and ask yourself, “what if it works out?” and think about the potential good outcomes that can happen. In this way, you can help the fear of change fade away.

But friends, let’s be straight here…realistically, if you continue to say you want to do something, and yet you keep not doing it – that means you don’t really want to do it. At least not enough to make the effort required. Not enough to really reach out and grab your dream.

Think about it this way: we vote with our actions. If we truly want to do something, we do it. If at the end of the day, I don't ever do what I say we REALLY want (not learning how to improve our speaking skills if I want to be a paid speaker), then I would suggest getting some additional help. Get a coach. Get a mentor. You may need someone to help keep you accountable with your actions.

I’ve found that by paying someone for their advice, that’s the motivator that I need to keep me on the fast track for getting something done. I’m not going to just flush money down the drain. If I pay for something, I want results. And so will you.

The fear of success can be obvious or it can lurk beneath the surface so you don’t recognize it for what it is. Either way, it’s a genuine fear that can come at great personal cost.

Friends, be aware of the fear of failure and the fear of success. They’re somewhat different but somewhat the same. It’s fear. And as I said in a previous episode, we don’t accomplish anything great through fear. It’s only when we step out and take some risks that we have the greatest success.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Show Notes

Friends, this week I’d like to talk a little about fear and how it can really get in the way of our hopes and dreams and success.

Now we all have fear, and I’m not going to even suggest that I don’t have fears. We all do. But how we manage and control the fear is how we’ll be able to move forward.

We’re made with limitations. Physical, emotional, psychological…we can’t escape it. Some people just naturally have more ability than others. Some people work at it to develop themselves better than others.

Some people don’t see the need to work on it at all and they struggle with it…and maybe wonder why fear has a grip on them. They may not even realize that their inaction, or obsession with the planning process is really a side effect of their fear.

Now, there’s no shortage of things to be fearful about, is there? I’m not even going to begin to list all the possible things we fear. You name it, and we can be fearful of it. The top two are fear of failure and fear of losing money. But there’s a long list of fears dealing with anything you can dream up.

But fear of failure, in my opinion, is one of the things we ALL struggle with. It seems to me, that whatever is put before us, we fear failing at. Am I wrong? But if failure is seen as a valid option instead of the unforgiveable option, then the fear of failure has been reduced to the point of being manageable and you can move forward.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that having some fear is healthy and necessary. We don’t jump out of airplanes or off of a cliff and think it’s all ok and we don’t have anything to fear. If someone is jumping out of an airplane, they do their checklist of things they need to do so that they can feel as safe as possible.

· Did I go through all the jump training courses necessary? Check.

· Is the plane safe and full of gas? Check.

· Did we communicate the plan for where we’re going? Check.

· Did I pack the parachute correctly? Check.

· Is my will secure with my Attorney? Check. Well, maybe I should double check.

· Will someone be there to get me at the landing site? Check.

And we can still jump out of that plan with some fear, but because we went through that checklist, we can manage the fear and have some level of confidence that we did all that we needed to do.

So when it comes time to make a life pivot, because of one reason or another, and we think about what we want to do with our lives…and what we want to pivot into…fear of failing can either stop us or significantly slow us down.

But if we think about it for a little while, about the times we have our greatest successes in life…or even in business, it’s when we took that ‘leap of faith’, or just had the courage to do that ‘thing’ that we were determined to do. Think about those times when you had the most progress in life, or something really went well.

Is it when you played it safe, or when you took a risk…when you stepped out in faith?

Hey, I’ve had a few life pivots in my time. I know what it’s like to start over. And then start over again. But my biggest successes came when I took the greatest risks.

So what are some steps we can take to deal with our fear of failure? How do we tackle that monster? Well, for starters, I have a short list of 5 things we can do. And I’m not saying that these will necessarily be easy, but…they are doable…ok.. if I can do it, then so can you.

1. Visualization

Your success begins when you start seeing your new future. The new you. The possibilities that you have, where you live, your support with family and friends and the future connections you’ll make along the way.

This is a very intentional process. It takes some real thought and effort. This isn’t just something you think about for 30 seconds before you go to bed. Don’t skip this process because it’s very important that you define your identity for who you are, or want to become and how you want others to see you. But keep it real. I’m not talking about a phony persona. This is the new you. It’ll give you that emotional strength you’ll need when times get tough and fear could kick in.

When you start seeing yourself as the new you, and don’t define yourself by the past, but by who you are now… or even who you’re becoming, then you’ll start the process of believing in yourself.

Because if you don’t believe in yourself, then why should others believe in you? Why should someone take out their credit card and purchase anything from you?

You see, as the boxer Mike Tyson put it, ‘Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the face.’ And that’s the way being an entrepreneur can be at times. You try, you fail, (and sometimes over and over again) you try something else and maybe succeed in a different way.

And then there are times when you give a business venture a shot and then get punched in the face (not literally, of course). But maybe you lost a lot of money on something that you really believed in…but it didn’t work out. Hey, I’ve been there. And now, you’re skeptical… or hesitant to try something again, because it failed.

But aren’t those words ‘skeptical’ and ‘hesitant’ just another form of fear? Now, you may have heard me say this before, but ‘failure isn’t the opposite of success, it’s part of success.’

I have a very specific goal in my head (and on paper) about the future I want to have, the life I want to live and the income I want to make from my business. And I use that visualization to keep me moving forward toward the goal every day. I’ll use this visualization over and over again on a regular basis, because it’s the reminder of not only who I am, but who I want to become.

2. Education and Research

Now, this is something that is much easier to do with all the resources we have at our fingertips through the Internet. We could easily watch YouTube videos all day on personal development or the ‘how-to’s’ to do anything.

But if you want to enter into a new space…venture out into a new realm with a business…and even if you’re already an expert on a particular topic, being a life-long learner, not only on your expertise, but also on a host of other topics relating to the small business realm as well. Topics that will be relevant to the things you’ll need to know about…not necessarily things you’ll be doing directly, but you should at least know about:

· Vision

· Website

· Products/Services

· Marketing

· Email list

· Branding

· Copywriting

Now, these are the very topics that I work through when you sign up for my startup coaching. And believe me, there’s a lot to work through on each topic. Each topic is huge for the overall success plan for your small business.

But don’t get hung up on the research to the point that now, you’ve got analysis paralysis and don’t actually DO anything to launch your business. Learning and development is great, but making real money doing what you’ve learned is the goal here.

3. Getting a Mentor or Coach

Well this is something that I certainly didn’t do when I quit my IT job in 2001. But it’s something I wish I had back then. And you can hear about it a little more on the first episode of the Podcast titled ‘Don’t Do What I Did’, and it’s a very popular episode, I’ll have you know.

Because learning from others on what we should or should not do, or even what we could do to avoid the same pitfalls that others went through goes a long way for us when it comes to our success rate. Learning from a coach or a mentor can speed up your learning and your small business launch in a huge way.

And with the more personalized attention you’ll get, you’ll quickly see how amazing it is to get the personalized advice. And friends, don’t kid yourself. Every successful person has had a coach or a mentor in one way or another. This is normal, and natural. It’s not something that only insecure people do because they need a crutch to lean on.

It’s actually the norm for successful entrepreneurs. And by now, if you’re a regular listener of the show, you’ve probably heard me talk about my coach Mike Kim from time to time, and let me tell you, he’s very good. Very expensive, but very good. He has a way of pointing you in the exact direction you need to take. Or looking at things differently that really sheds some light on a topic that may have been a little fuzzy.

And that’s my hope for what I can do for you as well. I try to take complex concept and break it down for you so that you’ll be able to have more clarity and a better perspective on this entrepreneurial journey your taking.

4. Local Networking or Connecting on LI

Connecting on LinkedIn or in person will help you to craft your message and to see if what you have to offer people in real time life situations will resonate with them as potential customers. You’ll be able to practice your message and tweak it over time so that, over time your pitch and your products will have more of an impact with people.

Now I know what it’s like to network with people in a group setting. I’ve done it for years in my local BNI group. And I spent a lot of time visiting other BNI groups in my area. And they were all the same back then. People are there to get a little more than they give. Now the slogan at the time was ‘Givers Gain’ and yes, they had a policy of bringing in leads for other BNI members, but in the end, the reality was that we were all there for our own bottom line.

But the benefits of being with others in a business networking environment is that you get to practice different pitches and presentations. I tried pitches that got right to the point, I tried pitches that had some humor in it, but I had the chance to practice with real people in a real business type setting.

Now on LinkedIn, you can connect with people more in a textual sort of way with direct messaging or even send them a private video and that’s great. The whole point here is to get yourself and your message out there so that you have enough practice speaking to people and reduce your fear or anxiety about speaking and presenting.

Because if you have a fear of speaking in public, then it will impact your business in a big way. If you have a fear of talking about your business to anyone, it’ll show in your pitch. You can’t get away with just doing online videos for your Website, or social media. You’ll need to, at some point, be in front of real people and know how to pitch your idea or your product or service.

5. Fail

Now this last one should probably be the first one, but it’s not very popular of a topic and I really don’t think you’ll hear too many people recommending failure as a way to reduce your fear of failing, but I think we all know that it is, in fact, the truth.

You see, if you hire me to do your small business startup coaching, I’m not going to just tell you all the nice things you want to hear to make you happy. I’m going to be straight with you about what it’s like to start and launch and sometimes you might not like to hear what I have to say.

But we all know that there’s value in failing. We all know that we’ve been in situations that haven’t worked out the way we expected them to and that’s a form of failure. Now am I promoting failure? No. I’m not saying that it’s preferable to fail. But I am saying that there’s value in failing because we usually find out that whatever didn’t work out wasn’t so bad after all.

There are decisions that I make about my business and sometimes I come right out and say ‘Hey, I hope this works out, it should work out, but if it doesn’t, I tried.” Will I lose time and money? Yes, but there’s value in trying and learning from what doesn’t work. That increases our chances of success the next time we do something similar.

We usually find out that we can learn from what happened and use that knowledge and experience to our benefit the next time we try either the same thing or something similar. Our chances of success are now higher at doing the same thing once we fail at it once or twice.

I spent a lot of time creating a different business about 15 years ago that didn’t work out. Money lost and a mountain of time down the drain. But I learned something out of it. I learned a few things from that experience.

But if you have such a fear of failure, that it prevents you from even trying, then you’re robbing yourself of your future success.

Yes, failure is painful and it usually comes with a price. Something is lost. Time, money, usually both. But that’s part of the risks we take as entrepreneurs. That’s part of the startup process of learning and growing who and what we are.

So don’t let the fear of failure get in the way of failing. Do I want you to fail? No. I want you to succeed. But if you have a dream of having a business and selling a product or service and for some reason, something went wrong, then keep trying.

So get comfortable with being uncomfortable. There’s plenty of things about the startup process that’ll be hard. You’ll be risking your time, your money and even some relationships along the way. Things that make or break you as a new business owner.

But friends, if your passionate about your dream and you want to put yourself out there and take some risks, then go ahead. The rewards are huge.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

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Hello friends. I’d like to talk a little today about overcoming obstacles. Now, I’ve been around awhile and have experienced a lot of things but I won’t pretend to be a know-it-all in this situation. I’ve been through a number of life pivots and was hoping to address this topic and give you some encouragement on your journey as well.

There are so many things that can get in our way. We have plans, and goals and hopes and dreams and we can get frustrated and discouraged when things don’t go as planned, but what has ever gone according to plan, right? Can we really point to anything and say that it went exactly the way it was supposed to go? Does anything we achieve come easy? Is success painless?

I mean even when we download someone’s step-by-step instructions, we find that there are always some other steps involved. Am I wrong?

Life can be so crazy sometimes. We fight, we push, we struggle to try to keep up and just keep our heads above water at times.

I know what it’s like to have a family and to try to run a business while raising kids. And now, add in all the COVID craziness into the mix. If you’re a mom and you’re trying to launch your business, or a dad and wondering how to put all the pieces together and still be present for your kids, then hopefully, I’ll give you all (or as they say here in Virginia) give y’all some hope today.

Because we all need a ray of hope sometimes. We all need that encouragement and for someone to help cheer us along when we’re wondering if our dreams can become a reality someday.

So, if:

· There’s chaos all around you

· You’ve lost your job

· Your career is in a rut and you don’t see a way out

· Recently divorced and life is upside down

· You don’t have enough time to take care of the things you want to do

· Or even the obstacle of our own fears and doubts about ourselves

I’ve found over the years that we can overcome a lot of obstacles that face us with a positive mindset. The way we look at things.. at challenges.. at our fears.. about ourselves, can be overcome, even if it’s a little bit at a time, over time.

Hopefully, this episode will be the encouragement you’ll need for not only today, but tomorrow as well.

So what CAN we do when we’re going through a challenging time? How are we supposed to just THINK our way through this?

Well, I’ve got an E-book called ‘How to Overcome Challenges by Changing Your Mindset’ and I’ll post a link to the E-book for you in the show notes, but I’ll be using some excerpts of that E-book for you today that I think will help you through these challenges your facing.

The first step in overcoming any challenge is to expect the best out of the situation. Or at least, expect something good can happen. When you go into a challenge and you’re expecting failure, chances are pretty good that you’ll fall short of your goal. Your mindset going into any situation plays a big role in whether or not you’re going to come through it with success.

Even when your situation seems overwhelming and completely unbeatable, you can choose to think the best of it.

I remember a time (and you may have heard me say this in the past) when I was going through a divorce after 27 years of marriage, and I lost my job (because I was an emotional mess) and just saying ‘God, you’re going to have to help me through this. You’re going to have to show me the way, because I don’t see the way right now. ‘

So, I’m a Christian and believe that God doesn’t shield us from life’s problems, but will hold our hand through life’s problems. And that’s what I was asking for, then.

I was saying, ‘God, you can show me the way out.’ You see, that’s believing there is a way out. That’s knowing, in advance, that there’s a way out.

And part of learning the way out of a tough situation is to learn and acknowledge how this situation came about in the first place.

Obstacles usually don’t come out of thin air, for no reason. Even though it’s something blocking our path we can learn from it and focus on solutions instead of the problem.

Try some of these tips to focus your mindset on expecting the best:

Use positive self-talk. When you face a challenge, do you find yourself saying, “I can’t do this? Or, I can’t go through this AGAIN?” If that’s the case, your self-talk is sabotaging your success. Instead, tell yourself you can and will succeed.

Replace negative thinking with positive, productive thinking. Think about the road before you in a way that spurs you on toward success.

Remind yourself that the only way to fail is to give up and, instead, resolve to keep putting one foot in front of the other until you reach your goal.

Believe in yourself. You have the ability to do some amazing things. You just have to trust in your abilities, gifts, and talents.

Think about accomplishments from the past. You’ve certainly succeeded at many things before, but you’ve likely forgotten. Focus on previous victories and you’ll feel confident to tackle that challenge that’s staring you in the face right now.

With the proper mindset in place, your talents, desires, and abilities will naturally lead you to success. Even if you fall short, you’ll make the most of the experience by learning from it and moving forward in a positive direction.

In every situation, there is a silver lining to be found and appreciated. Do you look at something that’s hard and get easily frustrated about how hard it is? Do you always believe that the worst-case scenario is the only scenario? You can learn to think differently and steer the ship of your life in a different direction.

What’s the high point of the challenge you’re facing? There’s something positive about the situation you’re in. What is it? What can you learn from this? How can you grow from this experience? How will this experience make you a better person? How will this event in your life alter your future for the better?

Hey, I’ve been fired from a job in the past (remember, I was a mess from the divorce).

Discover the lesson. Every situation has something to teach you if you’ll look for it. Ask yourself: What can I learn from this challenge about my abilities and my circumstances?

How will this situation improve the quality of my life?

WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO MAKE IT BETTER?

The only way you’ll find solutions to the frustrations you face is to look for them. Think of something in your life that’s standing in your way or frustrating you. Instead of thinking of all the reasons this bothers you, think about ways you can make it better. Is there someone you can ask for help? Are there habits that you can change? Can you schedule your time differently?

The questions you ask yourself about your situation will determine your attitude. And, your attitude will determine your chances of success. Ask yourself why things are so frustrating, and your mind will return many reasons for you to be frustrated. Ask yourself how you can solve the dilemma you face, and your mind will give you the answers you’re looking for.

There’s a popular book out called ‘Happiness is a choice’ and you can get it on Amazon, but anger and frustration is also a choice, not just happiness.

I like to give people this tip: ‘Think about what you’re thinkin about.’ It’s just a way to keep our thoughts in check.

If you spend your time complaining about the situation you’re in, you’ll spin your wheels and stand on the same frustrating ground. I’m not asking you to deny reality, but make your reality better by asking yourself how you can affect things in a positive way.

STAY AWAY FROM UNPRODUCTIVE “WHAT IF’S”

When you worry about what might happen in the future, you’re avoiding the productive thinking that can make all the difference in your life. You’ll also miss out on the gift that’s found in the present moment.

There are some good things that we can focus on in the present. Challenges can help you grow as a person, or it can cause you to stop you in your tracks. The choice is yours.

Be strong and face what’s in front of you. The more you face your fears head on, the more confident and motivated you’ll become as you consciously step closer and closer to your dreams.

The list of what-ifs you face could go on forever if you let it.... “What if I embarrass myself? What if I fall short? What if this doesn’t work?” Your mind WILL answer those questions and prevent you from EVER moving forward. Is this what you really want – or deserve?

I talked about the ‘If only’ mindset trap in episode 60 of the Podcast. Things can spiral down pretty quickly if we don’t keep our thoughts in check.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO YOU

Solutions can come in many different ways, like help from others that have gone through something similar, or even the exact same thing. Has anyone you know, gone through a similar circumstance and come out successfully? Are there books written by people who’ve succeeded in this area that detail how they arrived at their success? Can anyone in your community help you with this project?

I’m connecting with others, locally on LinkedIn, even today. Why? There’s value in community. I’m old enough to remember seeing people in my community, actually get together to talk about life and help each other with the problems they were having.

This doesn’t happen much today. We can’t just text our way through our problems. Watching YouTube may help, but talking to real people about real problems is what we were meant to do. People connecting with people.

Ask your friends and family if they’ve faced a challenge similar to yours, and ask what steps they took to accomplish their goal. Listen to what they have to say. Really listen, and see if you can take their ideas and implement them into your own situation.

Creative thinking is sometimes necessary. Out-of-the-box thinking can help you see your situation in a whole new perspective.

I’ll give you an example. I was talking to someone a few days ago about the labor shortage and he was asking me if I had any ideas on how he can hire more reliable part time help for the business. I told him about how AARP has community job placement programs in place to keep senior citizens employed. You’ll probably find that the most reliable people will be the older members of your staff.

MAKE A PLAN OF ACTION

Starting today, map out a plan for a way out of your situation. What’s the next step you need to take? If you don’t know what the next step is, then your next step is to find out what comes next.

When you complete the first step, what do you do next? What do you do after that? Coming up with a game plan is simple. All you do is list the steps you must take in order. You can tweak and improve your plan as you get feedback on what is and isn’t working. The first draft of your plan is just the beginning steps to your success.

Sometimes, the best way to lay out a roadmap is simply to brainstorm and write down ideas for possible tasks you can take without waiting for someone or something else. You can always edit the list later. What one thing can you do right now?

I’ve found that when I do something a little outside my comfort zone, it wasn’t so bad after all. Then, I find that I’m more confident and my self- image has improved a little more as well.

TAKE DECISIVE ACTION

Once you’ve set out your plan of action, and what that ‘one thing’ is that you can do right now, take the first action step immediately. Instead of sitting around and looking at your plan, hoping things work in your favor, make things work in your favor by taking the first step forward. This will create the momentum you’ll need and motivate you to truly believe in the probability of your success.

The hardest part about accomplishing any goal is getting started. The good news, though, is that once you’re moving in the right direction, you’ll be unstoppable if you choose to be. You only climb a mountain one small step at a time.

So, if you’re looking at a situation where you don’t see a way out, you need to get some forward movement in your life so you can see what is and isn’t going to work. If something, or someone is standing in your way and you don’t see a way out, you can make a way. There is always a way.

Take a little step forward every day. Even if that little step is a positive thought or belief that some good will come out of this. They don’t have to be physical steps, they can be mental steps.

If you feel afraid, confront your fear. Expand your comfort zone, just a little.

If you’re consumed with negativity, remember what I said before and ‘think about what you’re thinking about.’

If you lack confidence in yourself, focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. Start from that vantage point.

If you’re in an unhealthy relationship and you don’t have the support you feel you should have, first talk to them about it and see if that can change. If not, and you’re not married, then get out.

Friends, there will always be challenges that we face in life and sometimes, they’re huge. Now is this Podcast all about starting an online business, yes. Is this episode straying from that theme, well I don’t think so. Because I know that in order to start an online personal brand business, you need to have a positive mindset.

Nothing good will come from a negative mindset. And you’ll hear me speaking about positive mindset in this Podcast on a regular basis.

Not every answer to every challenge we face in the business realm will be found in a business book. I don’t just read my episodes from business books.

We can learn from each other. We need each other. We can support each other. I need support through problems just like you do. I have people I can go to when I have issues and I hope that you do as well.

Challenges will always be there. Obstacles will always be in the way but remember, if there is no way, then make a way.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Show Notes

How to Find Your Calling When You Don’t Know What You Want

Some people could go their entire life, or at least a few decades, working in a career path that was either chosen for them, or it was just something that they ended up into for one reason or another.

They may be in healthcare, or finance, or in some sort of law enforcement or legal capacity. Whatever it is, you may be finding yourself in a career path that wasn’t really what you expected when you were younger, or even 10 years ago.

And now, later on in life, you’re wondering if there’s a better path? You’re wondering if there’s still time for a change into something that makes you feel like it’s a much better fit for you and for your life.

Is there something that you could be doing that fits like a glove?

Now since this podcast is all about starting an online business, I’m going to assume that the topic of finding your calling and starting a business are one and the same. Because it can be. And it should be. You shouldn’t be investing your time and energy…and hard earned dollars into something that isn’t fulfilling for you and for those that you’re serving in your business.

Now in the last episode, I talked a little about getting ‘there’ from here. And here we are again, dealing with the same thing but in a different way.

How do you transition out of what we’re doing into something that we truly love that will make us feel fulfilled? What’s your one true calling?

It’s a simple little question, isn’t it? Which is why it’s so appealing. If we all really do have one true calling, then the secret to having a fulfilled life is as simple as finding and pursuing that calling... right?

But what if you don’t know what your calling is? What if you aren’t even sure you have one? And is there only one?

It can be tempting to treat callings like the perfect pair of jeans. Try on enough of them, and eventually one’s going to fit you exactly right. And so we hop from job to job, or even business to business, searching for ‘that one’ that will finally show us, once and for all, what we were put on this Earth to do. Not only is this exhausting; it can leave us feeling even more lost and confused than we were before!

But maybe we’re looking at it from the wrong perspective. Maybe we have it backwards. Maybe we aren’t meant to find our calling at all. Maybe our calling was meant to find us.

If you have no idea what your calling is, this could be good news for you. It means you can give yourself permission to stop searching so hard. It does not mean giving up on the possibility of a fulfilled life and business venture. You’re probably not going to find your calling by looking for it, but there are things you can do to help your calling find its way to you.

Let go of the idea that everyone has “one true calling.”

Some people seem to know from birth what they were meant to do. They live and breathe this ‘one thing’ and it’s so obvious to them. Maybe it came from their upbringing and their parents, or maybe they were just able to figure it out on their own through high school or college courses.

But most of us don’t, and that’s OK! Callings aren’t an all-or-nothing deal. You might go through different ‘seasons’ and feel different callings at different times in your life. So rather than ask yourself, “What’s my one and only true calling?”, try asking instead, “What’s the calling for me right now?” And see where that leads you.

Do more of what brings you joy.

The key here is to do the thing that really brings joy into your life. Not just happiness, but real joy. There is a difference. Joy is a powerful emotion. Whatever brings you joy, do more of it. When we do the things that bring us deep joy, the callings have a way of showing up, too.

But remember now, we’re talking about finding our calling in the business realm, too. We’ve got to keep in mind that from a business perspective, we need to make some significant money doing what we love to do as well. There’s a marriage between the two concepts here of doing what we love to do, and making good money doing it.

Follow your frustration.

So what problems do you see in the world that stands out and frustrates you? What one thing drives you crazy and what about it do you want to fix or make better? Make friends with that frustration. Get curious about it. Follow it. And don’t be surprised if a calling pops up somewhere along the path.

Remember what I said before in episode 24 last year, about the 3 critical steps to gain clarity? Asking 3 key questions:

• What ticks you off?

• What breaks your heart

• What big problem are you trying to solve?

Those questions will also help you to find your business calling as well.

Stay open to what could be.

A calling can be a funny thing. We seek it because we long for meaning and focus in life. We want to know why we’re here and what our lives are supposed to be all about, and sometimes we start down a path looking for our calling just to get rid of the pain of being in life’s limbo. But I don’t know of any calling that showed up fully formed, complete with an action plan and due dates. Callings come to us in hints and traces, steeped in possibility, uncertainty and even self doubt. But when possibility presents itself, don’t jump into action right away. Stay open. Give it some time to show you what could be.

As you think about those three questions and the answers to them, remember that callings don’t only show up in our careers. If you feel called to speak, or paint, or make music or write a book, do it! But only after you’re convinced that that ‘one thing’ hits that sweet spot in your life.

Afraid to fail at your calling? I’d say your chances of success are a lot higher, now that you’ve found your calling.

My wife was convinced that she was going to go into research when she was in college, but after being a teacher’s assistant for a little while, she knew that teaching was now her calling. And she’s been very successful at it as well.

I didn’t know how much I would like to do the coaching and consulting until I spent a couple of years helping an Executive Director of a non-profit organizational through a tough transition.

I didn’t know how much I would like to write…until I dug in and started writing. So now, I can crank away on the keyboard create content that helps people with their small business journey, but also, I tried my hand at writing something completely different just to see how it would go; a children’s story. Because I’m a Grandpa and I like to write.

Now, even though it came out pretty well, I also know that writing children’s stories isn’t in that ‘sweet spot’ for what I’m supposed to be doing. But I know that now, because I tried. I ventured out a little bit and wandered off the path a little just to see how it would go.

I’m glad I did it, but I’m also glad that I now have more confirmation of the path that I’m supposed to stay on.

How to Tell the Difference Between Your Life's Calling and a Whim

So, how do you tell if ‘that thing’ your thinking is your calling, is actually a calling and not just a whim?

We're all put here with different personalities, passions and skills. If you feel called to make art, then you were put here to make art. If you feel called to write, build, design, speak or be in research, then you were put here to do just that.

With all the possibilities out there in the world (especially living in the United States), it can be hard sometimes to make sense of what your true calling is and what's simply a fleeting desire or whim. Desires and whims are important and can be excellent tools in guiding you toward what you need next in your life, but it's important to distinguish between the two.

Whim: A sudden or impulsive idea.

Calling: A vocation, profession, or trade

So how can you distinguish between a calling and a whim?

1) A calling is magnetic and all-consuming.

Callings draw you toward them. They start as a tiny nagging thought or feeling, then begin to consume your mind and drive your everyday life. They can't be ignored. You'll feel a sense of urgency and a strong inclination to follow a calling, whereas a whim is usually fleeting.

Whims are impulsive and may feel as though they've come out of nowhere. Callings start deep inside of us, stirring and growing over time until they simply can't be ignored any longer. Ignoring a strong calling will leave you feeling frustrated, unfulfilled, antsy and very discontent with your life and career if these things are out of alignment.

2) The core focus of a calling is always present.

If you feel called to care for animals, build things, care for people, whatever it is, that will always drive you, regardless of how you choose to act on it. It won’t go away.

Whims, on the other hand, can vary a lot. There may be times you feel a desire to be active and experimental, stepping out of that comfort zone as I talked about in episode 41, while other times you might feel the opposite. Those feelings are great and important, but they’re also temporary.

3) Callings are about contributing to the world

Whatever you feel called to do, all callings are about contributing to the world to make it a better place, through your words, actions, presence and creations. This is why they matter.

Your views, experiences, voice and ideas are meant to be shared and your calling will have a unique perspective and identity to it. Your calling is as unique as you are.

Whims are more selfish and focused on you -- what you feel the desire or need to do for yourself in this moment. Achieving some sort of feeling, experience, knowledge or connection. Whims feed and fuel us, but they're narrow by nature.

So, what's calling you?

What drives you and everything you want to create in your life? What is that thing that matters most to you?

3 Things Your Calling Is Not

“I’m called to ‘teach, or I’m called to code computer games.”

Maybe you’ve heard someone say something similar to this to explain why they do what they do. And we just went through some of the characteristics of what a calling is, but now, I think we should go over a few things of what your calling is not.

1. Your Calling Is Not for You

No doubt each person is called and gifted individually, but a true understanding of calling recognizes that we’re called not for just personal gratification but for the good of others. This others-focus flies against the individualistic and self-interested spirit of our age.

As I said a little while ago, your calling is about contributing to the world.

Rather than asking, “What will make me the most money and give me the most status?” We should be asking, “How can I use my existing abilities and opportunities, to help others?”

But we need to be careful to not confuse our job with our calling. While for some the two are intertwined (like the role of a Pastor), callings often encompass a broader realm; like the good of society, or family, and church.

Some people find their callings in spheres other than the workplace—my daughter and daughter in law who turned down jobs so they can devote themselves to their children; the independently wealthy man who does not need to work, so he devotes himself as a concerned citizen and volunteers with a non-profit organization, and the list could go on and on.

Young or old, weak or strong, successful or unemployed, we’re each able to fulfill callings to care for others and make the world a better place.

So, practically, one simple way to discover your calling is to figure out how you can best serve others with the gifts and abilities God has given you.

2. Your Calling Is Not from You

We don’t choose our callings; by definition, we’re called to them. As a Christian, I’m of the perspective that God calls us; we don’t call ourselves.

Of course there is human element in all we do. We plan our ways, but God establishes our steps. But it’s in the forward motion of our efforts and what we’re doing that God makes the calling clear.

We find our callings with, by, and in serving others. And we fulfill our callings as others fulfill theirs.

The Executive Director of a non-profit Fresh Water Friends, found his calling by just making the decision with his wife to raise enough money with his friends to have a water well installed for an impoverished village.

After he saw how quickly the money was raised and how soon the well could be installed, he decided to do it again for another well. It’s from this experience that Fresh Water Friends was born into an official NPO with over 160 wells installed to date over the past few years.

He had a deep desire to help people that needed it and found his calling in the midst of that effort.

3. Your Calling Is Not Future Tense

Look at your life. Your calling could be whatever your life consists of right now.

God has placed you in a family, in a neighborhood, and hopefully in a church. Rather than worry about what’s next and try to figure out the future, we can usually find our calling in the present situation.

There’s nothing wrong with godly ambition or planning for the future. But in all that, make sure the emphasis is on faithfully serving God where you are until it’s clear—whether through a shift in desires, input from others, or a change in circumstances (usually a combination of these three)—that He is calling you to something else.

Signs You May Not Be Doing What You Are Called to Do

Not quite sure yet if you’re currently in your calling? Maybe you’re doing what you’re called to do and you just don’t know it?

Well, here are a few signs that you might not be doing what you’re called to do.

You Don’t Feel Fulfilled

If you simply don’t feel fulfilled, you are not living out your calling. Fulfillment is a feeling that stems from doing meaningful, purposeful things. Now, of course, life has its share of boring tasks and even boring days, but if every area of your life makes you feel unfulfilled, it’s time to ask God to reveal your calling to you.

You feel stuck

Similar to feeling fulfilled, but, yet distinctly different. If you feel stuck, you know that you want more from life but don’t have clear direction. You feel that you are not living according to God’s purpose for you, but can’t put your finger on what is making you feel this way. You may feel trapped or unsure.

Signs You Have Found Your Calling

So, if you want to now confirm that you’re in your calling, there are some signs you can look to that will make it obvious, that yes, you’ve found your calling.

It’s what you love to do.

It’s what you’re good at. It’s something that makes a difference. Sometimes it feels like it’s what you were put here, on this planet, to do. Finding your calling unlocks a brand-new level of passion and purpose. There’s a chance you’ve already found it, you just might not have realized.

Your actions match your plans

You make big plans and then you carry out the actions to match. There’s no disconnect between those lofty plans you have for yourself and the actions that follow every day. When you define your big plans you also make the small, preceding plans that you know will get you there. You’re excited with every part of the process, because they’re all leading to you fulfilling the vision you have for your life and your place in the world.

You reach a state of flow

You sometimes lose hours to what you’re doing. You begin, you get into it, and then you are in a state you feel like you could continue forever. You don’t want to be interrupted; you want to focus, improve and complete the task in front of you…all toward the master plan. Every little task gets you closer to the master plan. Somehow, you can just keep on going. You’re creating a masterpiece and it’s all falling into place.

You can’t be deterred

You wake up each day raring to get going and convinced of your journey. Other people have different plans for you. Other people don’t understand. But they don’t get to choose because you know what you need to do. You don’t need to be pep-talked into action to perform and you don’t need to be hyped up to get moving forward. You’re self motivated and it comes easy.

You suspect you’re onto something

When you think of the future, of where this might lead, you feel unwavering confidence. You’re onto something and you know it, maybe others don’t yet. Whatever you’re doing, you know it has huge potential. You know you’re getting closer to its potential every day. You know it’s soon to change the world in a big way. Whether it’s the difference you’re about to make for others, or the example you’re going to set when you’re unleashed on the world; it’s coming and you can feel it.

You’re happy

If this was your life, until the day you died, you’d be satisfied. You’d leave earth knowing that you gave it your all, you did what you were put here to do, and you fulfilled your potential. What you do makes you happy, adds value, and is useful to others. Only your calling will take you there.

So have you found your calling, or should you keep looking? Be honest with yourself and work it out. You may be doing it right now, and just looking at it wrong. You may be on the brink of finding it, but you’re just one change away. Find your calling and your world changes.

If you’re wondering if it’s too late to start, it’s never too late. If you’re alive today, then you’ve got some time to figure it out.

“Well, Tom, what if I was in my calling but I blew it?” Why did it not work out? Was it really your true calling? Maybe you need to re-evaluate?

Friends, if you’re looking for your calling, it’s out there. It’s in you. I’ve found mine. I know you can find yours as well.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

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Show Notes

Getting 'There'

Friends, we see it all the time. The social media world is full of people that either flaunt their success or fake their success (doesn’t it get on your nerves?).

And all of that influence on us can keep us in a constant state of either awe and envy, or frustration and anger, of what someone else has or we see the so called business that they built and the so-called lifestyle they have.

And then they go and talk about their $20K course that they offer for how YOU TOO can be successful and that they’re generously offering it for only $10K for a limited time.

Now, these courses may or may not help you with launching or growing your business, but I’m here to tell you that the path you think you may need to take to get to the ‘land of whatever you want’, might be different (and easier) than you think.

If you plan and launch your online business properly, you could have multiple income streams from a few different angles that would help you to not only grow, but scale your business.

But how do you get ‘there’ from here? And…where is ‘there’?

Don’t you need to spend the price of a small car to learn how to do that by taking some Internet Guru’s course? Well, no.

But you will need a plan. You will need to work out a lot of details in advance, before you go live with the plan.

Without a plan to have a Website created, and then content added that says…what? And then you get on social media, to say…what? Point them to... the website? That says what? ‘Buy my stuff’?

A key component to the plan is to have goals. Good goals.

Good goals have the following ten characteristics:

1. Good goals are describable.

There is nothing nebulous or vague about a good goal. A good goal isn’t some fairy-tale castle up on a hill. Good goals are not warm feelings, hot hunches, or trusting your gut. These are all fine and wonderful things, and they can inspire goals, but they are NOT goals. A good goal is concrete, explainable in simple to understand words.

2. Good goals are positive.

When you set goals, only set positive goals — things you want to do, not things you want to avoid. With goals, it’s the concept of running toward something, not running away from something.

If you’re a writer, “Don’t write garbage” is a bad goal. “Write my best work every time” is the same goal phrased in a way that will help you reach it; it’s positive and encouraging.

3. Good goals excite you.

When you’re excited about a goal, you’ll be thinking about it a lot. It’s something that you won’t be able to forget and won’t want to forget. It’ll be something you won’t be ashamed of and will light your face up when you talk about it.

Good goals will take you down the path from the person you are to the person you want to become.

4. Good goals belong exclusively to you.

This is related to #1, but not the same. Your goals have to be your own. So if your mother always dreamed of having a doctor in the family (she named us specifically with that in mind), and your father can see you as an architect, while you faint at the sight of blood and couldn’t care less whether a house is made of adobe or brick so long as it keeps the rain out, it’s time to set those dreams aside and focus on what excites you. Look, life is short, but it’s the longest thing we ever do. You can’t spend it trying to fulfill other people’s dreams. Not even the people who love you most.

Just because they want the best for you, doesn’t mean that they know what that is. Dream your own dream and own it.

5. You can achieve good goals by your own actions.

Deciding to have a book on the NY Times best seller list is a bad goal. Nice dream, really nice if they become reality.

But a bad goal. Why?

Because you have very little control of what The NY Times will do with your book and there’s nothing you can do to make them put you on their list. You can write brilliant book and sell thousands. Editors and publishers can love them but whether or not the New York Times decides to notice you is something you can’t control.

Goals dependent entirely on the actions of others are bad goals.

6. You can lay out the path to a good goal.

Writing that book may or may not be a good goal for you.

If you can look at it and say, “Okay, first I’ll figure out the big problem I’m trying to solve and if there’s a need for it. Then do a timeline, and create an outline and write a thousand words a day on the first draft …” then writing that book is a good goal for you.

If you just say, “My goal is to write a book,” but you see writing a book as a single event, then writing a book is likely to be a disaster for you.

7. You reach good goals regularly.

You’re on the right track if, when you break down your big goal into smaller goals, you actually accomplish the smaller goals. If you’re out to earn $5K a month in your business but only bringing in $500 a month, you might want to rethink the goal. There’s nothing like the forced failure of impossible goals to make you want to flush your dreams down the toilet and walk away forever.

You’re going to hit good goals if they’re in small increments. And when you hit them, you’ll be motivated to keep going forward every day.

8. Good goals leave you hungry.

Hunger is what got you into this in the first place, of course. Now, I know how hungry you are for those Cuban sandwich flavored potato chips, but I’m not talking about that. Hunger to do more than you’re already doing, to be more than you were yesterday, to build a business and make an impact in the world.

Good goals are going to feed that hunger. Write goals for yourself that send a little chill down your spine. Pretend you’re a little kid, and the world is brand new and everything is possible. Then look at all the endless possibilities, and identify the ones that give you goosebumps.

Pick those. Tell yourself ‘I want to do that.’

9. Good goals withstand repeated kicking.

A little bad news here about the push back you’ll get with your goals. The world is not friendly toward dreamers. It invades and injects a good dose of reality into the dreamspace.

People, much as they like success stories, also like disaster movies, and more than a few will be happy to try to jump in and kill your dreams and goals. Your goals are going to have to be strong enough to last through the tough times.

But beyond the push back you’ll get from people, you’re also going to hit low points, bad markets, and plenty of other things that can really hurt you.

Now, I’ve said this before, but failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success — it tells you you’re still daring to take chances. But failure and rejection hurt. Good goals will help you fall back and regroup, focus past the obstacles and give you something to shoot for even when times are hard.

Now the good news. If you’ve chosen the right goals, your response to repeated attacks, obstacles, and crashes will be something along the lines of ‘Don’t think I can do it? Just watch me.’ Remember, these are your goals. They’re worth hanging onto.

10. Good goals make you happy.

Most days you should be rolling out of bed ready to go, excited about what you’re going to be working on. Or if you working your J.O.B. then excited to hit the computer when you get home to work on building your new business.

If your first thought about your work or your goals is, “Oh, God, again?” you’re doing the wrong thing, or doing the right thing the wrong way.

It’s like having an important phone number but dialing the right digits out of order. It just won’t work.

When I coach people with “The Plan”, we start at the end, first, when talking about goals, and then work our way backwards. What do I mean by that? Well, here’s a few questions that I like to ask that gets the conversation pointing backward.

1. What do you want your life to be like 10 years from now?

2. What kinds of income do you want to have?

3. How much free time do you want?

4. Would you want to sell the business someday?

These questions (and others) will help us to shape the plan together, but will also help you, the business owner, to make the decisions necessary to launch your new business with a specific end game in mind.

So let’s take these questions one by one and dig deeper into these issues to help you have more clarity on ‘how to get there from here?’

Question 1: What do you want your life to be like 10 years from now?

You see, the answer to this question will reveal the direction you should take with your business. It’s sort of like setting your life compass, so to speak. And since ‘success’ is very different for everyone, I’m not asking about income levels with this question, I’m asking about lifestyle. But keep it real in the answer. Give me an answer that’s in the realm of serious goal stretching but doable.

I have my answer for this one and it’s quite possible that you have that one already done as well. Usually, we already know what we want our lives to be like, but for some, that have struggled with their dream and are just beginning to believe that greater things are possible, they may want to spend some time thinking about this one.

I wasn’t raised to be a dreamer, or have a vision for the future. I had to learn how to use those mental muscles much later in life.

Question 2: What kinds of income do you want to have? Active, passive. 1:1 or 1: many?

Usually, when I ask this question, I hear a strong interest in receiving passive income. I’ve received thousands of dollars in passive income and it’s still coming in. I can’t imagine not having that as an income stream source. I’m talking to a local guy now about his business re-launch after his relocation to Virginia that said “Passive income? Now you have my attention”. All 4 of these types are my favorites.

You see, some people got the income they wanted, but not the lifestyle. And others may have received the reverse; the lifestyle but not the income.

If we work together, our goal should be to achieve both. I know that the structure of a more ‘lifestyle business’ is very different than one that has specific income driven goals that turns your lifestyle into the ‘whatever it takes’ perspective for earning what you want to earn.

I know what I want my life to be like and I’ve got it written down, I’ve told people about it (which helps to make it more real) and it’s in the back of my head always motivating me forward.

Why do I press on each day? Because I know what the goal is.

But if I said I wanted to be a gazzilionair, I wouldn’t be realistic in what’s obtainable and therefore, it wouldn’t be a good motivator for me to pursue that goal.

Question 3: How much free time do you want?

Again, the answer to this question will help us to form the plan that works well for you and how much time you’ll spend on this business each day. Invest in the time now to have the free time later on.

How? Well in the startup and ramp up phases (we can go over the different phases some other time) you’ll be building the business in a way that will set you up for more passive income later on. The more passive income you have, the less active income you’ll need to maintain your lifestyle.

Now, let’s start to work backwards and ask some other questions.

Looking at your lifestyle and income goals 10 years from now, what would those same goals look like when we incrementally dial the timeline back to 5 years? Then 2 years? Then 1 year?

Putting your goals on a timeline helps to both match the decisions being made with the timeline and to also monitor the outcome. Has the outcome been different than the intended goals? Why? Are you on track for focusing on the things you need to focus on and the market is just not responding? Or have you been distracted by other things and you’re not doing what you need to do to build this business up and out?

What do you need to do to meet the one year goals? Once you have the answer for that, let’s dial that one year timeline back into 12 increments and see what those goals look like as well.

When you lay it all out this way, you’ll start to see how reachable these goals are and that you really can turn your dream into a reality.

So friends, I hope you can see now, that if you’ve been doubting yourself, or unsure of this dream that you have in the back of your head and you’re wondering if it’s really possible, that with good goals and a good plan, a lot of things are possible.

So take some time to be alone in a quiet place if you need it and think about your dream. Think about making a list of some good goals. And let’s talk about them. Let’s talk about how we can get you ‘there’ from ‘here’.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

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Show Notes

Some people dream of the day when they can do absolutely nothing. To them, retirement is that euphoric future of sleeping in, lounging in the sun, being on perpetual vacation and thinking as little as possible for the rest of their lives.

Retirement is supposed to be the perfect time for things like travel and exploring old interests and passions and finally doing all those things you wanted to do; but it can also be a great time to start a business.

But… why would you ever want to do that? Why start a business after you retire? I just got done listing just a few things that you’re able to look forward to, after working so very hard for decades, and now I’m saying ‘hey, good time to go back to work’, even if it’s for yourself.

And I get it… you’ve been looking forward to this time for a very long time. But, if, after a little while of being able to travel and go fishing and it starts to get a little boring because you just don’t know what you’re going to do with yourself every day, you might want to think about a restart…on your terms; through your plan.

Because when a plan is created on your terms that fits your lifestyle and your budget, it’s a lot easier to be motivated to work through the plan. When the plan works for you, you won’t have to struggle through a lot of the mindset issues that some people face because they’re working to build a business using someone else’s plan.

But again, back to the initial question of…why? Why would you ever want to start a serious business building venture when you’ve been looking forward to relaxing for so long?

Well, if you’re listening in to this Podcast you’ve already shown that you have a mind for business and have been thinking about this concept for some time now.

You don’t just wake up and search for small business podcasts on a whim, right? So this small business concept is probably already built into your psyche in one way or another, whether you already have some experience having a business in the past that may or may not have worked out, or you finally started to believe in yourself.

One way or another, you’re going to stop fighting this craving sensation of being your own boss and do this.

So, here are some popular reasons some people pivot to self employment during retirement, or, even if retirement is coming soon.

1. Have supplemental income

Starting a business after retirement is probably right for you if you’ve always wanted to have that extra $500 to $1000 per month. Done well, your business could bring in a lot more than that. I have both active and passive income and I love it. I’m not retired yet, but the whole purpose of my business is to have a solid income stream, from the business when I’m 65.

But if you’re already retired, you have a number of advantages over younger founders, including years of experience learning on other people’s money.

When you’re retired, it can be difficult to find employers willing to hire you to work part-time, despite your experience and knowledge. Becoming your own boss takes care of that problem right off the bat.

But starting a small business has become more possible than ever. Changes in the economy have led to more and more companies outsourcing services —making it the perfect time for small businesses to develop.

2. Your Work History Is an Advantage

You’ve likely accumulated an extensive base of knowledge throughout the course of your career. That’s a great reason to start a business in retirement, too. Retirees have a number of advantages over younger founders, including years of experience learning on other people’s money. They’ve seen what works and what doesn’t, which should limit costly mistakes.

For example, retired professionals know how to give presentations, work with executives and build successful teams. All of these skills are valuable as you begin a business. You’ll know how to connect with customers and sell yourself — two key characteristics for successful entrepreneurs.

3. You Have Established Finances

When you’re starting out in your career, you’re not likely to have much in savings to launch a business. But by the time you’re retired, you may well have some kind of financial cushion. What’s more, retirees generally have lower monthly cash needs, since they’re past raising kids and frequently have the house paid off.

This means starting a business can be less stressful financially. With consistent income and no full-time career to maintain, you can devote the time needed to build a successful business. This will also give you flexibility as opportunities come and go, which is key as an entrepreneur no matter how old you are.

For some, the ability to move around and try new things can be important in the learning process as a retiree turned successful business owner. So be flexible.

And, find an area or industry that is underserved where you can add value…then go for it! If you meet with rejection, get up, brush yourself off, and try again. There is always more than one way to reach the goal.

4. You Have Niche Experience

Having experience in a specific niche means you can launch your business and fast-track it into getting clients with the knowledge and insights that many young entrepreneurs don’t yet have. And that can set you up for greater success.

But your specialized experience gives you a better understanding of the market, what the customer needs and what potential competitors are doing. So, you’re less likely to fall prey to the common startup challenges.

5. You Can Revisit Your Passions

After a lifetime of work in your chosen career, retirement is the perfect time to revisit your passions and turn them into a business. Midlife is a great time to reconnect with yourself, try new things or circle back and pick up interests left behind when family and work responsibilities are at their peak.

Ultimately, though, you have choices with what to do with your expertise, time and money to pursue either an interest or a dream.

Now that we’ve looked at some of the ‘whys’ of starting a business in retirement, or later in life, let’s look at some of the benefits you’ll most likely run into as well.

Meeting People Who Share Your Interests

Starting a business in your 50s or 60s is a great way to make friends with people who share your interests. This is especially true if you focus on building a business around one of your passions.

Keep Your Mind and Your Body Healthy

Starting a business after 50 forces you to stay engaged with the world. It gives you something positive to focus your attention on and tells the world that you are not ready to be invisible.

Keeping the Dream Alive

The dream… YOUR dream should always be the primary motivator for starting a business. Without a dream, it’s all just going to feel like another job… like you’re just putting in your time to get more money.

Your dream.. a good dream.. goes beyond the money, and keeps you pressing forward to greater things.. things that you always wondered if you could achieve them, and you’re now finding that you can.

Just starting out? Take these steps first:

• Prioritize small actionable steps in the direction of your goals, on a timeline, so that in one year, you’re not in the same place as you are now, but a lot closer to living out your dreams

• Trust the possibility of what just a few coaching sessions could mean for your overall success. There’s a lot to talk about, and you really don’t want to wing it and rely on Google or YouTube for some of the deeper topics about marketing or website development, do you?

There are many roadblocks along the way, and trust me, I’ve encountered a lot of them. And many more are coming. That’s just the way it is. But with a solid plan in place, and a roadmap to help you along the way, starting a business now, later in life, could be just the thing that makes you feel 30 years younger.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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This week I interview Shannon Greenwood, founder of Rebelle Community.

I really enjoyed hearing Shannon’s inspirational story about how she made a huge life pivot transition and went from burnout to thriving business community.

Shannon had a successful brick and mortar business which was very profitable, but the price of success was too much at the time. She was not happy and not enjoying life.

She started to reach out to friends and colleagues about what they were experiencing and found that others were going through the same challenges. After discovering the need for a support group, she decided to be part of the solution with the formation of ‘Rebelle Con’, a conference to discuss the issues women are facing and to start the conversation on how supporting each other can have a huge impact.

But the success of that one event led to the formation of Rebelle Community which helps others to support and connect with one another in a much deeper and holistic way.

Shannon also helps women gain clarity with their business startup concept through personal coaching so they can test the feasibility of their business idea.

Rebelle Community eventually evolved into additional, paid services that offers in person network events and peer membership programs.

Shannon adds, “The goal for Rebelle Community is that I want to create fulfillment for more women and that doesn’t necessarily have to come from career success.”

Rebelle Community also helps women that are making that later in life pivot through ‘transition points’, as Shannon calls it, when it’s time for a serious, re-evaluation of what they really want to do with their career, business or purpose in life.

https://readytorebelle.com/

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonsiriano/

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Friends, if you’ve been listening to this Podcast for awhile, I’m sure you’ve heard me say a number of times that I encourage you to think big and dream big and not to be discouraged… and DON’T GIVE UP, right? And hopefully, you’re with me on that. Hopefully, you are making big plans and pursuing a big dream and working out details for how you might achieve that dream.

Now, people dream big all the time. That’s nothing new. But it's the people that take action to reach their goals that succeed in life. It's a huge task to take on, but when you break down your journey into simple steps, that’s when the goal is achievable. Decide on your goal and follow through, it really can be as simple as that.

The Big Picture

It really doesn't matter what your goal is, and you get the clarity for accomplishing the goal with forward movement. You see, clarity comes with the marriage of movement and meditation. The plan needs to be put in place with the actionable items you need to do, step by step.

You can achieve it by combining the will to succeed with the actionable items that you put in your business plan.

Now, there’s always a lot of ‘reasons’ (sometimes they’re just excuses) for all of the why’s you can’t move forward. And to make things that much harder, you might have people around you that will try to bring you down. It might not be all that obvious, but you will have a number of roadblocks along the way, and you’ll see those roadblocks in many forms. Some will come as active displays of non-support whether verbal or physical, and some will come through more passive ways. But unfortunately, these things happen. Why? We’ll probably never know. But while these things barriers you have may not change, your attitude can.

The first thing you need to do is create a personal definition of success. What are you trying to do? What is your ultimate goal?

Remember, the answer can be anything your heart desires. Maybe you want to start a coaching or consulting business, or maybe you want to be a speaker or trainer. Everyone’s different, but it's important to have a well-defined goal. Don't be afraid to be specific and to list a goal even if you're lacking the confidence right now to achieve it.

The Process

After you’ve worked out your definition of success, it's time to break it down into those smaller chunks and make it happen. Success will happen just by completing one small task at a time from your plan.

Let's say, for example, your ultimate goal is to be a speaker on stage and give Keynote speeches to events. But right now, your job, or your situation is totally different than your goal, so it could be easy to assume it'll never happen and you put your dream on the ‘back burner’, as we say in the US. But what if you took a little time each day and worked toward your goal?

Here are some of the more obvious things you might try to accomplish:

1. You can research how much money it would take to start up your business.

2. You can learn the ins and outs of the industry by reviewing different courses and training programs.

3. You can make appointments either in person or on Zoom to meet with people that could help you develop your skills.

4. You can contact public speaking trainers and coaches (and by the way, I would recommend Donna Riccardo from the interview I did in Ep 17).

5. You can create a 1 year/5-year plan

6. You could create mini speeches in advance and practice your speaking skills at your local library in an empty room with a podium, record the audio and video to see how you did.

7. Volunteer to speak at events to get some experience and feedback

While the business entails a great deal more than these 7 steps, you get the idea of what it means to break down a huge task into smaller parts. If you don't break it down, it'll seem too overwhelming and you won't even know where to start - so you won't get started at all!

But when you decide to spend a little time on a small project, like researching the industry or the tactics needed to accomplish the goal, that's definitely something you can accomplish in a week or two. And it brings you one step closer to your goal.

Something Is Always Better Than Nothing

You now know that some action, no matter what it is, is always better than no action towards your goal. It may sound simple, but you'll never get there if you don't try. Just think of how far along you might be if you spend 20-30 minutes a day on your goal for a whole year.

Where would you be if you had started this quest a year ago? What about 5 years ago. You’d be in a very different situation, wouldn’t you? You wouldn’t be dealing with doing research or just doing the initial steps of starting this business, you’d actually be working the business and doing what you love.

Head Games

But are you going through the motions of doing things and really not getting anything done?

Are you talking yourself in and out of this, over and over again? Do you have this dream of starting a business but you just can’t seem to even convince yourself sometimes?

If you’re stuck in a rut with doubt and can’t seem to get a handle on it to pull out of it, then as Sean Castrina said in Ep 19 of the Podcast, ‘you probably lack what it takes to be an entrepreneur.’

You see, you can’t have a constant flow of doubt and still expect to be successful. I’m not saying that you can’t have any doubt, but I’m saying that even with doubt, you were able to work through it and get past it to move forward and get things done. You were able to convince yourself that you should try and give it your best shot, instead of just resigning to negative thinking.

So you have an important decision to make: you could do A... or B... or C.... or maybe put off that decision until it's no longer relevant ("D - none of the above.") These options all seem equally valid, and it's just not clear which one you should move forward with. It's clear this is a decision, but it's not clear which option to choose.

Fellow small business coach Maggie Karshner puts it this way. ‘There are many decision making tools - pro-con lists, flipping a coin, etc. - but they all have a common shortcoming: the human tendency towards decision paralysis. You can make all the pro-con lists you want, but if you don't feel resolved in your decision, you won't move forward.

See, there’s five things that are commonly the source of decision paralysis:

1. perfectionism

2. fear

3. aversion to risk

4. lack of trust in self & future ability to adapt

5. feeling rushed or not feeling rushed enough

Let's look at each to see what might be getting in your way.

Perfectionism

A pretty common reason people don't make a decision is because they're caught up on making "the best" decision, that has the best possible outcome with an absence of risk. While you want to put proper care and consideration into a decision, the perfectionism that drives this desire for "the best" decision is counterproductive. As a self-employed business owner, you can't afford to spend hours of your time considering and reconsidering. You need to think it through, gather what information is at hand, choose the best possible option, and then move on to the next thing. It's about making the "good enough" decision, because the true "best" decision is to decide to not be stuck in indecision!

Fear

Big decisions often have an aura of fear around them. We get thinking about all the "what ifs" (a necessary part of the decision making process) and then the fear kicks in. Fear is an indicator that something is worth doing. Fear is telling you this decision feels important. So the question is: how do you tell fear, "Thanks for the update, you can stop now!"?

Anxiety-fear is uncomfortable, but it passes. Remember all the challenging decisions you've made in the past that worked out fine, and be sure to give yourself plenty of pep-talks!

Aversion to Risk

Taking incremental steps forward, means moving through risks one at a time. And taking risks is part of the small business process. The business plan is laced with risks to take. It’s expected. It’s normal. We take risks all the time in life. But why is it that when it comes to entrepreneurial risk, it’s something that we have a hard time with?

Have you ever started a new job before? That’s a risk.

Have you ever been in a relationship before? That’s a risk.

Ever get married? Have kids. Buy a house? Invested money? Bought a lottery ticket? Moved to a new location? Picked a college?

You get the point now, right? Risk is all around us. And we accept it. It’s risky to talk about risk. Some people will tune me out. But I have to talk about ALL the issues that you might face. I can’t know all of the situations you’ll run into, but it’s on me to talk about the necessary topics you’ll face in your startup quest.

So how do we make those incremental steps when we’re stuck on something? Whether its finances, doubt, situations, relationships that get in the way.. what can be done? Hey, you want to be your own boss, right? Well now all the business decisions are on you.

No part of life is risk-free. Even doing nothing has a risk. So my advice is to just make a decision and get it over with.

Building Trust in Yourself

When facing fears and risk, I find great comfort in the trust I have in myself. This trust isn’t something I have by taking a magic pill, but it's something I work to cultivate. Hey, I wasn’t raised this way, that’s for sure. But as you get older, you can learn how to trust your judgment, over time. The basic idea here is that if you have trust in yourself, then you trust that if the decision you make doesn't work out, you'll still land on your feet. You'll adjust, you'll call upon your resources, and things will work out. It might be stressful, but it won't be impossible. And believe me, I’ve been in some pretty tough situations.

Life isn't about the destination, it's the journey, right? So make some decisions and as we say in the US ‘let the chips fall as they may’.

Beat Decision Paralysis

Every decision is different and the way of tackling any given decision needs to be specific for that situation. I hope the thoughts and perspective I've shared here will help you to make some significant forward motion in your quest to start, plan and launch your business.

You owe it to yourself to make your dreams come true, so, go get started!

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift:Episode Rating

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Doing Something Different

So many people today feel trapped in dead end jobs that offer no hope for the future. They cling to the illusion of security while subconsciously aware of the reality that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 50,000 American workers are fired each day!

We also know that 84% of American workers plan to look for a new job in the next twelve months. It’s an interesting situation. People invest a huge portion of their lives doing work they don’t enjoy so they can earn a paycheck while worrying about losing something they dislike.

This is why people dream about doing something different.

• The office worker envisions herself as an artist.

• The assembly line manager would like to use his communication skills and become a speaker.

• The school teacher believes there is great potential in selling online courses.

• The pastor wants to transition into a new chapter of life by becoming a coach or consultant.

• The government worker believes her position could be in the next round of budget cuts and retirement is 8 years away.

• The doctor or attorney is living a burnout life and has the dream of doing something totally different and being self employed

• The retail worker wants the opportunity to grow her income without trading time for dollars.

The list goes on and on. These are real life situations and they’re becoming more and more common of the struggles and scenarios of today’s workers. I still believe that the United States of America offers the most opportunity for people that have these types of situations and struggles and hope of a better future.

Eventually, you’ll discover that thing…that true desire of your heart, that’ll bring you the freedom you hope and long for. But don’t get hung up in the ‘if only’s mentality. Don’t play the victim and think that there’s nothing you can do about the situation you’re in. If you’re an international listener and you live in a country that offers opportunity, then there is something you can do about it.

But too many people get stuck in their tracks and either don’t believe in the opportunity that exists, or they don’t believe in themselves.

A New Perspective

If the opportunity is there, then that will never change. You’ve got to reach out and grab it. And work for it. And try things that maybe you’ve never tried before. And take some risks along the way.

But if the opportunity is there and you don’t reach out and grab it, then you’ll be stuck in that ‘If only’ mentality for…well, who knows how long?

• If only I had the money

• If only I had the time

• If only I had some support

• If only I had a product to sell

• If only I could sell stuff

• If only I could speak to people better

• If only I wasn’t an introvert

• If only I was better at technology

• If only the timing was better

• If only the economy was better

• If only I could get out of this dead end job

• If only I could finally do something that I love to do

• If only I could get some support and find someone that could help me through this

This ‘if only’ mentality can feed itself for a very long time and get very fat. There’s no shortage of negative thinking that gets thrown at us from all sides, but even from within as well. It’s up to you, and you alone to starve that ‘if only’ way of thinking. You have to be the one to believe in yourself more than anyone else. It’s great if you have someone next to you that thinks you can do anything and believes in you. That’s a great start. But you need to be your own biggest motivator in order for you to have the emotional energy and drive to keep yourself moving forward.

But friends, I don’t want to lead you down that path of ‘you can do anything you want’ or ‘you can be anything you want to be’, because I don’t subscribe to that way of thinking. I personally don’t think that we can be anything we want to be. It’s just not possible. Because our hopes and dreams are so easy to have and don’t have to abide by any boundary, because they’re just our thoughts. They don’t have that rub of what reality demands of us, or forces us to do, or how we’re made physically and the limits we have because of that.

I can hope for a lot of things. I can dream up a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean that all of those things are possible; even living in the United States. I can easily, while sitting in this chair at my desk, come up with some pretty lofty dreams. But if I detach myself from reality with these dreams, then I give myself a false hope, right? Ok, so what do I mean with all of this? If I say on the one hand to pursue your dreams and believe in yourself but then to say that you can dream up some pretty amazing things and to be careful not to have a false hope, then what are you to conclude out of all of this?

All I’m saying is dream… and dream big. Dream up something that’s just outside of what you think is reachable and then try to reach it. But if you go beyond that realm of ‘not sure if I can reach it’ and go into the realm of ‘far fetched’, then you might end up giving yourself a false hope based on an unrealistic dream.

Because if you reach for, and obtain that one thing that you thought was just outside of your reach, then you can start all over again and create another dream that looks ‘just outside of what seems realistic’, and then go for that.

We’re sort of getting back to that theme of expanding your comfort zone, right? If you heard episode 41 of the Podcast, I went over how to stretch your comfort zone.

Don’t Jump Ship Yet

Now, you might want to quit what you’re doing, and I get that, because I did that back in 2001, but that can be disastrous unless, you have a plan. That’s why I have my resources page. I want to help you prepare so you can do this on the side while you’re in your present position. That’s why I have this Podcast. To help people go through the mental and emotional transition first, before they do anything drastic because they may not have thought it through. But also, I’d like the Podcast to constantly convey the message of ‘If I can do it, then so can you’. And by creating a side business first, you can begin generating the income you need so you can make a wise decision about your future.

Even if there’s no income for awhile, (sometimes it takes awhile to gain clients and generate sales), the time spent on gaining clarity, forming your message, and improving your focus will have benefits far beyond the financial gains.

Unexpected Benefits

Working on the goal of being able to do something you love has many more benefits to your quality of life; some you might not even expect.

• Your positive thoughts about your future plans of success will keep your mood up

• Coming home from the J.O.B. to jump on your computer to work on a specific task relating to your dream will keep you focused on the future and again, keep your mood up

• Talking to others about your dream will help you solidify your goals and make reaching your dream more of a reality

• Turning the TV off to have more business building time is always a good thing

• Getting your spouse or significant other involved in the dream will help you feel supported and encouraged

By working on a your side business (or even a full time business) has some other benefits as well.

1. Opportunities Will Come To You

The more you put yourself out there in the world and share your knowledge and focus on helping people, the more opportunities you create for yourself. Regardless of your goals, having a side business is all but guaranteed to create some unpredictable, exciting opportunities that come in ways that you’ve never thought possible.

You’ll meet new people that you otherwise wouldn’t have met And that could be a real game changer because relationships can last a lifetime. Companies that like what you’re doing with your side hustle, and can see a clear demonstration of a valuable skill or ability, will reach out and want to hire you.

2. You’ll Reduce the Risks of Being an Entrepreneur

I don’t know about you, but taking risks, is… well, risky. That’s can be a tricky spot to be in for a new entrepreneur, especially if you’re still learning whether or not the entrepreneurial lifestyle is for you. There are up’s and down’s. High’s and low’s. Pro’s and con’s to everything, right?

Here’s the reality though, most of us can’t just quit our jobs today, to pursue an idea. Blowing through your savings isn’t an attractive prospect, so you want as close to a sure thing as you can possibly get before you axe your full-time income. By working on your idea as a side hustle for a few months or a year to gain some traction, you’ll give yourself the opportunity to boost your income to a level that’s equivalent to what your day job is paying you.

Then, once your side hustle is consistently bringing in enough money to justify making the leap, you’ll be much more confident in its future.

3. Multiple Sources of Income Gives You Options

A side hustle gives you more flexibility to create the lifestyle you want. To go on more vacations with your family each year. Become debt free (that’s my favorite). To randomly treat your significant other to a fancy dinner on a whim, without having to worry about money. Whatever, other better situation you want to be in.

To know in the back of your head that if things really go sideways, and you lose your job or have large unexpected medical expenses, you won’t need to go into debt.

Starting a side hustle is also a great way to test into seeing if you’ll like a new line of work. If you’re ready to make a career change, having a side hustle that helps you build a set of relevant skills is crucial. And if it’s paying some of your bills, it can buy you precious time to take classes, gain experience, search for the right job opportunities, and transition more securely into a new field.

But the one undeniable truth about starting a side hustle today, is that you’re taking conscious control of your own future. That is the best decision you can ever make.

Believing in yourself. Believing that you can learn new things and that it’s not too late to take a new path in life is a huge step forward for you to do live version 2.0…or maybe it’s 3.0 for you. Either way, whether you’re in your 50’s or 60’s or even in your 70’s, you know enough…you’ve experienced enough in life that others can surely benefit from your expertise and hey, if you could even make some money from all that stored up wisdom, what are you waiting for?

Are you waiting for someone to tell you it’s time? Ok.. it’s time. Let’s get started.

Are you a huge fan of Podcasts and want to start your own? I have a FREE 'How to Start a Podcast' Mini-Course E-book for you .

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Today I’d like to talk a little about the small business planning process and how it can be easy to get caught up in the process and hit a wall.

Planning to Plan

There's no shortage of big goals or ideas. And most of the time, we don't hesitate to begin the planning process on how we're going to achieve those things.

But, while planning is good, too much planning can be the very thing that stops us from any sort of real progress. Planning can be a way to feel like we’re making progress, but without actually doing the thing you’re hoping to someday, do.

This is common for some new entrepreneurs. They spend years thinking everything through, trying to make sure the plan is perfect before they launch that small business venture that gets built up to be some sort of monumental task, when in reality it’s not. In the end, they get stuck in that cycle of too much planning and failing to act, being overly cautious. Too much information, and failing to make a decision.

We take an idea, put some thought into it, and formulate a plan on how we're going to approach it. At the end of the day, we pat ourselves on the back for starting a plan, because we think planning is hard (well, actually, it’s not).

Then… inevitably, as we continue planning, we realize that there's a lot of hard work required to turn our plan into reality. Not only hard work, but a big time commitment. Or, even worse, our plan requires us to put ourselves out there. To be uncomfortable and expand that comfort zone as I talked about in episode 41.

Months later, our plan is still a plan. Not only is it still a plan, but we've exhausted the idea. We may have even moved on to something else. Another idea, another plan. And the cycle continues. Lots of plans for lots of things.

In the end, all of that effort spent planning, ultimately turned into inaction. Why? Well sometimes it’s a lack of confidence. We’re not sure that we can do what we think we can do. Or even want to do. We have a dream about accomplishing something and then we end up talking ourselves out of the very dream we thought up in the first place.

Sometimes it’s pride. We see ourselves as a certain person with a certain image and becoming a first time, small business owner may not be something that you can easily swallow, because it takes a certain vulnerability to be in learning mode. And that may conflict with all your degrees.

Sometimes it’s reputation. People know you as a certain type of person and if they saw you firing up a Website and putting yourself out there, well, what would they think? You might be surprised to find out that some of those people might be a little jealous. Because it takes courage. It takes guts. And for my international listeners, the American slang for courage is guts.

Sometimes it’s fear. Fear of failure, or about what others might think. Fear of committing to something that might not work out in the end. And by the way, failure is an option. Because we learn the most through failure. I’ve said this before, but remember, failure isn’t the opposite of success, it’s part of success. It’s how inventions become successful. It’s how any business becomes successful. They learn through what didn’t work the first time, or the second time…maybe even after the tenth time.

Now please don’t think that I’m saying we should expect failure or embrace failure. Because you and I both know that if we go into something expecting to fail, we probably will. But give yourself that freedom. If failure isn’t an option and you don’t ever try because you’re afraid to fail, then you’ve already failed.

Learning through failure is a mindset. It’s a commitment. Again, it’s giving yourself that freedom to try and learn and try again.

Implement that business plan in the simplest form. See if it works. Find out first hand what works and what doesn’t. Make improvements. This is what a true entrepreneur does.

Clarity comes with the marriage of movement and meditation. It’s great to think things through, but you have to combine it with actionable steps. If something isn’t working, you’ll be able to act on it and make adjustments. But you need to have movement to do that. You know that old saying ‘You can’t steer a parked car?’

The hard part is doing, and learning, and making improvements on what’s working and what’s not. The hard part is putting yourself out there, expanding that comfort zone and taking a risk. And then taking another risk…maybe bigger than the one that you just took. Putting your money where your mouth is. The hard part is being vulnerable and humble. Taking advice from people that have actually done what you want to do.

Maybe you’re in your 50’s or 60’s and this thought of being vulnerable, or in learning mode is just too much for you to handle. You saying to yourself, you know too much to be in learning mode. You’ve got the degrees to prove it. You can’t see yourself taking advice from someone that isn’t on the same intellectual stage as you are. This has nothing to do with your skillset, it’s all about the mindset. If this is you, you’ll need a mindset reset. You’ll need to lower your shields in Star Trek terminology, and let others help you through this process.

Because what’s the hardest part of the hard part, it’s believing in yourself.

Taking the First Step

But I’m not here today to discourage you from all your planning. Hey, there’s a lot of people out there that don’t plan at all. They jump into things that they didn’t really think through, and their venture dies on the vine because of it. Planning is a good thing. I’m all for it.

But if you’re such a planner that you even make a plan to plan, then maybe it’s time to rethink your strategy.

Peter F. Drucker said, "Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work."

Don't get me wrong, like I've said, planning is an incredibly important part of any successful venture. But unless that planning turns into something, in the end it's just a words and paper.

So what should we do?

It's simple. Just take the first step. Which step is the first step? Well, there could be a lot of options here for which one’s first, but if you’re prone to overthink things, then don’t let this hold you up. The first step is just something that "gets things going" towards our goal or dream. We usually know what that first action is, but we're often afraid to start that journey because the destination is at the top of a massive mountain.

Taking that first step is always the hardest, but it's also the most important.

Once we gain some momentum and start experiencing real progress towards our goals, those daunting tasks that we identified in our plan start to seem, well, a little less daunting.

But I promise you, that in the end, you'll be glad you took that first step instead of watching your initial plan collect dust because you never actually tried.

What Taking the First Step Looks Like

So what does taking the first step look like?

If you need some help on deciding what the first step is, how about this one. Tell somebody what you want to do. And not just in simple terms, but tell somebody something significant. ‘In 1 year, I want to have my own online side business and to make $1000/month.’ By telling somebody, you’re making it more of a reality. It’s the start of a commitment.

Life is short, but it’s the longest thing we ever do. That being said, it's important that we commit to being bold. Being people of action. Not only will our own lives benefit from such a mindset, but society as a whole, and those around us, will also benefit.

Do you have a dream that just seems too good to be true? It's natural to dream of things that you want to do someday, but currently can't. But, to realize your dreams, at some point you must stop planning and start taking action. Hey, if it doesn’t work out, then you at least tried. You at least took a chance and believed in yourself. And that’s a lot more than most people in this world. Most people don’t even try.

Try these strategies to help jumpstart your goal-achieving actions:

1. Actions speak louder than words. Taking action is more powerful than simply planning for the future. Start taking steps in the right direction while planning, instead of waiting for every detail of your plan to be complete.

• Keep in mind that you can accomplish your goals as long as you're moving in a forward direction. It may take some time, depending on how large your goal is, but moving forward will get you where you want to be. Taking action, regardless of how small, moves you forward.

1. Consider the language you use. Which is more effective, "I am going to start a business," or "I am starting a business"? How about the difference between "I’m planning on getting groceries some day," and "I’m getting the groceries"? The differences between these two statements could have a huge impact on whether you're actually doing something, or just thinking about it.

2. Break goals into smaller bites. Rather than creating this lengthy plan that will take years to fully realize, why not break your goals into smaller pieces that you can achieve one at a time? Setting goals too far into the future can really hamper your ability to take small steps in the right direction now.

If you're struggling to move from planning to actual accomplishments, try breaking your goals into smaller pieces by putting a timeline to them. In the next month, you’ll do something. Then next month, you’ll do the next step. But start now, not next month.

You'll be amazed at how motivational a little success can be!

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Here is the link for the FREE Guide you can download The Tools We Use.

I mentioned in the last episode that I have a free resource called ‘The Tools We Use’ that helps people get a better understanding of what are some of the best helpful online tools to use to accomplish some of the most basic or frequent tasks.

There are so many online tools to use, it can be a bit confusing to decide on which ones to use sometimes. And I know that everyone has a different opinion, but at least I can help you become more familiar with some tools to help you in your decision making process.

Take advantage of all the time I wasted trying to figure out these things for myself and all the frustration, trial and error that I went through with working through a number of issues of what works best for me and what isn’t.

These are the names of the top tools I use:

• SiteGround

• WordPress

• Elementor Pro

• MailerLite

• RedCircle

• Fiverr

• Audacity

• Canva

• Headliner

• SmartMockups

• Zoom

• Loom

• Gumroad

I’ll put links to these services in the show notes so you can see for yourself how they can make your life easier as well. For full disclosure, I do have promotional affiliations with most of these services and the links I provide to those specific services will provide a small compensation to me if you sign up with their service through my affiliate link, but the price of the service always remains the same for you regardless.

You’ll notice that there are no social media programs listed here. Why? Because the list focuses on business operations only. Also, Google is nowhere to be found in the list as well. I’m not saying that I don’t use Google, I do with SEO analytics for the Website, but I’m going to assume that we all know that Google provides these type of services, so I’d rather promote and explain other service providers for your benefit as well.

So, let’s go over what these tools are, and why and how I use them. So for starters:

SiteGround

SiteGround is a Website hosting provider that I’ve found to be a much better choice for my business. I was using GoDaddy hosting for about 19 years and found their servers to be very slow and getting slower. Last year, when I ran some Website performance scans, I found the scores to be very low, especially on mobile and so I started the quest for a new hosting provider. This was a critical decision for me because I needed the transfer to go seamlessly and I couldn’t have any downtime or Website repairs to do because something went wrong in the process. I looked at a number of other Website hosting providers (there’s no shortage of these businesses) and did my research on the type of platform, speed, cost, memory allocation, automatic backups, transfer process, upgrade options and more.

I was down to either BlueHost or SiteGround but as I dug deeper, I found that even though SiteGround is a little bit more per month (about $6), it seemed to be worth it. So, I made the decision to switch to SiteGround.

And what happened was quite a surprise.

They have their own proprietary Website transfer tool which does the entire transfer automatically (whew!), they have a free SSL certificate, so I no longer have to pay GoDaddy $30/year to keep renewing that. They have free, Website performance enhancing tools to help increase the loading speed. And they have fantastic support.

My Website loads fast, and the Dashboard that SiteGround provides is fantastic.

WordPress/Phlox

WordPress is a Website design and development platform that makes creating Websites a lot easier. Phlox is the theme that I use inside WordPress that automatically adds in some structure to the Website.

In construction terms- WordPress is like the foundation of a house, and the theme Phlox is like raising the walls to the house.

Elementor Pro

WordPress uses ‘plugins’ that adds to the Website functionality and Elementor is the page design tool that I use. I upgraded to the professional version which provides more functionality.

In construction terms- The plugin Elementor is like adding furniture to the house.

MailerLite

Every business can benefit from having an email list with a marketing plan in place that can cause it to grow. MailerLite is an email marketing program that can manage your email campaigns very well, for free. They offer the ability to have multiple campaigns, segmented subscribers, popup forms, drip automation and a WordPress plugin. For free. Yes, there is a paid version, but I don’t need it.

RedCircle

RedCircle is a FREE Podcast hosting program that will store and distribute your Podcast to other, multiple, Podcast providers. They have an RSS feed for you to use to add your show to as many other distribution points as you wish. There are a number of analytical statistics that help you to see not only how many downloads your getting, but to what country/city and on what platform people are using and on what device. You can add in a midroll clip for anything you desire and even offer paid subscriptions for exclusive, subscriber content as well.

RedCircle makes a profit by taking a percentage of donations, subscriptions and advertising that happens on your show.

Fiverr

Fiverr is a low budget service provider for small businesses to connect with other service professionals all around the world. I’ve used them for graphic design work that I needed and within a few days, my project was done and they received their $55. There are many different types of service providers on Fiverr.

Audacity

All Podcast episodes need audio editing for the recordings that are made and Audacity is a free program that I use to do the editing. It has all the internal tools that I need to get the job done well.

Canva

The days of using PhotoShop are quickly coming to an end with the use of Canva. Use Canva’s drag-and-drop feature and professional layouts to design consistently stunning graphics. Design presentations, social media graphics, and more with thousands of beautiful layouts.

Design with millions of stock photographs, vectors and illustrations. You can even upload your own. Edit your photos using preset filters or get advanced with photo editing tools, you’ll never be stuck for choice.

Use icons, shapes and elements with ease. Choose from thousands of elements for your designs, or upload your own.

Headliner

Use headliner video editor to help you quickly and easily create audiograms and waveform videos that are the perfect solution for marketing your podcast on social media.

The videos you create provide a visual representation of your show (sorta like a movie trailer) to help you grab the attention of new listeners and potential subscribers to your podcast. Using eye-catching elements like waveforms, captions, and text animations, you can bring your audio clip to life and strengthen your podcast brand.

Whether you create a 15-second video for Instagram Reels, or a full-length video for YouTube, Headliner is your go-to tool for marketing your podcast.

SmartMockups

Forget about spending hours learning how to use Photoshop. Smartmockups enables you to create stunning high-resolution mockups right inside your browser within one interface across multiple devices.

Upload your own image or video from computer, use third-party integration or grab a screenshot from URL. Change the background, color of the item or crop the whole scene. Once your mockup is ready, export the final image in super-high 5K resolution in a few seconds with no limits.

Zoom

Zoom is a video conference call provider that seems to be more popular than Skype lately. I use it for the advanced functionality it offers (even in the free version) to split the audio track of all those on the conference call, something that is very useful for editing Podcast interview audio files.

Loom

Video has become more of a staple service in the online, small business realm. With Loom, you can record your full, or partial computer screen so you can provide video training and information through your Website or email.

There is a free version, but it has limitations to it. The next level to upgrade to only costs $8/month.

Gumroad

Gumroad offers anyone the ability to sell digital products online. What can you sell on Gumroad? Digital Products, Physical Products and Memberships - almost anything! Creators in just about every industry use (and love) Gumroad, from digital artists, writers, musicians and other creative-types to business-minded entrepreneurs and tech gurus like our SaaS creators.

Unlike other platforms, Gumroad doesn't charge you a monthly fee. Instead, the fees are deducted as a small percentage of every sale, so they only make money when you do.

So there you have it friends. These are the top applications and tools I use for my business. There are a fringe of other tools here and there as well, but these are the best of the best for me.

If you want to download the pdf that I offer, you can click on this link HERE. And remember that these are my recommendations, but are also just my opinion as well. You may be using other services that you believe are better for that task than what I recommend, and that’s just fine with me. I’m recommending what works for me.

So I hope you like this list and I hope you take advantage of all the totally free services that I put in this list. I’m always a big fan of free, and I know that there are a lot of small business owners who have small business budgets as well. There’s usually an upgrade option for you though, if you need it.

Here is that link for the FREE Guide you can download The Tools We Use.

If you'd like some absolutely FREE small business startup resources.

Do you want to start your own Podcast and have an international voice? I have a free E-book for you that I'm sure will help you launch yours. How To Start a Podcast

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Whether you’re just thinking about starting your business or even after you’ve launched, I think this episode will be of interest for you today.

You see, we all need to form relationships with people in the business realm, but we need to do it in such a way as to get somewhat personal as well. We can’t expect to form meaningful relationships with others if we just talk business all the time, right?

People need to understand who we are and why we’re doing what we’re doing. They need to see that we love what we do so that they’ll be on board with us when it comes time to talk money or commitment.

If they understand the ‘why’, then we’ll be able to make a better connection with them. You see, I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again, and I got this from my business coach, Mike Kim. “Marketing isn’t about closing a sale, it’s about opening a relationship. You open relationships with potential clients and partners by sharing yourself in an authentic way, not by hawking some doctored-up image of yourself.”

So how do we use modern marketing tactics to set the stage for closing a sale if, according to Mike, it’s about opening a relationship? How do we stay authentic with this relationship so that we’re being true to ourselves as well as our ideal client base? How do we walk people through that… say it with me now… the ‘Know/Like/Trust/Try/Buy process’ I keep taking about?

Well, I touched on the Founder’s Story a little bit in episode 38, but there’s really three stories you should have in place to help form your message for all your marketing material as well as your website.

1. Founders story

2. Business story

3. Client story

As I said in episode 38, the intent of the Founder’s Story is to humanize the business or the founder and remind people that behind the logo or the product or service is a real person who started it all. I recorded my Founder’s Story in that episode and even put a button for the recording on the website about page for people to hear it if they wanted to, so I’ll skip going through that again now.

But as I mentioned in episode 24, the process of answering 3 ‘what’ questions will help you to form your message and to gain clarity. The Business Story will answer the first two questions and the Client Story will answer the third. These are crucial to the mission of the business and the message you’ll be giving through your content:

• What ticks you off?

• What breaks your heart?

• What big problem are you trying to solve?

So the Business Story will answer the first 2 questions that deal with why you started this business.

Type it up and read it over and over. Why? So you can use it in conversations that pop up with people and keep the message consistent.

How many times have you been in a conversation with someone that wants to know what you do and maybe how you do it, but you’re coming up with a different message, over and over again.

Or maybe because you’re being put on the spot when asked that question of ‘what do you do?’ or ‘What business are you in’? And you’re either a bit nervous or just trying to scrape up some words for a few sentences, you can just refer to this ‘script’ so to speak of your Business Story.

But next, the Client Story, will answer the last question of the three, ‘What big problem are you trying to solve.’ And again, work through answering this question and get it on paper. Memorize it so you can use it to answer people’s questions with the same consistent message.

I highly encourage you to work through yours.

And with these three stories, if you have them in place, in advance, you’ll be able to form that consistent message to build those relationships, answer the critical questions, and walk people through the first part of that ‘Know/Like/Trust/Try/Buy process’ I keep taking about .

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I’ve talked to a number of people throughout the years about starting on online business and some of them were real close to stepping into some major startup landmines.

And today, I’d like to help you avoid some major pitfalls in your potential business startup. So, let’s just assume that you’ve made the decision to go ahead and have your own business.

You’re:

• Experienced

• Educated

• Certified

• Trained

• Expert

You have a certain expertise and you may have gotten it through experience or training, but through time, you’ve become an expert. Now expert doesn’t mean you know everything, but you’re in the category of being able to teach or train others to do something very well. There’s some specific things you understand that are of value to someone else.

Now I’m sure that you want to be someone that’s in demand. Someone that’s coveted… someone that doesn’t follow conventional thinking but can elevate yourself above the masses to show that you’ve got something special. You’re not like most people for one reason or another. You’re able to prove to others that you’re able to stand out from the crowd.

You want to be in demand. And you will be in demand if you don’t follow the crowd. If you don’t go along with the masses and step out to prove yourself.

Now let’s talk about the difference between being conventional and coveted. Because being someone that’s coveted is where we all want to be right?

You may be following some advice about starting your business that falls under the category of ‘conventional’ thinking. And, because you asked someone for their advice or opinion, you just may think that whatever they say is the advice you should take. And I get that. We ask people that we trust for advice and pay attention to what they’re saying.

But conventional wisdom is boring, it’s standard, run of the mill and old fashioned. It’s also laden with mistakes you could make along the way that could sabotage your success.

Here’s what typically happens when conventional wisdom takes over and you’re starting your new business.

You begin to focus on:

• Getting a website up

• Maybe getting business cards done

• A logo

• A tagline

• Maybe office space

• Maybe some new clothes, like some impressive suits..

Who knows… the list could go on and on. And you spend a lot of time and energy getting these things done.

Now you may not need to do any of these things to run a successful business. If you feel like you have to have them, there are ways to getting these things done at a very minimal cost.

There are things about getting your business up and running that are more important than your website, business cards, logo… whatever.

So let’s transition away from the conventional thinking and into the coveted thinking that will position you to be the kind of expert that you know you are.

So let’s start here at the top.

1. How much do I give away? You see, some people…and I’ve seen this and heard someone tell me recently, that they get trapped into the realm of talking and talking and meeting after meeting, where they just keep answering questions and helping people for free, and they can’t seem to make that transition into having paid clients. There’s a lot of ways that we can give away our expertise. We give it away with free consultations, or free lunches, or free coffee, free proposals. And it just doesn’t seem to stop. If you want to have a knowledge bases business, it’s easy to just show up and talk. And we give immense amount of value away.

So the question really should be more like, ‘what value should I offer at the beginning stage?’ and the value is defined by getting people un-stuck. Someone comes to you with a problem and you’re the one with the solution. But where someone could get in trouble with this is, that they ask us and we just start talking.

So instead of just offering free solutions to their problem, with a free consultation, (and I’m ok with free consultations) we need to be able to set the stage for the next consultation which is not free where they can get into the specifics of their situation and their problem and how you’ve come up with a specific solution to that problem.

The initial, free consultation deals with the generalities of getting them un-stuck. The next step deals with the specifics. And that’s not going to come free.

1. The number two thing that you should be focused on is ‘what exactly should I sell’? you see it can be easy to want to offer a lot of different products or services to supposedly increase our chances for getting clients and raising our income. But trying to offer too many solutions, will actually hurt your success as a business. Too many options means that you’re not that ‘expert’ at that one thing after all.

Now there are many aspects to the startup process. And that’s what I’m all about, the small business personal brand startup process. But nowhere in anything that I use for promotional information will you see me talking about finances. That’s between you and your accountant. Nowhere will you see anything related to the legal aspect of your startup. That’s between you and your attorney.

You see, there’s enough to talk about and deal with in the startup process, that I can leave those areas to those other experts. I’m not trying to be the ‘one stop shop’ for you like I’m some sort of guru. In fact, it’s just the opposite. I tell people (and even put it on my website) that I’m not that all knowing guru. I don’t offer business expertise to run your business, or sell your business, or how to turn it into a franchise. Those areas of business are for others that are ‘experts’ in those fields.

So this is really all about the niche of who you are and how to define yourself SO THAT you’ll be able to increase sales. People that have the specific need that you can solve will be your clients. And you’ll have better clients. You’ll have better prospects. You won’t have to filter them out as much because your niche will do all the filtering for you.

So whatever your product is, keep it narrow. Whatever your service is, keep it narrow. Niche down. And if you need to niche down ever further, then that’s ok too.

Let me tell you what I mean. At some point I had to decide what kind of business I wanted to have. I’ve been around a while and I’ve learned a lot of things, accomplished quite a bit, but I needed to define myself somehow. And this may be your situation as well. You may be wondering how to define yourself. And it may be a little strange or awkward to do at first. You believe that you can do a lot of things, and I’m sure you can. But the issues isn’t about you and your image, the issue is always about them…the potential customer… the potential client with a need.

You’re defining yourself, not for your benefit, but for theirs. They have a specific need and a specific problem and they need to know who can solve that problem. And they’re looking around, and searching and thinking ‘who is the best person that can solve my problem’. Who will be their ‘expert’ so to speak.

So instead of trying to be that overall, guru sort of person that can sell a lot of things or provide a wide variety of services because you know so much, let me sum it up like this.

What’s your favorite restaurant? Now what’s your favorite dish at that restaurant, (or maybe you have a few favorites)? Ok.. so let me take a guess and say that you’d probably be ok with them eliminating 80-90% of all that they have on their menu and you’d be ok with that as long as they keep those few dishes that you love.

I’ve found that the best pizza places just offer pizza. Not pasta dishes and a host of other things that takes their focus off of the pizza.

So, getting back to what product or service to offer, focus on what problem your target audience will have and how you’re going to solve that problem. Now if the solution is done in stages, then show them the outline to give them confidence in your overall solution.

1. Step three that you should be focusing on is ‘How Do I Get Clients’? And the conventional way of thinking was…and is, that you should ‘pound the pavement’. And you start doing all the things that I mentioned before that deal with giving stuff away. Free lunches, phone calls, consultations and there’s a place for that kind of stuff, but what’s more important for the life and success of your business is that you’ve got a system in place.

The conventional way of thinking was to go to network events. Ok, I get it, it’s a way to meet people and to try to get exposure and talk business. But friends, I’ve been there and done that so many times for so many years and after all was said and done, I just broke even because there’s expenses to networking events, and a significant time commitment to those events.

So if you follow the conventional wisdom and you go to networking events and say…what? You’re pitch over and over again to the same people? Maybe one or two guests at the most. And trust me, that guest will feel like shark bait when they’re there and be glad when it’s over.

Now, when I mentioned earlier about a system in place, I’m referring to what’s called a marketing funnel.

A system in place that moves people through the process of being a casual observer to a paying customer.

You see in marketing, there’s a customer experience process called the ‘know/like/trust/try/buy process.’ And through this process, you can guide people through getting to know you, getting to like you, trying your product or service and then having the confidence to buy your product or service.

And part of this system will also screen out people that you know won’t be a good fit for them as a client or you as the expert.

So instead of spending the time and money to go to a networking event to speak to the same 12 people, what about starting a podcast and speak to thousands? What about being a podcast guest and speak to someone else’s audience that speaks to their thousands of listeners. But to then, when someone says their interested in you or your service, to also have a customer experience path that leads them through that know/like/trust/try/buy process.

What about a way to grow your email list and to help those people that have already shown an interest in you to get to know you better? And to use that mailing list to develop raving fans and build a tribe of followers.

What about using social media to spread the word about yourself and to help the casual observer to move closer to the day when they become a client?

So, again, to be that coveted person. That coveted expert, you need to position yourself, from the start, to be that well known ‘expert’ in your field. To be that likeable person where people are coming to you and contacting you to be the solution to their problem.

Does that sound good? Does that sound like it’s doable? Well, I’m sure that it is because that’s what I’m doing. And if that’s the kind of person that you want to be…that expert, and you need some help with that transition, then let me know. I’d be glad to help you.

You can go to tomclairmont.com and fill out the contact form on that page or you can book a free 30 minute discovery call where we can get to know each other better and discuss your problem and what the possible solution would be.

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For those of us that are over 40…or 50, I’m sure you don’t have to think too long to remember some sort of opportunity you had that you either missed, didn’t recognize right away, or just plain passed up. Maybe you even blew it a few times on those opportunities that you did see coming and took action on, but…it just didn’t work out for some reason or another.

But sometimes, it happens, where we see something staring at us right in the face and we don’t act on it for some reason. That happened to me back around 2001 where I had someone offer me my dream job and I turned it down. Why? I wanted to be in business for myself. And I can remember hanging up the phone when I turned down that job offer thinking to myself ‘what did I just do?’

I just quit a job that went sour after 4 buyouts and the management was terrible. I was tired of being in that corporate environment where it’s ‘just do it or your fired’. I really needed to see what I could make happen for myself in my own business. To make money for me instead of making it for someone else.

But as we got on in life and hit closer to 50 or 60, it can be easy for us to think that it may be too late to act on that dream, or that offer that someone gave to us about starting a business or to partner up with someone else in their business venture.

And we can sort of have this feeling that that opportunity disappeared forever and there’s no chance of getting it back. It’s too late. We missed out on something really wonderful. And that may be true, but ALL opportunity isn’t lost forever.

Look for the next opportunity.

Looking for other, possibly better, opportunities is one of the best ways to overcome the regret that comes with missed business chances from the past.

We can look in the mirror and have that sense of loss, or regret. But, everyone has missed opportunities in their lives somewhere, right? It’s not just me…or you, I think everybody deals with this in one way or another

You can’t turn back time, but you can reset the clock.

Yes, that opportunity will only knock once. But, there are many other opportunities lined up to take its place. So if you aren’t ready for that one, just take the next, or the next. And as you take some of those opportunities that present themselves, you expand who you are and as that happens, more opportunities open up that weren’t even available a few years ago.

When you expand and your comfort zone expands, your opportunities grow as you do, they expand because of who you are and you’ll connect with them when you’re ready.

Where Does Opportunity Come From?

But where does opportunity come from anyway? We can sit around and think up a lot of what we think are good ideas and wonder if they should be turned into a business all day long. I had one of those moments just this morning.

I started searching for website domain names to see what was available and then it didn’t take long to see that after a little research and thinking about the idea for a little while, that it wasn’t something that I could have really been passionate about and sink my teeth into. It was just an idea that I had.

So sometimes, ‘opportunity’ is really just our imagination going on a little vacation.

These big opportunities originate from our dreams. Most of the time, it’s own dreams and desires that create opportunity to begin with, so it isn’t likely that you’ll never have another big opportunity again.

So where did this whole idea about opportunity only knocking once come from anyway?

People have been saying this for ages. “Opportunity only knocks once” and it’s this thinking that you only have ONE chance to make it big, or to make the money you’ve dreamed of. If you don’t take this opportunity now, then don’t ever think that you’ll be able to do it in the future.

And for the most part, that can be easy to believe, right? Because we can’t see the future, we can only see the now and the past. But the future is coming. And it comes, everyday, like it or not.

So we do have plenty of chances to make good on past ‘missed opportunities’. Maybe not in the exact same way, but we can work that idea a little differently. And who’s to say that the original idea was better to begin with after all?

It may be that the original missed opportunity set you up for more time to think about it so that you’d have a better chance to succeed when you really do act on it later on.

How Does Opportunity Occur?

But the question that’s important to me is “How can I to be ready for the opportunities that come my way?”

Being ‘ready’ is more of a mindset issue, isn’t it? Now you can be financially ready, or spiritually ready, but acting on those situations that come our way is more of our perspective on life and if we’re optimistic about the possibilities for our future.

For someone that looks in the mirror and thinks about the things that are possible, even after passing up on a number of opportunities, that person can and will achieve some great things eventually.

But for someone that looks in the mirror with regret and disappointment, dwelling on the past, that person will have a much harder time to make a better future for themselves.

Should We Take Any Opportunity Presented?

Now am I saying that we should take advantage of EVERY opportunity because we have a positive outlook on the future? No. Every opportunity is not a good one. There are many, many bad opportunities that can and will come our way.

It may be possible to tell ahead of time. And that may be either a ‘gut’ feeling or someone telling you to be careful or for some reason, you’re seeing a red flag flying in your head about the situation. If there’s risk involved…and there usually is, what kind of risk is it?

Is it ‘jump off the cliff’ sort of risk where you’re all in or else? Or is it the kind of risk that you can recover from more easily? Hey, we all go through those situations where we try/fail and try again. That’s just normal.

So is it important to take the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that come our way? Well you get to make that decision. This means there is no right or wrong answer. Just make a decision then choose to feel good about it, no matter what your decision is. There may be many reasons why you would turn down an opportunity. Of course, it won’t come again in the same form, but there will always be another and another and another.

Does Opportunity Disappear?

Why does it seem that sometimes there are no opportunities? Well, you might be looking in the wrong direction. For example: You’re focusing on looking in only one direction when the opportunity is behind you or beside you.. it’s just not in front of you.

You have a pre-conceived notion of what it will look like when the opportunity arrives. It may be that you have to tweak a certain situation to turn it into an opportunity. Or, it’s just not obvious enough to get your attention.

If you are looking in only one direction, then you are probably over eager. Your expectations are that when something happens in a certain way, then you’ll feel good about it. The solution is to chill and choose to feel good anyway. When you feel good for the sake of just feeling great, then you will be aware of all directions at the same time.

When you have a pre-conceived notion of what the opportunity will look like, then remember to understand that this vision you carry is just for the purpose of feeling good. Unless you are psychic, life doesn’t unfold the way you imagine it. Be open for lots of scenarios from many directions and you will notice when the opportunity arises, no matter from which direction it comes.

You expect opportunity to be big and grand, that’s why, through the centuries it has been documented as happening on a seldom basis. However, often opportunity is insignificant and comes in the form of a meeting or a greeting. Simply from being in the right place at the right time. Opportunities aren’t always grand, monumental or in your face, so make sure you are aligned with source, by feeling good, to ensure you take the next step forward.

Opportunity Is A Pivot Point

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Just take heart in knowing that if you don’t notice an opportunity then you weren’t ready for it. You can never, ever miss out on anything that is yours as you created it in the first place. There are never, nor will there ever be, any lack of opportunities for you, ever. They are constantly on their way.

You can still be on track, living a great life and not even noticing opportunities. They may be small and just help you refine your path or your relationship, even your health. It’s merely a pivot point. Not all opportunities are neon lights that turn your life around. Even though, when you look back, most have a changing effect, albeit seemingly insignificant in the beginning.

5 Reasons You Are Missing Out On Opportunities

Opportunities are the crucial stepping stones to get to the next levels in our businesses and lives. And we should always focus on keeping an eye out for opportunities and making the most of them when they arrive. But often opportunities slip by without us even noticing them, and we are not paying attention to what’s causing us to miss them.

1. Wasting time

The quickest and most regular way to miss an opportunity is to waste your time. This could be in the form of spending hours watching TV, partying too hard or procrastinating on social media. Life moves on with or without you, and if you are spending your time on fruitless activities, opportunities are flying past but you probably can't see them.

2. Mixing with the wrong people

Don't expect to find open doors and make high-quality connections if you are mixing with the wrong people -- both personally and professionally. You are the company you keep. If you spend your time around people who are negative or constantly want to distract you from your big goal, then you are going to not only miss opportunities that come close, but also not find them anywhere in a 100 mile radius.

Choose the people you surround yourself with very carefully. They can make or break you.

3. Not focusing

This is a common problem for the creative entrepreneur. Coming up with a new idea every day sounds exciting, but it will result in opportunities missed. You need to remain focused on your core business or core purpose. Only then will opportunities relevant to that goal come your way. If you are always changing your mind and your focus, you will end up spinning around on the spot and go nowhere, fast.

4. Not taking risks

Opportunities are often disguised as risks. Well, what the world calls risks. It is, in fact, just something out of the ordinary, something that hasn't been done before. Only when you are willing to break the mold and take a risk will you see more and more opportunities. Now I touched on this in a prior episode about expanding your comfort zone, in episode 41.

5. Fear

A classic reason both men and women miss opportunities is the fear of the unknown, fear of failure and fear of success. What you need to realize is that men and women feel the same fear -- although they also know that if they listen to that fear, they will miss opportunities for ultimate success.

But think about the times when you made the most progress in life and a situation worked out very well and you were able to accomplish something huge. Was fear the reason for your success, or was it the lack of fear? I’m guessing that your biggest accomplishments are based on the lack of fear and confidence in yourself and a positive outlook on life.

Fear will always hold you back. Letting fear stop you, will kill your opportunities and your chances of success and a better life.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Business success is different for everyone.

Creating a strategy and outlining what success looks like for you gives you a way to measure your success.

The 2 ingredients to the recipe of success are hard work and persistence, no matter what business you're in.

Just showing up…not quitting, is half the battle.

This episode is for entrepreneurs who want to understand what success in business looks like so they can lead themselves, or their team on the right path.

Many new business owners start with a goal of "being successful." But what does "being successful" really mean? The truth is, is that small business success is different for everybody. And, as with everything else for your business, it's up to you to define what success looks like for you. What one person would call a failure, another person would call it a success.

What do I mean by that? Well, for example, if the goal for the year was $250K in profits, in your sole proprietor business, but you fell short of the goal and ended up with ONLY $100K in profits. Some would call that a failure. But from where I’m sitting, I would not call that a failure. Now I know I’m being very simplistic here. I’m not getting into any of the financials of this example, but, overall, just trying to make a point.

So, what is business success?

The journey to greatness is a different experience for each business owner. One might say that success is something larger than yourself and the company.

I heard one person say "Success is running a profitable firm that conducts business with honesty and integrity, makes meaningful contributions to the communities it serves and nurtures high-quality, balanced lives for its employees." In other words, it goes way beyond us and the numbers, but what is the business doing for the community and to improve the lives of others?

Some think of success from a perspective of ‘is my staff happy? Are they successful?’

Your success is built around your team, or your staff, so the company will only be successful if I have the right team with me, and to make sure that happens, I make sure that my staff is happy.

One way to define success for you and your business is to create a strategy and a roadmap for how you’ll achieve that success and then outline the goals with some details you need to accomplish along the way.

So, what are your goals? Do you have written goals?

Everyone is different and everyone has different goals and hopes and dreams…different expectations. But you need to define your goals in such a way so that you know if you’re on the right path or not, and if you’re wasting your time with this business idea that you have.

What are your boundaries?

· What are the minimum sales necessary

· What is the maximum amount of time I’ll spend on the business?

· Am I happy with the business

· Am I happy with my performance?

· Could I do this long term?

What’s the end goal? And this goes hand in hand with the initial dream and if you have a roadmap in place or not. Do you have short term and long term goals in place? Do you have milestone markers in place?

So I have certain milestones for different aspects of the business. Milestones that relate to:

· Income

o Active 1:1 direct services

o Passive, affiliate marketing income

· Website traffic and how much of that translates to building my email list

· And then actual coaching clients per month

So what would a success strategy look like for you?

Take some time to really examine your industry and your short- and long-term goals. This is a great way to set yourself on a path to success. Keep these tips in mind when defining success for your business.

1. Write down your business goals.

Setting long-term goals helps you pinpoint what success means for you. Sometimes, putting your ideas on paper helps you outline a vision for your business and shows you exactly what you need to do to get there.

Now, this all goes back to referring to your business plan, and think about your one-, five- and 10-year business goals. Where do you see your business at each stage? Is there a common theme among those goals? Is it all just about the money? Or are there other goals besides the money that are part of the success plan?

One thing that can make or break a business is the amount of preparation and planning that is done. And I’ve talked about this a few times in other episodes about laying a good foundation for the business. I did a whole series on it in Eps 30-36.

"Success is the gradual realization of a worthy goal," said John Lee Dumas, founder and host of business podcast "Entrepreneur on Fire."

So, how do you apply your personal goals to your business? That’s what this is all about, right?

I talk a lot about turning your goals into reality, and it isn't easy, but the good news is that there’s a few ways to make them happen so you can check off some success boxes along the way.

And to continue with the list, here are some other tips:

2. Delegate as much work as you can

You won’t feel successful if you’re stressed out and didn’t get much sleep. You can’t do it all, so don’t try to do it all.

Can’t afford a website designer, then maybe try and get a graphic designer intern. Can’t afford a marketing person? I’m going to guess that there’s an intern out there for that as well.

There’s plenty of people looking for a way to apply what they just learned and get some experience to start building their new resume. My SEO person, Amanda, is one of those people.

She just got a dual certification in digital marketing and wants to develop her SEO skills and apply what she’s learned. In about 6 months, she’ll be able to put NET Essentials on her resume and take on more clients after she proves she can produce some real results.

3. Measure your growth.

Put a process in place for tracking progress on your goals. Now, when you’re just getting started, there may not be much to track. You’re baseline is usually zero and any little sale above that is considered growth. I get it.

But as you start to grow and build your business, you want to track that growth month by month. Remember, good goals are measurable, and you should be able to track that.

4. Don't be afraid of failing or changing course.

Remember that goals change, so you must need to stay flexible. Try to stick to the one year-, five year- and 10-year method, and check in on those once a year. Give yourself permission to change course from time to time. We’re talking about success here today, but some amount of failure is healthy – and maybe unavoidable – as a business owner.

Failure can lead to business success, said Jack Petry, business coach and growth strategist. "The path to success is to fail as quickly as you possibly can, because it creates a tremendous asset: results," he said. "If you do anything in life, you get a result. You'll grow wiser, and I've found [failure] is often a springboard to eventual success."

5. Remember your mission.

As you experience all the ups and downs of starting or running a business, as well as the hurdles and setbacks, remember to focus on your vision and company mission. It's hard going through the tough times, but staying focused on why you started your business in the first place is a great motivator.

If you have some experience, or prior proof that you’re actually helping people succeed, or have a better life somehow, hold on to that experience and remember it as a motivator to keep you moving forward.

It's important to focus on your vision and to be passionate about what you do. Sometimes, that may be all you have to keep yourself going.

Only when we do what we love can we go through the long hours, the challenges, the problems and everything that comes with running a successful business.

6. Applaud yourself and your team.

Finally, celebrate your accomplishments when you complete a goal. This allows you to recognize the hard work that you and your team put in, and it serves as a motivating factor in continuing your path to success.

Success is defined for me personally by looking at how many lives I’ve impacted and how I’ve been able to make an impact in the world. Be sincere and help people and the money will follow.

The keys to business success

Is there one key to business success? Is there this ‘Just do this one thing and you’ll be successful’? No. There’s no one key to success in business. Like everything else in entrepreneurship, what works for you may not work for someone else, and it can take months or even years before you find what works.

So, how will you really know if your business is successful? If you’re successful, I think you’ll know. If you have to wonder, or think about it for awhile, you’re probably not there yet. I think you’ll feel it both externally, with how the business is doing, and also internally for how you’re feeling about you and your lifestyle.

You could be making a ton of money, but if your lifestyle and relationships are in the pits, then what have you got? Money. And I wouldn’t call that successful.

My version of success is when you can point to both the business and personal relationships that are doing well, simultaneously. What do you think? Let me know.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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There’s pros and cons to every decision, that’s nothing new. And I’ve done both sides of the coin here in having my business be full time and part time, based on the economy and the market needs…also my family needs at the time.

So I think I have enough experience from both angles to talk about this and hopefully help you to have more clarity when you’re making your decisions.

Here are some things to think about when trying to decide the right path for you and your business.

Even if, ideally, you plan to run your business full-time, starting it up on a part-time basis can offer some significant advantages:

• It reduces your risk because you can rely on income and benefits from your full-time job and lets you have some additional ramp up time.

• It gives you more time to work on your 3 P’s (products, pitch and price)

• You’ll have more time to test the market and get a better feel of how easy or hard building this business might be

• More time to niche down to position yourself to stand out better instead of blending in

• It also allows your business to grow more gradually

But yet, the part-time path also comes with potential pitfalls as well:

• It can leave you with less time with family, because now you’re working on building your business when you’re not working your job

• And…as a result, you’ll feel like you’re always working. But let me say something to this point, if you hate your job and love working on your new business, and the ‘work’ is enjoyable, then, I can tell you that you might actually find yourself rushing to the computer when you get home and turning off the TV more and more, because, it really doesn’t feel like work at all.

• Clients may feel you're not available as much as they need you to be

• You also run the risk of burning out.

Holding down a full-time job while running a part-time business can leave you with little, if any, leisure time and your personal life may suffer as a result.

That is not to say a part-time business can't work. You’re going to need to have excellent time-management skills, strong self-discipline, and support from family and friends. You’ll need a serious commitment and a strong vision that’s connected to ‘your why’ to keep you motivated. Don't think that, since you already have a job, you don't really have to work hard at your business. You must have a plan of attack.

I like to think of it this way. With 365 days in the year, if you take a small step every day toward your goal, at the end of each week, you’ve taken a serious step forward. At the end of each month, a huge leap.

So set some reasonable milestones that align with starting and running a part time business and celebrate those wins when the milestones are reached. Use any progress as a motivator to keep you going.

Here's a run-down of what you'll want to consider before choosing which path is more appropriate for you and your business.

Making The Best Decision

If you find there is an unmet need for your product or service, no major competition and a ready supply of eager customers, then starting full-time might be the best plan. On the other hand, if you find the market won't support a full-time business, but might someday with proper marketing and development, then it is probably best to start part-time.

Do some research on the competition in your industry, the economy in your area, the demographic breakdown of your client base and the availability of potential customers. If you are thinking of opening an upscale beauty salon, for example, jot down the number of similar shops in operation, the number of affluent women in the area and the fees they are willing to pay. Maybe even ask them as they’re walking out of that salon what they like and don’t like about it? They don’t know you’re doing research. To them it just looks like you’re interested in being a potential client.

Next Steps

The next step is to outline your goals and strategies in a business plan. Now I just mentioned this recently in another podcast about how many pages you’ll need in the BP. Whether it’s 3-5 pages, whether it’s one page, or closer to 20 pages like mine, you just need to know you’re not going to have any serious surprises because you didn’t think this through and keeps the business on track.

Part-timers should write a business plan, too, as it will help you transition to full-time later on.

Evaluate Your Finances

Before launching a full-time business, most experts recommend putting aside enough money to live on for at least six months to a year. Now if you do live off your savings, you’ll need a way to earn enough through the business to not only replace what you’ve spent but to make it worth your while to have spent it in the first place.

I’m all about being profitable, and spending money on the business without doubling what you’ve spent just turns your ‘business’ into an expensive hobby.

But completing your business plan will show you in detail how long you can expect to wait before your business begins earning a profit.

If you're leaning toward starting part-time, then set financial priorities. How do you know when your business is making enough money that you can quit your day job? A good rule of thumb might be, when you reach a part time income of 75% of your full time income, you can make the leap and switch to full time.

My business coach Mike Kim promised his wife that he would wait until he MATCHES his full time income for 3 months straight to quit his job and run the business full time.

Bring Your Family into the Process

The emotional and psychological side of starting a business is just as important in your decision as the financial and market aspects. Do your closest family members support you starting a business? Do they understand the sacrifices both full-time and part-time businesses are going to require?

Then work together to develop practical solutions to the problems you might run into. Also, lay ground rules for the part-time business. For instance, agree not to work on Sunday mornings, for example, or not to discuss business at the dinner table.

Don't Forget About Your Own Needs

If the idea of taking the full-time business plunge keeps you awake at night then perhaps a part-time business is best. Building and running a business on stress spells disaster.

Assess the effects of both a part-time and a full-time business on your life. You'll be most likely be working evenings, weekends and lunch hours, if not your holidays, sick days and vacation time, too. This is the kind of commitment you will need to make if you expect your business to be successful.

Whether to start part-time or full-time is a decision only you can make. Whichever route you take, the secret to success is an honest assessment of your resources, your commitment level and the support systems you have in place.

When you consider the pros and cons of both situations, and you’re willing to pay the price either way, you’ll be able to make the right choice.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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It Hits YouYou never know where it’ll hit you. You have a great idea for a new business and you’re really excited about it.

It might happen when you’re walking down the street or when you’re just laying in bed or just driving down the road: a new business idea hits you, and it doesn’t let you go!

While you might feel the urge to just drop everything else and jump on it, you should really take some time to think this through, rationally, to make sure that you’re not going to be spending a huge amount of time and money on something that doesn’t end up working out.

Test and Test AgainSo, how can you test your business idea without going all in right away? What steps can you take to validate the proof of concept and avoid while not breaking the bank (or maxing out your credit card)?

I have a few suggestions on how to test and evaluate your business idea, how to test the market, and how you can even get your first clients!

1. Determine What Problem Your Solution Is SolvingSo, let’s be honest… inventing something absolutely new is very rare. There really isn’t many product or services that haven’t been invented yet. So once you hop on the computer to start working on your business idea, don’t get discouraged and bail out on your mission once you find out your product isn't 100 percent unique.

Instead, seize the opportunity that lies in the details of who you are. Your unique advantage is in who you are. Your knowledge and experience. Your personality. Your follow up. Your analytical skills or your people skills.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Use your competitors to your advantage and use their performance data to better understand the market, the clients, the product, and the price structure. Find out what works for them and where they need to improve — and then make your product or service better.

Better yet, focus on improving the way you communicate with potential customers. Here’s how: instead of presenting a long list of product features, tell your customer what problem your product is solving in one clear sentence. Here are two examples:

“I can help you launch your business faster and to be more profitable quicker because you’ll be able to start growing your email list from day one.”

Or:

“Your one-stop website for personal fitness training if you’re over 50.”

Both are clear statements of what each business does, without having to attach any additional information to make their product/service understood.

Keep this in mind as the core of your business idea; the very heart of what you are doing and the specific problem you are solving.

1. Lock Down the Details of Your Business IdeaCreative ideas rarely come in an orderly way. I keep a notepad handy for those random thoughts and ideas that just happen. When that happens, the details can often flood our brain in the most unstructured way. That’s why, in order to make sense of a brand-new business idea, you’ll have to organize your thoughts, and the best way to do this is by writing them down.

If you’re thinking I’m about to tell you to write a 40-page business plan, don’t worry. Formal business plans are for investors or partners, and those other external parties — who often don’t even read the full BP anyway.

What you need is a simple and concise summary of your business concept, a 3-5 page document that you can refer back to anytime you need to touch base with your original thoughts (be it to stay on track or to alter your path … but we’ll get to this later!).

Now, if you want to put in more details, then go ahead, but don’t get bogged down with the process. If 3-5 pages does it, then be fine with that. My business plan is 18 pages, but it eventually grew to be that way. As I had more clarity, I added more to the plan.

There's a hundred ways to summarize your business idea, and one of the easiest methods is the one page Business Model Canvas. Whether you use pen and paper or an online version, this one-pager captures the key points and helps you to think about just the most important topics.

1. Embrace the Lean Startup ModelNow that you’ve organized all the thoughts around your idea, it’s time to trim down your business concept. Your goal here is to reduce your business idea to its most important core feature (highlight it on your business model canvas!), excluding all features that can be seen as “additional” and can be added on later. What you’ll end up with is your “lean” business concept, a slim version of the plan you just put together.

So what does “lean” mean?

Many startups follow a lean methodology, especially tech startups. But, in short, a company launches a very basic version of its product (it is called the Minimum Viable Product) to validate their idea and to generate early interest in the product and the company. This approach… this strategy allows the company to test the market and validate whether consumer interest and opportunity exists, and helps them keep initial production cost, as they have only focused on the central feature of their product.

The business owner, or the company for that matter determines a trial period and sets certain goals that they want to see met at the end of that time frame. If they’re able to meet those goals, the product or service can be expanded with more features and more development can be made to make it more ‘market ready’ so to speak.

But knowing the core feature of your product or service is the key to making your business idea test work.

1. Build a Simple Website to Measure Interest and ImpactIn today’s world, many, if not most, new business ideas are online-driven. A simple but well done, professional website with some basic marketing functions built into it can help you gauge the potential of your business idea.

These days you don’t have to write a single line of code to create a website; just use WordPress to make it happen. It’s easy to use, and has a lot of ready to use templates for you — many for free and some for a small price.

The WordPress template I like to use? Phlox. It comes free and has an upgrade fee of only $60 to add in some other features that some might think come in handy.

1. Choose the Right Marketing Mix for Your Business IdeaBecause it is not the main point of this article, but is definitely interconnected, I am going to dip into the topic very briefly:

Marketing is what brings customers to you. Copywriting as part of the marketing brings customers to you.

The famous copywriter and author, Ray Edwards, said in one of his more recent training seminars, ‘Most businesses fail because of bad copy.” If you don’t know how to write effective copy, then find someone who does. Hey, even a beginning copywriter is better than no copywriter.

But just to be clear, I don’t think getting the cheapest person on Fiverr is the way to go either. Getting cheap help on Fiverr has it’s place. I used them for some graphic design work not long ago. But you get what you pay for and when it comes to the marketing message, you really need someone that understands the do’s and the don’ts of how to write effective copy.

Effective marketing will bring potential customers to you. Your product/service, you and your company is what makes customers stay.

Do not make the mistake of just launching your website, running ads on Google, and then solely relying on this traffic to validate your business idea. What you need to do is find people who love your product and your company. You need to find people who will choose your brand over another, people who go out and tell others about how great you are.

In order to reach this kind of customer, you have to use alternate methods:

• Use social media to gain awareness and attention for your business idea (pick 2-3 of the most effective social networks and use them avidly to engage with your audience).

• Give back to the community that can be in a literal sense such as donating time or services to a non-profit.

Ask some friends and family to spread the word about you and your company (understand that family and friends may support your cause, but do not expect them to rave about it and become evangelists).

Understand the type of customer you have, what they care about, and how you can reach them; be creative and genuine in your marketing, provide value (price, quality, convenience), build relationships, and seek feedback on your performance.

I like to check up on people that I interviewed from time to time and see how they’re making out. I recently offered some free coaching time to talk to someone about starting a podcast and if they thought they were up to the task or not.

All of these efforts combined will help you create not only a solid clientele, but a tribe around your company.

1. Set Goals, Work Toward Them, and Evaluate the ResultsAs much as creating a tribe is probably the ultimate achievement for any brand, business is business, and you need to be able to make a serious profit in order to move forward. Once you’ve got your product defined, your basic website set up, and your marketing plan laid out, don’t let your preliminary business goals fall through the cracks.

From day one of your launch, determine the following:

• A set time frame for your trial run; whether it’s three months or a full year (use your best judgment). If after that trial period you either see things getting better, or worse, then keep at it, or pull the plug, so to speak.

• A set of concrete goals you need to achieve (e.g., number of visitors, amount of sales, number of customer enquiries, etc.) If you meet your goals, that’s great! You’re on to something that could really work! This is when you go back to your business model canvas, bring back those extended product features, and expand your marketing plan.

Lastly, Never Stop Changing

Sometimes in order to reach your goal you need to adjust your course a little bit and steer the ship in a different direction. This is typical and has happened to me a number of times. Don’t let that get to you, because getting it right the very first time around is very rare.

Instead, use whatever you learned from your trial run to improve your product and solidify your case. Change is evolution, and making that change is the first step to reaching your goal.

Recently, I made a change in my strategy as well. I kept hearing how frustrating it was to small business owners on how to integrate the technology pieces and that it was taking a lot of time and costing a lot of money to piece that puzzle together.

So, I added in to my coaching process ‘Technology Integrator’ as a service. And if you get the chance to wander over to my website home page, at the time of this recording, you’ll see what that’s about. There’s a lot of integration that needs to happen to just have the basic foundation to an online, personal brand business.

And I did this all under the “lean” methodology.

So friends, to wrap this up, I just want to say, it’s great that you have a business idea. If you take that idea and work it well, your chances of success will be much higher.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Friends, I spend a lot of time creating positive, can-do content that focuses mainly on how and when to start a business. I talk about mindset reset issues and the different types of entrepreneurs…all of that.

And I’m really focused on the positive side of the startup process. I spend a lot of time explaining to people how to overcome their fears and helping them to see what’s possible. We live in the best country in the world and it offers so much opportunity.

But the fact still remains that sometimes, when somebody does finally make the decision to start their own business, whether it’s out of their home and it’s online, or not…sometimes they make the wrong decision on either the market they should be in or maybe the timing isn’t quite right.. or for some other reason, this business that they started, just isn’t working out.

So look for these 8 signs to see if you’re pursuing a poor business idea:

1. You hate it. Being a successful entrepreneur takes a lot of time, especially at the beginning. You’re going to have a miserable time if you don’t enjoy the business on some level. You might have the idea of creating something new, but if you can’t stand talking about it anymore and promoting it or selling it, you’re not going to be happy, and it’ll show in your sales, it’ll show in your voice, it’ll show in your life.

Even if sales are good but you hate it, get out. Sell the business to someone that doesn’t hate it.

1. It compromises your values. For example, if guns, porn, or animal products are against your values, then having a business related to one of those fields isn’t going to work for you. You have to be able to look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day. Make sure that your business is aligned with your values.

2. You can’t handle the start-up costs. Certain types of businesses are just naturally expensive to start up. Like franchises, as an example. Few people have the means to even get started with a franchise and drop at least $50-100K for the rights to sell some sort of sandwich for $4. Finding investors, or partners is a major hurdle for most people. And even if you do, it’s still not the answer to your problems. You’ll just have different problems.

If you’re finding that you’re about to go broke for a very long time, try to figure out an exit routine that keeps a little money in your pocket.

1. The business doesn’t leverage your strengths. Now, I’ve talked about this a number of times. I recently recorded a podcast episode on this, Episode 48, How to Define and Develop Your Strengths. I have blog posts and an E-book on this as well, and I tell people to run with their strengths.

If you stink at sales, it’s probably going to show in your business bottom line. Every business needs sales and marketing. If you can’t do it yourself and you don’t have the resources to hire someone, and you’re not making money at this business, then it’s not a business, it’s a hobby. Either keep at your expensive hobby, or get out.

1. There’s no market for your business. There’s no market for pet alligators. Even if you love alligators, have great animal management skills, and can sell with the best of them, you’re not going to create a successful business selling alligators. Do enough people care about your product or service? Are there enough people looking to spend money on your product or service. If not, get out and try something else. Try a different kind of business.

2. Your business idea doesn’t solve a problem. People spend money to solve problems. The problem might be a leaky faucet. The problem might be a need for entertainment. The 3 main topics people spend money on are:

• Health

• Wealth

• Entertainment

Is your business helping people to feel better, make money or be entertained? Is there is a problem to be solved in one of those three areas? Does anyone need what you want to sell? And will they spend decent money on it so you can pay your bills and make a profit?

1. Your price point is too high for the market. You might have the most ingenious idea for a new trash can for homeowners. However, if the trash can costs $2,700, you’re going to be out of luck. People are only willing to spend a certain amount of money to find a solution. You can’t be outside that limit.

2. The market is saturated, and you can’t find a way to do it better or cheaper. If there’s no room for your business, you’re going to struggle. How is your product or service better than the rest?

Many of the most successful business people in the world have endured multiple business failures. While there’s no guarantee that your business idea will or won't work, there are certain characteristics that suggest your idea is a poor one.

Be aware of your values and make sure that your business doesn't violate any of your core values.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Over the years, I’ve tried my hand at different business models. For the most part, I’ve been successful, but there have been some struggles and ups an downs along the way. Some methods work better than others. Sometimes it’s all about timing and how the offer is presented.

And I’ve learned some valuable lessons along the way that I’d like to share with you. I hope these lessons help you focus your thinking on what the best business models are for you.

The great thing about all of these business models is that you can choose virtually any market.

All of these models WORK. The key here is to choose the models that fit with you and your business: your strengths, your personality, and your team, your vision, your dream. But also, the lifestyle you want to have as well.

Before you try a new business model, consider your personality type, what your strengths are, and what you naturally enjoy. If you’ve taken the KOLBE assessment or the StrengthsFinder test, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what these are. Use them to guide your decision-making process.

So what are the 4 we’re going to be focusing on today?

1. Creating information products

2. Promoting affiliate offers

3. Private consulting

4. Done for you services

Business Model #1: Creating Information Products

Why Choose this Model?

The profit margins: Creating and selling information products, online courses, E-books, and other education/information products have very high profit margins. You create something once, and if it’s a digital product then you have no need to stock inventory, and you can deliver it automatically to any volume of people at once.

Creating a digital information product is a low-cost way to get something started, and very easy to scale up from there.

Business Model #2: Promoting Affiliate Offers

Why Choose this Model?

Promoting products as an affiliate means that you don’t have to actually create the products that you promote…all you have to do is focus on selling. Sounds easy, right? Well, it can sound easy, but it’s easier with a good plan in place.

The crucial thing with this business model is choosing the right markets to find the right products that are proven to sell. Being an affiliate allows you to leverage the credibility and the authority of the product owners by association (if you choose right).

Business Model #3: Private Consulting

Why Choose this Model?

When you do coaching or consulting, people are paying a premium for your time and expertise. Working with someone one-on-one is the best way to get them results. And happy clients mean more referrals and testimonials.

Not only is consulting a great way to build your reputation before launching something else, it’s also the perfect opportunity for passive income.

Business Model #4: Done for You Agency Services

Why Choose this Model?

This is what a lot of people want! Come on, who doesn’t want a done for you service? It’s super easy to sell, and there’s a ton of demand right now for DFY (done for you) agency services.

I’ve found that by creating 3 different options for people to choose from, helps to show how valuable the DFY model is:

• Do it yourself coaching

• Do it with you coaching

• Done for you consulting

Here are three links to take a personality test to find your strengths.

StrengthsFinder

Kolbe

High5 Test

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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In today's Internet-driven, mobile phone society, where everyone’s more connected through the Internet, small businesses need to evolve with consumer demands and expectations. People can access information so much more each year through more and more ways and are bombarded with sales pitches about how to have a 6 figure income.

But also, more and more, businesses and non profit organizations are falling behind and losing the edge they thought they had just a few years ago. It’s become less of an offline marketing platform and more of an online marketing platform.

And this is where the race needs to be run. Online. Where the people are. Not in Valpaks that come to your house and you just throw away, not in print ads that don’t get read. Not even in the personal networking that people still do where everyone attending is just out to promote themselves. I’ve been there and done that for several years and even after all the effort and money spent, just barely broke even.

The small business mindsets needs to shift. E-products are now a very real thing. Free downloads are the new coupon. It gets their ‘foot in the Internet door’, so to speak.

And if you’re just staring out, or thinking about starting a business, the language has changed quite a bit also. It you’re over 40, this can be a bit unnerving, because it’s like we need to learn a new language and we don’t have a choice.

If you want to have and run a successful small business, we need to build it with the right tools, get the right tools in our belt, but first we need to identify what the tools are and what those tools are called.

Instead of just playing ‘whack-a-mole’ with the issues, and trying to catch up with whatever problem we’re faced with for sales and marketing, let’s get ahead of the curve here and take control of the situation.

There’s a number of moving parts in the modern marketing realm. I’ve seen the playing field change over and over again. And I’m sure that it’ll change again, and quite soon, I’m sure.

But with my small business and IT background, I've been able to stay in the game and not be another small business casualty, where I just fade away because I wasn’t able to use the right tools, or able to keep up with the times. I’ve been able to adapt and accept the fact that change is a constant. I’ve been able to see technology changes as something to embrace.

Now, do I love social media? Not really, but I’ve come to accept that it has a purpose in today’s business realm and I just better get over it.

So, what are these tools that we need to talk about today?

• Blog

• Podcast

• Email marketing

• Landing page

• Email magnet

• E-products

Now, individually, these are all huge topics of conversation and strategy, but I’ve been spending more and more time lately as an integrator, so to speak, on tying these things all together. In a real, robust marketing strategy, these all work together.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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You can only reach your ultimate development in those areas in which you have passion. For example, you can never become a truly great golfer if you don’t even like to play.

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Maybe you’re fortunate enough to already know what you’re the most passionate about. Or maybe you feel that you’ve never had the chance to really consider your aspirations. I wasn’t raised by parents to have goals and dreams, or to even think about the possibilities that come with living in the United States. My parents weren’t educated past high school and didn’t even have a conversation with me about my future. I had to figure that out on my own.

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Now, I don’t know about you, but for me, this made success as an adult a lot harder to figure out. I didn’t know what my strengths were and didn’t know how to find out. When I took a personality test in High School, the results that came back said I’d make a good farmer. Great news for a kid that never set foot on a farm and lived in a small town all his life.

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But if you’re finding yourself in a similar situation, where you have a dream of being an entrepreneur and you’re not sure which direction to go in, take some time now to find your passions.

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Your greatest strengths will ultimately be those things that you do, practice and develop the most. It only makes sense to spend all that time on something that you love.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website:Â www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources:Â www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn:Â https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift:Â Episode Rating

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I prefer to focus on a positive mindset and to focus on success. We really don’t need encouragement to dwell on failure. For some reason we seem to gravitate toward the negative thoughts and actions and need to be convinced, over and over again to NOT dwell on negative things.

But at the same time, I think there’s value in understanding what could go wrong and what does go wrong.

So, over the last two decades of being in business, and seeing the changes I’ve had to make to stay in business, I’ve been able to look around, and talk to other small business owners to see what’s working for them and what’s not. And too many times, I’ve seen people I know, friends and colleagues, peers, fellow small business owners, just either fade away, or completely give up.

There seems to be some common themes about why some startups struggle and fail, and why others succeed. So why do some companies fail and others succeed?

Here is a short list of the top four reasons for failure:

1. Lack of focus

2. Lack of motivation, commitment and passion

3. Too much pride, resulting in an unwillingness to see or listen

4. Taking advice from the wrong people

So now that we know how businesses fail, why do some startups succeed? Well, it starts by not giving up. It starts by not quitting. If something doesn’t work out as planned, try again another way.

Here is a list of the top 9 reasons of small business success:

1. Founders are driven by impact, resulting in passion and commitment

2. Commitment to stay the course and stick with a chosen path

3. Willingness to adjust, but not constantly adjusting

4. Patience and persistence due to the timing mismatch of expectations and reality

5. Willingness to observe, listen and learn

6. Develop the right mentoring relationships

7. Leadership with general and domain specific business knowledge

8. Implementing “Lean Startup” principles: Raising just enough money in a funding round to hit the next set of key milestones

9. Balance of technical and business knowledge, with necessary technical expertise in product development

There’s qualities and talents that you have to have, to be a successful entrepreneur, but they won't guarantee success. That said, it stands to reason that if you fixed the reasons for business failure, you would at least improve your chances of success.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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In this episode, I interview the Boss of Branding, Mike Kim about his new book ‘You Are The Brand’.

The book gives great insight as to how he has helped people with their personal brand image and how to use that branding for every aspect of your business (Website, Marketing, Products, Emails etc.).

We talk about the path that he took through the years which led to writing the book:

· His prior career path that he realized he didn’t want to pursue

· His desire to become an author, coach and consultant

· Writing the book based on his experiences in business and asked ‘why are some people struggling and some people successful?’

· Becoming a brand building expert and how the world of marketing works

He also took some time to answer some questions:

Q. If someone is either retired or retiring with purpose, what ‘s the best way for them to figure out what skills they should use to build a business?

He also describes what he did to help him to see his soft skills from a different perspective from his prior experiences in a unique way.

Q. What’s the difference between the ‘How-ToPreneur’ and the ‘Idea-Preneur’?

He describes the 2 types of personal brands:

1. How-ToPreneur -defines a problem for someone and fixes it for them

2. IdeaPreneur -someone who has a particular message or philosophy that they’re trying to spread. Trying to raise awareness of their philosophy and to get their idea to spread.

Q. how does someone stand out from the crowd and have their personal brand voice?

He answers with three questions to help you define your brand message and to gain more clarity about your purpose.

· What ticks you off?

· What breaks your heart?

· What big problem are you trying to solve?

Q. Was the book part of his original business plan or did it evolve over time?

He tells us about how he signed the original book deal 5 years ago but life ‘went sideways’ so he had to put the book deal on hold even though he had 95% of the framework built.

Q. Is there another book in the works?

There is another book but on a different topic about how to do fundraising for nonprofit organizations.

Friends, please tune in to hear the entire episode. Mike is very insightful and there’s a lot of jam packed information for you that I’m sure you’ll benefit from.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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This week I’d like to talk about how you can build and grow your email list on your quest to have a portable, but profitable business.

Now for today, I’m going to focus less on the tools to use, and more on the methodology of creating and crafting the emails themselves.

But I’d be remiss if I left out the major components of how to build your email list and if you haven’t heard me mention these things in other episodes then it might be a good time to go back in time a little to hear those other episodes so you can piece this puzzle together a little better.

Ep 26- Starting a Business From Zero

Ep 33- The Email List and why you need it

These episodes have a different perspective and content about this subject but in different layers. We’re peeling the onion back a bit more in this episode with the details about the actual components of the email itself.

That’s coming up, but for now, let’s go over other components of how you can build your email list.

Lead magnet

Now I briefly went over this topic in other episodes, but this is an option that I see people overlooking more and more. A lead magnet is a tool for the website that offers your website visitor something in exchange for their email so you can hopefully, start and develop a relationship with them through your email campaign. I use lead magnets that have a specific focus so that I can redirect them to specific email marketing campaigns that will provide more specific content based on where they’re at.

I have a lead magnet for:

o A free E-book

o E-book of the month club

o The free gift of The Tools We Use

o Website exit recovery

It’s better to try to figure out in advance what major category to put the reader into first and then work on where they’re at with interest level and what kind of products or services that could meet their needs.

E-book offer

Again, I mentioned this before a few times, and I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this but offering an Ebook is a very popular way to do a DIY build of your email list. You can give away one Ebook and sell another. Or, just give them all away if you have more than one. I have about 16 of them all on different topics related to mindset, social media, websites, SEO, building a business, launching a business. I’m working on one now about building a team.

And you can do this as well. Take what you know and pour out your thoughts on paper…digital paper, so to speak. But I’m at that age where I still like to print things out and have it in my hand as well, so when you’re creating your Ebook, make it something that people can print out. Too many times, I’ve purchased or signed up for a free Ebook and it’s so filled with full page graphics that I can’t print it out. I’m not going to dump all that ink into printing a lot of pages full of nice looking graphics. Not worth it to me. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth about their content.

So now, let’s dive into some of the details about the actual emails that you’ll be sending out to people that sign up for your content.

Keep in mind here, that these people are between either sort of interested, or very interested in you or your products and services but you need to walk them through the process of ‘know/ like /trust /try /buy’ process…which hopefully leads to ‘repeat’ buyer as well.

Email marketing campaigns need emails that have a predetermined structure.

Now, this structure isn’t carved in stone and it should be constructed in a way that doesn’t look like it has a pre-determined structure, but it does…and it should.

You’ll want to start with the overall structure of the campaign. The framework, so to speak.

• Theme of email content

o ‘Rule of One’ (focus on just one topic per email)

o Overall framework

 Create a series from the framework

• Components of an email (not all are necessary)

o Headline (this is where you need to pull the reader in and persuade them to open the email

o Story- people like stories and find it more engaging. Try to tell a story, even it it’s a couple of sentences.

o Link to something helpful

o Link to something free

o Link to video

o Signature content- include most important links

o CTA (Call to Action) – Include 3 links to CTA in entire email content. Always include some kind of desired response for the reader.

 Click on this link

 Go to the podcast

 Watch this video

 Sign up for something

 Buy something

 Take this survey

o P.S. content- since a lot of people scan their emails and go to the bottom, this is your last chance to include something important.

• Know what your ‘most wanted response’ is: (pick just one)

o Click on this link

o Go to the podcast

o Watch this video

o Sign up for something

o Buy something

o Take this survey

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Show Notes

This week I’d like to talk about how you can have a profitable, portable business, live anywhere and still sell a variety of high end products and services that help people.

What kind of products am I talking about? Digital products.

Why digital products? Well, here’s three very big reasons:

1. Low cost to make

2. No inventory needed

3. No employees needed to create or ship them

Having a portable business works well for me. I can be anywhere and still serve people and create content. Before I flipped to this model, I remember when I had just gotten on a cruise ship and still had cell phone service. I was standing out on the little balcony our room had and was making the initial phone call to a potential client. He gave the ok to get started and I had to tell him that he had to wait about a week and a half (it was a 9 day cruise). He wasn’t too happy about that and I almost lost the deal.

I’m not a fan of working on vacations, but at the time, I didn’t even have a choice.

So, what are the 4 digital products I’ll be covering today?

1. Ebooks

2. Webinars

3. Courses

4. Consulting

5. E-books

One of the first and most important steps to starting a new business is deciding what type of product you’ll sell. One lucrative option to consider is creating information products you can use to generate passive income.

If you have a lot of valuable knowledge that you know others can benefit from, this type of business model can mean putting work into a product upfront that you then continue to make money off of for months or years to come.

1. Webinars

Now I’m actually putting together the pieces of a webinar that I’d like to have in the near future. There’s a lot to talk about in the small business startup realm and since people are more into video, and it’s a way to really get your point across with providing a lot of quality content, I’ve been sold on the concept of webinars for quite some time now.

Is Zoom good for webinars?

This is perfect if you are hosting a large online panel. Up To 10,000 webinar attendees: If you plan to host a lot of people at your webinar, Zoom may be right for you. Zoom integrates well with Face book Live and YouTube if you want to add those platforms into the marketing plan.

1. Courses

I’m a fan of online learning and I regularly purchase online courses to take a topic a bit deeper. And my wife is a teacher who had to convert her teaching to online over the past year. So the world has come a long way in the past year when it comes to online courses and I think the market for purchasing courses, or even using a free course to get your customers primed for a paid course is a smart way to go.

So, what do I recommend for creating an online course?

Loom.

Loom is so easy to use and they have a free option that can record up to 5 minutes. So, if you want to have a video series about a topic, you can just make the videos less than 5 minutes and offer them in sequence. For free.

I’m converting my E-books into video series’ and use Loom for that as well.

1. Coaching/Consulting

Since the theme of this episode is to have a portable business, you can offer coaching and consulting remotely, anywhere now. And you can offer your services in a few different ways:

• 1:1 coaching/consulting sessions

• Group coaching (which I’ll be offering sometime in the near future)

If you want to have monthly payment options for your coaching, you can use PayPal to automatically charge their CC for a set time frame.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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What do you need to build a website?

You’ll need the following three things to start your WordPress site.

• A domain name – this is the name of your website such as google.com

• WordPress hosting – this is where your website files are stored.

• A few hours of undivided attention

How much does a WordPress website cost?

The answer to this question really depends on what kind of website you are trying to build. A typical business website can cost as low as a few hundred dollars to get started and then about $100 per year for the hosting and can go as high as tens of thousands of dollars per year. Why the huge difference? Because there’s a mountain of things your website COULD do but for 99% of people starting out, probably won’t.

If you want to have:

• SEO

• Lead magnets

• Email marketing

• Sales funnels

• Pop-ups to help build the email list

• Professional copywriting

Just to name a few, then you can expect to pay many thousands of dollars for website design and development. And yes, there is a difference.

I recommend that you start small and then add more features to your website as your business grows. This way you won’t spend money on things that aren’t necessary for you right now. Later, maybe and we can get to that some other time.

I’ll explain how to get you started and to add in more functionality as needed so you can do this on your own.

Which is the best website platform?

There are many website hosting platforms in the world today. Currently, I recommend 2 main providers. Bluehost and Siteground. They’re both self-hosting sites for WordPress as your website platform.

Bluehost to get you started on a low budget hosting account and if money allows for having a faster hosting provider then I recommend going to Siteground. The speed of my website drastically increased when I made the switch.

WordPress is the most popular website platform in the world. It powers nearly 28% of all websites on the internet.

WordPress is free and comes with thousands of website designs and extensions. It is extremely flexible and works with almost every third-party tool and service available to website owners.

Once you create an account with whatever hosting provider you choose, you’ll have to do a few things afterward to get you going.

• Register a domain name

• Register for a hosting account

• Install WordPress

• Install some plugins

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This week I’d like to talk about getting to know ourselves better and the benefits of using a personality test so we can focus on our strengths instead of developing our weaknesses.

Because when we focus on our strengths, our opportunities are the greatest. When we try to develop our weaknesses, we can get bogged down in the muck of…well, all things that are mucky.

We’re brought up through an educational system that focuses on what we did wrong and how we fell short.

We live in a society that has a never ending focus on people’s shortcomings.

But the Gallup Organization did extensive research and found that people have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of trying to improve their weaknesses.

They also found that people who do have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their work and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general.

It’s been said, seemingly throughout time ‘You can be anything you want to be, if you just try hard enough.’ I think the intentions are good with this advice, but it doesn’t take long for the child hearing it to figure out that it just isn’t true.

If you’re not naturally tall, you can’t be a pro basketball player. If you don’t have the natural ability to play sports in general, then you just won’t be a pro athlete in any sport.

But even as adults, we still have that tendency to think that if I’m hired to be a salesman, I can be a sales Manager if I just try hard enough.

Now I’m not saying that this person can’t sell stuff, or train people, but even if they read great books on Management and go to seminars or has Management training and put in late hours every day, it doesn’t mean that they’ll be a good Manager. It just means that they’re trying very, very hard.

They may not have the natural talent needed to develop other people. Maybe they should have just stayed in sales.

But I’m not here today to talk about our skills for the traditional J.O.B., this podcast is dedicated to developing people toward having a successful business.

But the concept is still the same. Do we know what are strengths are and are we willing to put aside the things we’re not good at and let others do them?

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Show Notes

Your comfort zone is a behavioral space where your activities and behaviors fit a routine and pattern that minimizes stress and risk. It provides a state of mental security. You benefit in obvious ways: regular happiness, low anxiety, and reduced stress.

So, our comfort zone, is our safe place. Whatever ‘normal’ looks like for you, whatever you're not even thinking about changing -- that's your comfort zone.

If we look at our comfort zone as a dartboard we might be able to shed a little more light on how we tuck in that comfort zone into many levels of our behavior. It was explained to me this way. The bulls eye is your comfort zone. The next ring out, is your 'Stretch' zone, the one next to that is your 'Risk' zone, and everything outside of that is your 'Die' zone.

Now I’m not talking about actual dying, but that you’ll totally die to ‘self’ and abandon your fears to do a specific task.

Each time you move into a new zone, you have to go through a little fear, a little anxiety, because you have to think differently about yourself and what you're capable of."

In the book ‘The Obstacle is the Way’ by Ryan Holiday, he puts it this way. ‘You will come across obstacles in life-fair and unfair. An you will discover, time and time again, that what matters most is not what these obstacles are but how we see them, how we react to them, and whether we keep our composure. You will learn that this reaction determines how successful we will be in overcoming- or possibly thriving because of –them.

Where one person sees a crisis, another can see opportunity. Where one is blinded by success, another sees reality with ruthless objectivity. Where one loses control of emotions, another can remain calm. Desperation, despair, fear, powerlessness-these reactions are functions of our perceptions. You must realize: Nothing makes us feel this way; we choose to give in to such feelings.

I’m not talking about eliminating the comfort zone, but just stretching it; bit by bit, in small increments. You see, when we stretch our comfort zone, we usually find that what we just did wasn’t so bad after all, and all the worry or stress we just put ourselves through was all really unnecessary and we just ended up with a bigger comfort zone.

Pushing your personal boundaries and stretching that zone can help you to have a more fulfilled life, yes, but also can help you to reduce the regret you’ll have because you’re doing the thing, or things you always wanted to do but didn’t have the courage to step out and do.

You’ll have an easier time dealing with both planned change as well as the unexpected changes that happen. You’ll find it easier to dream about the possibilities that could be your new future.

So let’s talk about that dart board again. The first ring out was called the ‘stretch zone’, right?

So for me, doing this podcast was considered stretching the zone. I had never done anything like this before. I didn’t have a radio or broadcasting background. I don’t even know anyone who’s done a podcast.

But I didn’t let that stop me. I did some research and reached out to some people on LinkedIn that did podcasts and got some advice. I listened to other podcasts that helped me to understand the process and not only the benefits of doing one, but the risks of not doing one too.

In other words, I didn’t let the ‘I’ve never done that before and I don’t know how to do it’ excuse stop me. There are plenty of things that I’ve never done before in my past that I learned how to do quite well. Every time you change a job, you’re forced to learn new things, and we expect it. And we’re OK with that.

So why are we not OK with taking the initiative to stretch the zone and learn new things. Why is it OK to be forced to learn new skills with a new job, but it’s not OK when we choose to do it on our own terms?

Please listen to the entire episode for all of the topics that are covered. A bit too much to put into the show notes here.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Do you like this Podcast and want to start your own? Download my 'Podcast Startup Mini-Course'.

In episode 39 of the Podcast, I discussed the need to have a platform for your voice and why the option of having a Podcast was critical for the life and growth of your business.

And in this episode, I’ll be going over the steps on how I started this podcast and try to provide enough content for you so that you’ll at least feel more comfortable starting your own, or talking to someone on how to get your own up and running.

1. Research

Before you do anything, you’ll want to do your own research on the topic you want to cover and if the data shows that it’ll be something that people will listen to. I’m not going to recommend just a general Google search because it’s just too much general information to decipher. You’ll need more specific results to be able to come to a better conclusion.

Target Audience

Using the results for Google Trends you can find your target audience easier. Searching for age groups and also gender may help to narrow things down for you a little better.

2. Passion

• Are you deeply passionate about the topic? Do you think about it and filter the things you read and learn through the lens of your main topic?

• Could you easily come up with a lot of content? When you start writing about your main topic do the thoughts just flow?

• Do you have a deep understanding, or at least a decent understanding of the topic? People will want to know that you know what you’re talking about.

3. Motive

• As I said in episode 3 of the podcast, ‘What is your why?’ What’s your motivation?

• Are you looking to be in the spotlight?

• Are you trying to prove a point?

• Will the podcast be feeding your ego?

• Are you expecting to sell a lot of stuff through your episodes?

• Are you expecting to make a lot of money from advertising and affiliations?

• Or… will the podcast exist to serve your target audience?

People listen to podcasts for three main reasons:

o Education

o Inspiration

o Motivation

Can you fulfill one, two or all three of these?

How I Started My Podcast

Decisions I Had to Make

1. Niche Market

So my niche market is the later in life person (40+) who is either thinking about making a pivot to self employment, or had decided to, but hasn’t taken action yet.

2. Logo

• The primary intent of the logo I selected was to be a little generic to target a new entrepreneur while showing that they’re on a journey.

3. Platform

I needed a simple way to host the podcast and get it distributed and with the advice of a professional audio engineer that is sympathetic to smaller budgets, I chose to go with RedCircle hosting. They have a free hosting option with analytics and also provides a way to have it distributed to other platforms automatically.

4. Distribution

RedCircle podcast hosting has a way to automatically distribute the episodes to several, major podcast providers once you set up your account with them.

5. Music

I searched www.premiumbeat.com for positive sounding tracks that I thought were gender neutral because I want both men and women to listen. Each professionally produced track is about $50 for the rights to use the track on that specific show, only.

6. Content

I choose content that always has a niche specific theme in mind as well as speaking to the target audience I’m trying to attract.

7. Guests

I’ve been using LinkedIn as the main platform to get my guests. I have a link to the podcast in my LI profile for contact information so it makes it easier for people to get a taste of what it’s like.

8. Equipment

I strongly recommend using a quality microphone but you don’t need to start out with something too expensive. You want to use a mic that will have you sounding very well, but you also want to make sure that you keep expenses down at first until you’re sure that you’ll continue creating podcast episodes.

Please listen to the entire episode for all of the topics that are covered. A bit too much to put into the show notes here.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Gaining Influence

In this episode, I’d like to take your story…your message to another level. Today, I’d like to continue the theme of how you can have a significant influence and impact in people’s lives, and promote yourself, promote your business, all through the process of helping people.

Every business needs to have a way of bringing in potential clients and getting exposure. Getting necessary visibility. And the world of advertising has flipped upside down lately with the added realm of social media and how people can have both national and international visibility…for free.

But I'm not pointing you to social media in this episode. I'm recommending that you, too, can have your own podcast. You can have a national and international voice. You can have a worldwide influence. If others can do it and have huge success with their podcast then there’s a good possibility that you can too.

But you’ll need a plan.

Having this platform is how I can have influence and impact.

And I understand that most of us weren’t raised to know and embrace risk. But when I talk about starting a podcast, to me, the biggest risk is your time. Is there some element of risk? Yes. Do I think it’s worth it to build an international platform? Of course I do.

As of today, when I look at the podcast analytics, I see downloads all around the world and certainly all across the United States, Canada, Germany and Australia and a host of other countries as well.

This is what motivates me to continue. What’s your version of success? Well, that’s up to you. Do you like to invest in others? I say, invest in yourself. You can have more control of the outcome that way. It’s a lot less riskier when you bet on yourself and can control the outcome.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Gaps and building bridges

The goal of every business is sales. Without it, the business dies. Plain and simple. You need to sell your products or services one way or another. There are a lot of ways to do this, but there’s currently a huge gap between your target market and you and you need to close it. You need to build a bridge and then get them to walk over it.

Now this may happen one step at a time, over time, or you may have found a way to close that gap a lot faster. But people don’t normally buy something the first time they see it or hear about it.

Normally, it takes a few times for people to warm up to you or your product or service and help them through the sales process. If you’ve been listening to this podcast recently, you’ll already know about the ‘know/like/trust/try/buy’ process. Simple, but not easy.

Closing the gap

So how do we close that gap so that people will buy our product? What bridges do we need to build? Do you just talk about your expertise and how great you are? Do you just talk about your products or services and how great they are? Or is there another way that’s proven to be successful.

If you watch TV or listen to the radio, you may be in the habit of partially tuning out when it comes to the commercials. I can’t blame you. I spent many years muting the TV during commercial time. But now, I’m going to ask you to pay attention to at least some of the commercials. If you watch or listen closely, you’ll see a pattern with their message and how it’s delivered.

These commercials spent a lot of advertising and research money in making all these ads and believe me, they know what they’re doing.

More and more ads are persuading people to buy through the use of stories. And some, really tug on the emotions more than others but they use a blend of emotions and logic…and we’ll get to that later on.

But for now, I’d like to talk about stories in a different way. Your story.

How can you use your story to get your products and services into the hands of customers who need it? Those who bridge the gaps win. If you can use your story to build a connection with your target market you get them moving in your direction. They start coming to you.

As Kindra Hall puts it in her book ‘Stories That Stick’, “Is there a way to simultaneously capture attention, influence, and transform audiences? How do you build bridges that last and close the gaps once and for all?” Storytelling. In the end, stories are what sticks and more and more advertisers are using them.

But there’s many different kinds of stories and it’s not possible to go through them all, so I’m just going to talk about one in this episode; the Founder’s Story.

But before we get to the Founders Story we need to go over the components of a great story. Again, according to Kindra Hall, the 4 things great stories should have are:

• An identifiable character

• Authentic emotion

• A significant moment

• Specific details (details about being human, not about numbers or stats)

Since this is about you, your company and how you can sell your product and services, the Founders Story will be used to give yourself the credibility you’ll need to start bridging the gap. You’ll be the ‘hero’ so to speak in this story but we’re going to do it in a way that’ll give the listener a natural emotional connection, without bragging about you.

I've included the long version of my Founder's Story in this episode for you to hear as an example.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Making a decision

I mentioned in a much earlier episode that I made a later in life pivot.. a few of them actually and so I sort of know what it’s like to face change and to step out of the comfort zone.

Now for some, change can happen in a number of ways:

• It could be voluntary for many reasons

o Maybe you want to retire with purpose and you’ve had this idea in your head for awhile

o Maybe you’re already retired either from the military or the workforce and you want to try life 2.0 but this time doing something that makes you feel alive

• Or maybe this life change you’re going through isn’t voluntary and you’re scrambling a bit to figure some things out

o It could be because of a job loss

o It could be because of a divorce

o It could be a number of reasons

Either way, voluntary change or involuntary change, it’s still change. And that’s something that a lot of people have a hard time with.

But if nothing changes, then everything will stay the same right? And it’s for that reason alone that you’re even thinking about stepping out of the comfort zone. Maybe you’re tired of feeling comfortable.

And even though you used to think that you’d never really pursue that dream you’ve had to start your own business, now, with the situation you’re facing, it’s starting to look like it might not be such a bad idea after all. Am I right? Like I said, I’ve been through this scenario more than once.

But.. you’ve got a lot of questions. And doubts. And then more questions about the answers to the first questions. I get it. There’s a lot to think about. There’s a lot to talk about. But at the same time, if you’re anything like me, over thinking can also be tying your hands behind your back.

So, are you an overthinker? Overplanner? One thing I noticed about overthinking is that it always seem to lean toward the negative. Have you ever noticed that? We don’t overthink the positive and wonder about all the things that could go right, do we? We seem to be naturally convinced of the negative and have to have someone, or maybe a few people, who are the ultimate optimist try and break through our negative thinking and persuade us that a good or great outcome is certainly possible as well.

In his new book ‘Soundtracks’ by Jon Acuff, he describes overthinking this way. “It’s one of the most expensive things in the world because it wastes time, creativity, and productivity. It’s an epidemic of inaction, a tsunami of stuckness…Over the years, you’ve built a soundtrack about your career. You have a soundtrack for all your relationships. You have a soundtrack you believe about your hopes, dreams, goals, and every other aspect of your life. If you listen to any thought long enough, it becomes a part of your personal playlist.”

Now I’m a big fan of planning and being prepared. But I’ve also found that that can be an excuse for never actually moving forward to the point of actually doing something meaningful. Of flipping that commitment switch in your head and calling yourself an entrepreneur.

Because there IS an entrepreneurial switch you have to at some point, flip. It’s there. And yes, it’s all about mindset and how we view ourselves and how we view the possibilities of success and how we view our potential. It’s thinking about how we think.

Because our thoughts control our emotions. Ok.. so, do you want to have a successful business someday? Whether it’s something full time or part time? If you want to be successful, then it’ll start when you believe you’ll be successful. Don’t have a pathway yet for your dream, then make a path. You can do it. We were made to dream. I believe in you. How? I already told you. If I can do it, so can you.

Do you want to be an entrepreneur someday? Then start calling yourself one now. Start thinking of yourself as one now. You’ll need that mindset solidified in your head first, in advance, not later when you think you’ve arrived at some stage of accomplishment.

Are you thinking about being an entrepreneur? Then tell yourself you are one now. Think like one. Act like one. Plan like one. Live like one. Introduce yourself as an entrepreneur. It’s not being fake or phony. This is the way it starts the process of how you work through the startup phase of launching your dream. This is what needs to happen to turn that dream into a reality. A commitment. An identity. A new focus on life and how you’ll live it.

Don’t think you have what it takes? I won’t believe that. Look, if I can do it, so can you. Now will you make some mistakes? Of course. Everyone does. And sometimes those mistakes will help you to learn what the true path you’re supposed to be on really is. Mistakes are just life telling you to not do that again. So then when we learn by the life mistakes or the business mistakes, no matter what they are, we’re on the way to a better, more focused path.

Now, you can certainly just take all this in and store it away with everything else you’ve learned about starting your business, but be certain of this. The more you delay, the more money it could be costing you. This isn’t a guilt trip I’m pulling on you. This is just me thinking about how much passive income I would have never earned if I didn’t start when I did. Now did I start too late? I think so. But I can’t change that. I quit my job, spent a year in business with someone else that didn’t work out and then went solo in 2002. I started receiving passive income in 2003. Passive income. Products or services that people purchase that automatically renew.

Now looking back, if I didn’t start my business when I did, I would have never started the process of receiving that passive income. Translation…money lost. Money never earned. Now if I had never flipped that entrepreneurial switch in my head and just kept working that job I hated, many thousands of passive income dollars NEVER EARNED.

So learn from my mistakes, yes, but also learn from my successes also, OK? There’s a time for planning and waiting and there comes a time to make a commitment.

So what’s it going to be? Will today be the day you stop letting others decide what your path will be and take control of your dreams? Will today be the day you make the leap to take your life back?

Sometimes there’s a leap forward and sometimes there’s baby steps forward. I see it as a leap in your mindset and then the baby steps for the process you’ll need to go through to launch your business.

But this message today isn’t about process. It’s about a choice. What are you going to choose to be today? You’re listening to a small business podcast or reading my small business blog for a reason. That shows me that you’re half way there and you’ve got your finger on the switch you need to flip but you’re not quite sure about something yet.

If you’re going to wait until you have all the answers to your questions, then you’ll never flip the switch. There’s a lot of things you’ll just have to learn as you go. And that’s ok. That’s a normal part of the process.

So whatever reasons you have for believing something other than you being successful? Get rid of them.

• Think you waited too long and the window of opportunity has passed? Don’t believe it.

• Not good with technology, so you don’t think you can learn what you need? Don’t believe it. There’s plenty of resources and people that will help you.

• People might think you’re crazy so it’s holding you back? Don’t believe THEM.

• You’ve had a business before and it didn’t work out so you’re not sure if you can be successful this time? Don’t believe it. You’re chances of success are even greater now that you made some mistakes and know what not to do.

You can do this! Again, if I can do it, so can you. If you need some help along the way, reach out to someone that’s been through the process with success.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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I’ve found that, over the years, it can be easy to focus on the more tangible parts of a business. The parts that we can see and feel. The parts that we can have a more direct impact on:

• Sales

• Marketing

• Products/Services

• Training videos

• Webinars

• Website design/content

• Branding

The list can go on and on. But there’s one aspect of a successful business that I think gets overlooked time and time again.

Copywriting.

Not just any type of copywriting, but using words to move prospects or even the casual observer through the ‘know/like/trust/try/buy’ process.. and then we’ll add to that ‘repeat’ as well. Because as business owners, what do we really want? Sales? Yes.. but we also want repeat customers.

So how does copywriting fit into the plan for getting repeat customers? It should fit into the entire plan for getting repeat customers.

• The website content

• The marketing content

• The phone script content (if you have one)

• The email marketing content

Pretty much everything should go through the lens of copywriting. I can promise you this; that whenever you’re watching TV or listening to the radio, you’re being bombarded with sales ads that have gone through an enormous amount of copy revisions and testing.

Once you learn the mindset and the method of quality copywriting, you’ll be able to pick apart the ads you hear and you’re going to understand what the advertiser is up to.

Remember, that art of copywriting is using words to either sell stuff, or to move people to action. That’s what every business needs and that’s what every business owner should want.

Now, I’m not saying that if you’re not on board with quality copywriting that you’re not a good business owner. I’m just saying that maybe, you’re just not understanding the importance of quality copy and the results it can produce.

You can have the greatest products and services around. You can be the best at what you do. But if you can’t convey how great those products and services are… if you can’t convey how great you are to either you’re prospects or the casual observer, as I like to call them…people that are watching you from a bit of a distance right now and they’re not quite sold on you or your business…just yet. If you can’t convey your message to them through the sales process, and draw them in, then your message…your marketing message isn’t getting the results you need.

People don’t buy if they have too many questions. People won’t take action if they don’t like you or trust you.

People still may not purchase your products or services even if they know, like and trust you. They need a reason. A real good one, to pull out their credit card and type in that number.

Most people buy on some level of emotion. And when we can mix some emotion with the logic behind what we’re offering, then that gets them moving in our direction a lot closer.

But just to be clear. I’m only talking about using effective copy in an ethical way. Not a guilt trip or manipulative way. People know what they want to buy and it’s our job to help them make that decision a little faster.

I’ve talked to people that sit on an idea for 5, 10, sometimes 20 years. And then, when they decide to move forward and pursue this dream they’ve had, what do they usually say? ‘I should have started a lot sooner. I don’t know why I waited this long.’

So if we know that some people are slow to take action, but they ultimately want to purchase that thing or service that you’re offering, then it’s the copywriters job, through ethical persuasion, to convince them to finally take the action they want to do anyway. Just don’t wait any longer.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to write copy. Following these simple copywriting rules will help your words to have more impact.

Copywriting Rule #1: Simplify

In the world of copywriting, complicated is NOT better. There’s a right way and a wrong way to write copy. Your goal always should be to communicate ideas and information in the clearest way possible. You want every single person who reads your copy to understand it perfectly.

That means you need to simplify as much as possible. Write concisely and avoid redundancy.

Copywriting Rule #2: Spend as Much Time on the Headings as the Body Copy

All of the headings in a piece need to be creatively and intelligently constructed. They need to grab the eye, inform, and sum up the content for a scanning reader. They need just as much care and attention as the body copy.

I recently changed all of the prior episode titles for the podcast to make them more appealing to listen to and hopefully download.

Copywriting Rule #3: Focus on Benefits, Not Features

Think of this next copywriting rule as the Golden Rule of online copy. Embed it into your psyche and put it into practice everywhere you possibly can.

When you stay focused on the benefits, you stay focused on your audience’s human needs. You tell them how your product or service fulfills those needs. You’re relating to them on a more personal level. Of course, when your copy is personal to your readers, it’s more compelling – and that’s the whole point, right?

Copywriting Rule #4: Don’t Write AT Your Audience – Write TO Them

What’s the difference between writing at them and not to them? Writing at your audience is pretty much the same as the way Flight attendants go over the safety guidelines at the beginning of every fight. They aren’t really talking TO you or engaging with you; they’re talking AT you. They’re presenting information…and that’s it.

So, the flip side to that is, think of writing to your audience as having a conversation. When you're crafting your copy, you’re message, picture in your head that you're talking directly to a person in your target audience. You're talking to your ideal client. Imagine that they're right in front of you.

Copywriting Rule #5: Tell People What to Do Next

Most of the time, if you don’t tell people what you want them to do, they won’t do it. Nobody can read minds. This holds true in copywriting, too. If you provide no direction on what the reader should do after they read your copy, they’ll do nothing. So, if your copy is getting read but not inspiring reader action, consider whether you have provided enough direction on what they should do next. In the copywriting world, this is known as the call-to-action (CTA).

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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What Is a Personal Brand?

A personal brand is much more than a flashy logo or a color palette. A personal brand goes far beyond having a nice-looking business card. A personal brand is not just about having a website with your name on it, although that’s certainly part of it.

Your personal brand is how you present yourself, both online and offline, to your ideal audience. Your personal brand is the image you put forth. It’s what you stand for. Your values. What you’re all about. The core of who you are as a person.

It’s the combination of your values, unique skills, experiences, stories, personality, and image, all presented authentically to your audience.

Why You Need to Build a Personal Brand

Every entrepreneur, coach, consultant, freelancer, etc. should be building their own brand. If you are trying to build a business of any sort, it’s important to build your own personal brand.

Personal branding allows you to stand out from the competition. Your competitors can’t bring what you bring to the table. They simply don’t have what you have to offer. You’re unique. Only you are you.

You have unique experiences, strengths, beliefs, perspectives, skills, and insights that set you apart from everyone else. Building your personal brand allows you highlight your strengths.

With every piece of content that you share, you establish yourself as an expert in your field. The more you show that you’re an expert, the more people will trust you.

Personal branding allows you to attract your ideal audience. When you’re an expert, you attract those who need your help the most. They want help from you because you’re the expert. It also generates more referrals from others in your field. And it allows you to charge a premium price.

How to Build a Personal Brand

Step #1: Determine who you really are. Building your personal brand is about sharing your authentic self with the world.

Ask yourself: What unique skills do I have? What are my core values? What am I most passionate about? What unique experiences have shaped who I am? How can I most effectively serve my core audience? What do I have to offer that no one else does?

Step #2: Determine what you want to accomplish. Once you’ve identified the core of who you are, it’s time to think about what you want to accomplish with your personal brand.

Ask yourself: What would I like to accomplish, both personally and professionally? What do I want to be known for? If I could be the world’s foremost expert on a topic, what would it be? What key message do I want to communicate? If I could only give one piece of advice, what would it be? What is the “personality” of my brand?

Step #3: Identify your target audience. There is a core demographic of people who will resonate deeply with you, your brand, and what you offer. This core demographic is your target audience.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Marketing has gone through quite an evolution over the past 20 years or so. With so many businesses transitioning to Internet based products and services, it’s forced businesses to rethink their approach and what’s actually effective for modern consumers.

Marketing, in today’s terms is: Getting someone who has a need to go through the ‘know/like/trust/try/buy’ process.

I like to think of it this way. Marketing is serving and sales is a relationship.

With modern marketing, it’s become the norm nowadays to create products and services that start off with a free element for people to try first so that it converts the casual observer into an active participant of our business. It’s the beginning of the ‘know/like/trust/try’ process.

Strategy Before Tactics

All tactical decisions should be filtered through your strategy.

Who is your target audience? Who is your ideal client? Once you determine those things, then work on the strategy to reach them.

Be Different

Why did I include this as part of the marketing strategy? Because being different will help you to stand out among the crowd and to get noticed. Being different doesn’t mean being weird, but to merge your personality and expertise into a solution that solves a problem for people that can pay good money for it.

Creating a plan

So now that we have a better understanding about modern marketing and how to niche down to an ideal client, what’s next?

It’s time to create a plan. But let’s create a plan based on some facts and research not just your gut feeling or hope that it will all turn out ok. Let’s ask some questions:

• Is there a demand for your product or service?

o Another way of looking at this is: Will they want what I have and will they value what I do?

• Will people pay good money for it? I’m talking about the main offer, not all products. I offer low cost E-books to help people but my main offer is the coaching services to help people tie it all together and give them clarity and focus, saving them a lot of time and money but also preventing some common mistakes people make when they don’t have that clarity.

• Will you be a business owner or a business operator? Big difference between the two.

• What will be the sales path that your prospect could take? For example:

o What will be your free or trial offer?

o What’s your starter offer?

o What’s your core offer? (this is the bigger price point product or service that will actually pay the bills)

o What are your add-ons to increase value?

o Will you have a ‘members only’ offer?

Friends, always remember to stay encouraged, follow your dreams and don't give up!

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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What is an email list?

An email list is a special list of names and email addresses of people who gave you permission to send them updates and promotions from your business.

Many expert marketers say their biggest mistake was not building an email list when they first started out.

Why build an email list?

Email marketing on average sees huge return on investment (ROI) for businesses in the USA.

Because email subscribers joined your email list from your website and verified their identity by clicking on a link (double-optin), they are very interested in what you have to offer. This is why they’re more likely to convert into paying customers.

Usually an email list gets 10 times higher conversions than social media campaigns.

And makes sense if you think about the reasons that make email an incredibly powerful communication channel:

1. Email is Personal

It gives you access to someone’s inbox. It’s very direct and personal.

1. Email has a very specific purpose

To get updates from you, a user fills out a form to signup for your email list and confirm their email address. Someone doing this much work is obviously interested in hearing from you and what you have to say, and they’ll be much more receptive to your message.

1. Email is Targeted

As I said before, the user has already shown interest in your product or content. Since you already know what they like, you can send them offers that you already know they’ll want to see and get better results.

1. You Own Your Email List

Look, with all the followers you have on social media, you do not own Facebook, Twitter, or Google. Your social media campaigns and SEO efforts can go to waste when these platforms change their policies. On the other hand, you own your email list, and it isn’t influenced by decisions of the social media giants.

1. Email is One-on-One

People read email in the privacy of their own inbox, on their timing and it’s not a public comment or on display for the world to see. They can ask you questions directly in private with confidence. This helps build trust and connection.

1. More People Use Email Several Times a Day

You may have heard that Facebook has 1.4 billion and Twitter has 100 million daily active users. What you have may not have heard, is the number of people using Email every day.

So let’s take a look at what you need to start building your email list.

3 Things You Need to Build an Email List:

1. A website or blog.

2. An email marketing service.

3. High-converting opt-in forms

All three of these are fairly easy to set up, and none of them require programming or design skills.

Listen to the full episode for the P.A.S.T.O.R. method for coming up with great content.

Friends, always remember to stay encouraged, follow your dreams and don't give up!

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Before we talk about products and services, we need to talk about sales. You need to sell your stuff. Whatever it is. Products or services, you need sales. Sales is what keeps businesses alive. So what do we do when we need to sell but we don’t like to sell? We help people.

My approach to sales has ALWAYS been from the perspective of helping people. And it’s worked just fine for me. I just said pretty much the same thing all the time but in different ways. “You need help with ______________ (fill in your blank) , and I can help you with that.”

When you focus on helping people you can relax and they can relax. Don’t worry now, when you help people, you’ll still be charging them. But all businesses help solve a problem for a profit. They all do this. You’re making decent money and what are you doing? Helping people.

But I’d be leaving out a significant piece of the puzzle if I didn’t talk about your USP. Your ‘unique selling proposition’. What makes you the better option? Why should someone take a risk on you over someone else that they may even know?

The answer to that question will be more about your personality and abilities than your experience or educational background. You are you and there’s only one of you. You’re passionate about _________ (whatever it is for you) but when you add to it your personality and the twist that you can give it, that’s what makes it unique.

You have unique skills, you have a unique perspective and matched with your experience, WHAM! You’re the one they should want.

Friends, always remember to stay encouraged, follow your dreams and don't give up!

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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5 Components Every Website Should Have

So let’s look at the 5 elements every website should have using basic copy techniques.

1. Pass the Grunt Test

If I put a laptop in the lap of a caveman, could this person understand these three things:

• What do you offer? In other words, what problem do you solve?

• How will it make my life better?

• What do I need to do to buy it?

2. Call to Action

Active calls to action are the ones that are most effective. Things like, ‘Learn more’ and ‘Get started’ are just too passive to get the results you’ll need for a response. Remember, sales, subscriptions and downloads are what we’re looking for.

3. Failure

What’s it going to cost me to not buy the product or service? If there’s not stakes in the game for not buying what you offer, then I really don’t have much reason to buy it.

4. Success

Now, we need to do the opposite. We need to paint the picture of what they’re life will look like when they do buy our product or service.

We need to explain to them the benefits of doing business with us.

5. Plan

You need to give your potential customers three steps in order to place an order. Making it simple reduces the risk they’ll feel in making an order. Something like this:

• Step one, we’re going to analyze your goals

• Step two, we’re going to give you a strategy

• Step three, I’m going to help you execute the strategy so that you can see results

Using these 5 steps will make it a lot easier for someone to do business with you.

Stay encouraged, follow your dream and don't give up!

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Vision or Dream?

So..What’s the difference between dream and vision? Aren’t they basically the same thing? Dream and vision are not the same thing.

A dream is a more lofty idea you have in your head without a lot of details. I’d like to retire and live in a more southern state where it’s warmer and have a decent retirement income from my business, or the sale of my business. No details. Exciting, but painless.

A vision is a dream solidified. Take your dream and attach a strategy. Now add the goals and tactics you’ll need to perform the strategy. Now you have a vision. You see, Dreams are nice. But a vision is work. A lot of work.

What’s the short or long term goal you have for the next year? For the next 5-10 years? Is it even possible to set detailed goals that far out? Well, I think you should. You have to have something to shoot for so you’re not being blown around by the winds of change or shiny object syndrome.

So… again, what’s your 1 year goal? Is it reachable? Does it stretch your abilities? Or are you playing it safe?

Are you thinking too small? Don’t be afraid to think big and dream big. Big things aren’t accomplished by people that think small. Big things are accomplished by people that think big.

But you see, it really all depends on what kind of lifestyle you want to have, along with the vision that you have, right?

Are you just out to make as much as you can and the lifestyle or family will just have to get used to it and understand?

Or are you looking for more of a lifestyle business scenario where you know how you want to live and you’re going to work this new business venture around that?

You see, it’s one thing to have these great dreams and visions, but execution is the key. Again, dreams are nice, but a vision is hard work.

Stay encouraged, follow your dream and don't give up!

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Social media has evolved quite a bit over the years. Not too long ago, having some sort of social media account was considered to be something ‘extra’ in our lives…something that was sort of fun to do, but not taken too seriously.

Back in the 90's (not that long ago for some of us), social media didn't even exist.

But today, with the advancement of the ‘smart phone’ (does anyone really call them that anymore? It’s really just ‘phone’ now), and how powerful they are, more and more functions are done on our phones instead of on a desktop or laptop computer. The focus of our time and efforts on what we now consider essential, revolves around social media in one way or another.

With such a staggering number of people using social media every single day, it is one of the most POWERFUL ways to grow your business.

You can get your brand in front of a vast audience who might otherwise not hear of you. Through consistent posting on social media, you can build a powerful brand that separates you from the crowd.

And you can establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry by regularly posting new, insightful content.

So if you're about to launch your new business, follow these simple steps and race out of the starting gate to get noticed faster and to be more profitable quicker.

This episode was a condensed version of the E-book that I have on my website. If you go to www.tomclairmont.com you can download it from there.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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We live in a time where it's very easy to get discouraged and think that only the wealthy can have opportunity and success. We seem to have a knack for dwelling on the negative, not the positive.

We have to be taught to be positive thinkers and many people even pay to hop on someone's course or community just to be part of the positive mindset and get help thinking and believing that a positive future is possible and obtainable.

And when it comes to our dreams it can be easy to talk ourselves our of the very dream we thought up in the first place.

You can make a lot of excuses why your business won't fly OR you can come up with a lot of reasons why it WILL succeed. Do you really want what you say you want? Or do you just want to dream.

Are you willing to take the action and put the effort in to make this dream happen?

Are you willing to at least try?

Dreaming about starting a business? Start your business. But don't start on a whim. Start with a solid plan in place. Timing is important, and the time is now.

You don't have to officially start now, but you can start now in your head. Make it official. Tell someone.

Are you a little older maybe and sort of finding it hard to come up with a dream you can believe in? I get it. My best dream came after 50. My best dream came after my deepest low in life.

But when I was in the pit I started looking up. I started to hope again. I saw smaller milestones come and go and had hope that bigger things were possible.

So if you're considering a later in life pivot, or if you're in the middle of one now, don't be discouraged thinking that the best years are in the past, believe that the best years are coming and that this year will be the best one yet.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Emily is a former philosophy professor who left the world of academia and teaching, but found that she could utilize her research skills when she discovered her love for longform writing, which led to her zone of genius as a ghost writer.

Think ghostwriters only work for celebrities or high profile execs? Emily believes that everyone could use another set of eyes on their content. If you’re strapped for time and itching to share ideas that you’re passionate about? Reach out to Emily Crookston.

Some of the topics we discussed in this episode:

· How she worked through her transition from academia to self employment

· How she chose the ghostwriting business model

· The parameters of ghostwriting for business books

· Tools of the trade

· Which comes first? Book or business plan?

· Flop or fortune? How she can tell if a book will make it big or be a dud.

· The difference between being a good author vs. a great author

Website: https://www.thepocketphd.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilycrookston

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Below are the show notes for this episode on the 7 major building blocks for starting a personal brand business. Are you required to have all 7? No. But I strongly recommend all 7 and use these and more in my business.

With these 7 building blocks, you'll have a very solid foundation to not only start but grow your business.

After all, that's what it's all about, right? Growing the business and making significant income from it.

These are my 7 major building blocks that I recommend:

1-Vision- you'll need to start with a vision so you can know how to lay the foundation of the business and the direction to take for the other 6 blocks that are being laid.

• Where do you want to go and how will you get there?

• What kind of business do you want to have?

• What kind of lifestyle do you want to have?

• What are your financial goals?

• What does success look like for you?

• What is your ‘WHY’?

2-Website -Some people think this is now optional, but I don’t agree. It offers value in many ways. You can only do so much from your phone and in my opinion, not having a website will hurt your chances of success, not make it any easier.

• Validates who you are
• You can offer products and services
• You can manage communication
• You can merge with ESP
• You can merge with shopping cart
• Central point of all communication

I won't get into the other deeper aspects of the website creation process, like:

• Domain name
• Hosting account
• Email address
• Blog-(optional)

Who’s going to do it?

• Build it yourself?
• Hire someone?

What kind of platform to use?

• The build it yourself option on GoDaddy or Weebly
• WordPress

o More control of the platform

o More control of the content

o More control of the plugins to use and how to build your business

o Will probably need some help

3-Product/Service -What are you going to sell? What is your USP (unique selling proposition)?

• What will be your signature product? (high dollar)

• What other options will you have?

• Option A low $
• Option B mid $$
• Option C high $$$
• Option D free product or service

4-Email list- creating, growing and maintaining an email list will be a critical tool in your toolbelt to sell products and have a profitable business

• Build the list using:

• Lead magnets
• Funnels

• Create content for the list

• Manage the list

5-Marketing Plan- the marketing plan will provide the overall strategy for the tactics being used to start and grow your business

• Create the plan

• Social media marketing plan
• Content marketing plan
• SEO

• Implement the plan

• Monitor the plan

6-Branding- branding will keep your 3 identities consistent in whatever message you give

What will your image/persona be?

You have 3 identities:

• Verbal-message about you and how you can help people
• Visual-consistent and professional throughout all communication platforms
• Values –what you believe and how you believe it-

7-Copywriting- with quality copy, you can help walk people through the Know --> Like --> Trust -->Try --> Buy process.

Some of the main topics you'll need with quality copywriting would be:

• How you’re going to help people

• Why they need your products and services

• Generating followers

• Building a community or tribe

• Converting the casual observer to paying client

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Here are just 4 benefits to starting a business later in life, based on my own experience and conversations that I have had with other older entrepreneurs.

Finding a Sense of Purpose

What are you passionate about? What do you want to change about the world? What problem do you wish someone would fix? Maybe it’s time to be a part of the solution.

Meeting People Who Share Your Interests

Starting a business in your 50s is a great way to make friends with people who share your interests. This is especially true if you focus on building a business around one of your passions.

Keep Your Mind and Your Body Healthy

Starting a business after 50 forces you to stay engaged with the world. It gives you something positive to focus your attention on and tells the world that you are not ready to be invisible.

Keeping the Dream Alive

The dream… YOUR dream should always be the primary motivator for starting a business. Without a dream, it’s all just going to feel like another job… like you’re just putting in your time to get more money.

Your dream.. a good dream.. goes beyond the money, and keeps you pressing forward to greater things.. things that you always wondered if you could achieve them, and are now finding that you can.

If you're interested in contacting Dan Moran from Next Act, you can go to https://next-act.com/

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Every day, more people are using the internet to start a side business, full time self employment or create a new revenue stream. There are always problems in the startup process. Issues that crop up that we didn’t expect, in addition to the problems that we did expect. But the solution isn’t more time or money, the solution is more clarity.

Clarity is power. When you have clarity, you multiply your time because you know exactly what to work on next. When you have clarity, you conserve money because you know exactly where to invest it. When you have clarity, you can work through any issue that comes up and have the motivation to keep going forward without being sidetracked.

I want to encourage you to be a learner but also a DOER. Action cures fear.

“Clarity comes with a marriage of movement and meditation.” by Mike Kim

The following is how Mike Kim presented clarity to me and my business. .

STEP 1- Determine Your ‘Why’

Few people or companies can clearly articulate why they do what they do. I’m not talking about making money, everyone has that as their reason ‘why’, but that’s really more of a result than a purpose.

Why will you get out of bed in the morning? Why will you be doing what you want your new startup business to do? Why will your company exist?

“Knowing your Why is not the only way to be successful, but it is the only way to maintain a lasting success and have a greater blend of innovation and flexibility.“ Simon Sinek

How do you determine your individual Why factor? Do you ‘go with your gut’?

What, is at the heart of what you should do? The following three questions will help you to gain more clarity. My personal business coach Mike Kim helped me work through these questions:

STEP 2- Determine Your ‘What’

Q1. What pisses you off? (a little crude, I know, but it gets to the point)

A. This is the injustice you see in the world.

Q2. What breaks your heart?

A. This is the compassion you have for people, organizations or causes.

Q3. What is the big problem you’re trying to solve?

A. This is the niche you need to determine for yourself.

STEP 3- Determine Your ‘How’

Strategy / Tactics

The two concepts are: strategy vs. tactics.

The legendary military strategist Sun Tzu said, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

In a nutshell, strategy is a “how” … not a “what.”

To be the best in your niche is a goal, not a strategy.

To serve people with honor and integrity is a vision, not a strategy.

Putting keywords into your blog post to optimize SEO is a tactic, not a strategy overall.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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What makes up your brand? What is “branding?” well Sarah talks about what branding is, the strategy behind your brand, and how it influences every part of your business.

She's a Brand Specialist and the creative mind behind KindaWonderful. With a background in graphic design, Sarah is focused on helping businesses share their passion with the world by building brands that are impactful, profitable and engaging.

She encourages people to create the strategy behind their brand before diving into visual designs and marketing. 

Her passion for branding coupled with her desire to help small businesses succeed led to the creation of a one-on-one coaching program called PracticalBrand.

www.kindawonderful.com

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Episode 22 of the Small Business Startup Essentials podcast with an interview of Jen Groover, personal mindset coach and world class serial entrepreneur-you won't want to miss this one

Jen talks about her new book 'The More Method' and starts off the conversation by explaining the 6 core aspects of mindfulness and how she uses an auditing checklist:

1. Is what you're doing hurting you or helping you?
2. Is what you're thinking hurting or helping you?
3. Our words can hurt us or help us and the quality of our words
4. What we're putting in our body and if it's helping us to be more productive
5. What are we doing with our free time and what goes into our body and minds
6. The quality of our emotions and to be more aware of the emotional scale

We then talked about how she fits mindfulness into the realm of small business. Jen recommends being honest about our limiting beliefs and do a self audit in order to do a course correct if we get off track of the business plan. By improving self awareness to what we're thinking, doing and feeling in order to stay calm and be more productive, we have a greater chance to achieve our business goals.

We then talked about the challenges of living in the present and to learn how to pause, breath and evaluate the current situation and determine if what we're experiencing is worth getting worked up about.

Listen in to get the entire conversation. There's much, much more to hear about how important mindfulness is for all of us, no matter what situation we're in.

www.jengroover.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/%E2%AD%90%EF%B8%8F-jen-groover-%E2%AD%90%EF%B8%8F-a438751/

https://jengroover.com/the-moore-method/

https://www.facebook.com/jengroover

https://twitter.com/jengroover

https://www.instagram.com/jengroover/

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In this episode, John Welch from Skymouse Studios gives us a peek inside the realm of website marketing, design and function and how other marketing companies just don't come through with what they promise.

Skymouse Studios is 100% all about small business development and is committed to helping you with your website every step of the way.

John helps us to understand the new expectations of websites and their purpose in a social media rich world. He had great insight not only with websites, but with how he and his partner built the business and their path to success.

Contact Info:

LinkedIn:

linkedin.com/in/johnrwelch

Email:

john@skymousestudios.com

Website:

www.skymousestudios.com

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Episode 20

Nick Loper is an author, speaker, side hustle guru that started out with a blog in 2009 promoting ways for people to have a part time business and eventually built a nationally recognized and very successful full time business. Nick is very well known all around the world and if you want more information you can go to www.sidehustlenation.com.

Listen in on this episode, to hear us discuss:

• His early beginnings when he started blog in 2009

• The process he had for picking the niche of Side Hustle Nation

• The purpose of starting the podcast

• His experience with the first couple of businesses that he started

• The story of what happened after he quit his job on the very first day and the issues with Google shutting his site down

• The growth of the podcast

• How he built passive income for himself

• How he uses social media and the success of the Facebook community

• His experience with mastermind groups (pros and cons)

• The one thing he would do differently looking back

• The long term goals for Side Hustle Nation

Don’t miss a minute of this interview folks.

www.sidehustlenation.com

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Sean Castrina is a serial entrepreneur, having started more than 20 companies over the last 20 years, and still seeks to launch a new venture annually. He is an investor, teacher and highly-sought-after speaker who communicates with humor and a bluntness that engages and captures his audience. He is the author of 8 Unbreakable Rules for Business Startup Success, The Greatest Entrepreneur in the World, and World’s Greatest Business Plan.

Listen in to this episode to hear Sean's wisdom and insight into the small business startup realm.

Topics covered:

The need for Confidence when starting a business.

Definition of a small business side hustle and how it’s not just another job.

Passive income and how to avoid the trap of spending too much time on things they shouldn’t be doing.

How formal education is not a requirement for becoming very wealthy.

How to use existing businesses to your advantage in having a successful business by making the concept better.

Pre-sales marketing and scaling the business

The problems of having a tight niche and expanding into other areas.

How to take your good business idea and fill in the gaps of what you don’t know how to do.

Questions Sean answered:

When did you realize that you didn’t want to have a regular job and wanted to have your own small business?

Did you have any support from family or friends?

Was your first business profitable?

What are the qualifications for becoming an entrepreneur?

What would you say to someone that has the desire to start a business but can’t seem to get started?

How did you do your market research initially?

How would you recommend people do their initial research?

How much should someone niche down in their business?

What would you say to someone who wants to pivot to being self employed over 40 or 50 and how they should understand the modern social media methods that they’re not used to using?

www.seancastrina.com

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Matt Crump, is a author, business coach/consultant, certified empowerment life coach & a purveyor of hope (cancer survivor) ready to meet another superhero…You!

In this episode, Tom and Matt discuss the topics of:

• future trends
• how Matt defines success and who his ideal client is
• explaining his perspective for both personal and professional coaching
• books he's written on overcoming life's challenges and personal development
• Matt's advice for new entrepreneurs

You can go to www.mattcrump.tv for more information or visit his LinkedIn page at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcrump-coach-consultant/

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Episode Notes

Donna believes confidence is what is needed to stop playing small and step up into life. Working with entrepreneurs allows her to empower them to reach their full potential. She provides business owners with the skills and knowledge they can start implementing immediately.

In this episode, Donna helps us understand how to have confidence in ourselves so that we can speak effectively in front of others, whether it's in a small room of people or on a larger platform. She also shares some insight on what people struggle with the most with public speaking. 

We also touch on the topic of story telling and how essential it is to connect with the audience and how to make the story engaging. 

This episode is a little longer than others (about 32 minutes) but it's worth it!

http://donnariccardo.com/

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Episode 16

In this episode, Kris Hughes tells us how he started as a Content Marketing Strategist and how he learned SEO, website strategy and traffic acquisition and combining these elements to help build your business.

After his success at 'Wide Open Media Group' for four years, he is now a successful business owner, helping others to look at their business and content marketing in a holistic way in order to drive results.

Kris will help you through the planning and research process every step of the way with a plan to grow your business.

www.krishughes.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishughes/

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Episode 15

Wesley Dean is the founder of Intermotion Media. He’s travelled around the world doing promotional work for non-profits and is currently based out of the Washington DC area.

Listen in on this episode where Wesley reveals how he started his videography business and how he was able to take it to another level and even use his skills doing video consultancy through the COVID pandemic.

We also discuss the various aspects of his business including having both EQ and IQ, and how to perfect the blend of using video, music and message in his productions.

I highly encourage you to go to Wesley's websites to see his work and listen in on his podcast where he dives into his business and gives you a behind the scenes perspective on Intermotion Media.

Website:

www.wesleydean.co

www.intermotionmedia.com

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Wendy Gilhula is an educator, writer, kindness app creator, and best-selling author of the Pika Bunny Learning Series. Holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from The University of Tennessee, Wendy has created an innovative learning series that teaches understanding and kindness.

Wendy creates mobile PIKA (Practice Intentional Kindness Apps) for businesses that want to reward their employees for acts of kindness. Her books have been recommended by therapists, counselors, activists, and teachers alike. As a creative consultant, Wendy offers Pika Bunny Power Hours to help authors take their children's manuscripts to the next level.

Wendy shares with us how she started her author career and published her children’s series and then took it to another level by creating a phone app for businesses to use to reward kindness.

If you’re an aspiring author or author coach, listen in to get some extra inspiration on how you can be an author or author coach like Wendy.

www.wendygilhula.com

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Episode 13-Interview with Justin Batt-Fatherhood Disruptor | Healthcare Innovator | TEDx Speaker | OCR Athlete

Justin Batt is one of the fortunate people who found the collision of their calling and passion in life. Justin is a healthcare innovator and works in the B2B sector with the largest biopharmaceutical and life science companies in the world.

Justin Batt aims to disrupt fatherhood with intentionality, by creating intentional fathers who raise good kids who become great adults. He founded Daddy Saturday in his own backyard with his four children, and it’s grown into a national movement engaging fathers across multiple channels, including YouTube, social media, the Daddy Saturday book, a podcast, merchandise, live events, and a 501(c)(3) foundation, through which Justin plans to impact 10 million fathers in the next 10 years.

In addition, Justin is a highly sought after healthcare consultant and a successful serial entrepreneur, as well as a TEDx and international public speaker, a multi-published author, and a regular guest on multiple podcasts. When not at work, Justin can be found helping his wife, Heather, run her bridal enterprise, and spending time with his four children.

Listen in to this episode were Justin explains the ins and outs, the ups and downs of starting one of their brick and mortar businesses selling wedding gowns.

Justin walks us through their journey of the Dream/Plan/Execute the small business startup process.

Websites:

https://justinbatt.com/

https://daddysaturday.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinbatt/

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April Shprintz has spent over two decades driving growth for companies through Generosity. She started her career in the Air Force and went on to specialize in sales, operations, and marketing, supporting Fortune 500 clients and generating over $1 billion in combined additional revenue for the companies she served. 3 ½ years ago, after her highest earning, 7- figure year in the corporate world,

April left to start Driven Outcomes helping companies around the globe accelerate their businesses. April’s helps them make their impossible, possible using the principles of The Generosity Culture.

In this episode, she walks us through her transition out of the military and into the corporate world, but then decides, to transition again, but this time start her own business as a consultant for business development.

LinkedIn:

www.linkedin.com/in/aprilshprintz

Website:

www.drivenoutcomes.com

We'd love to hear from you about this episode!

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Episode 11 Notes:

Does the task of starting a business seem either vague, or daunting, or expensive, or something that just takes too much time or money?

Does any one…or ALL of these things stop you in your tracks so that you WANT to start a business, but you just can’t seem to get excited about it and actually DO something?

I mean.. I get it. You have the idea, and you have the desire, and the entrepreneurial spirit, but when it just comes down to ‘There is just SO MUCH TO DO… and it’s JUST ME’.. “how am I going to get this thing started …. And then, BE SUCCESSFUL?”

Well, believe me, you’re not the only one to have these thoughts and feelings. It’s quite common.

But when you climb a mountain, you only do it one step at a time. There’s no jumping UP the mountain. Right?

So… with determination, and courage, and focus, and ENERGY, you can climb the small business startup mountain, and eventually get to the top.

YOU CAN DO IT. I KNOW YOU CAN, BECAUSE SO MANY OTHERS HAVE ALREADY HAD THE SAME CHALLENGES, BUT THEY KEPT AT IT AND GOT IT DONE.

Someone told me a long time ago when I was a teenager about to go to college…. ‘If others can do it, so can you. They’re no different than you. They have the same skills, doubts and fears and limitations that we all have.’

So, the concept is the same here… If a LOT of other people can start a business and be successful, then so can you. Hey, if I can do it, I know you can.

Will it be challenging? Yes. Will it take a huge commitment? Yes. Is there a chance that you could fail? Always.

But not trying.. AT ALL.. is already failing.

But what’s worse.. trying and failing, or regret?

I’ve lived long enough to know a lot about regret.

The good thing about trying and failing, is that you now know more about what doesn’t work which increases your chances of succeeding the next time.

But there are ways to have a leaner, cheaper, faster business startup. It doesn’t always have to take a lot of time or money, or a 17 page business plan (like what I did).

If you’re a small, services based personal brand business, you can get the business registered at the County Courthouse and get your LLC later on, when you have a bit more money. The website can be a small and simple one to get you started. Social media can be handled for free at first. You can go to Fiverr and get some graphic design done on the cheap (I did). You can create a blog for free. You can even start a podcast for free nowadays.

You can build a team of independent service providers around you that only gets paid for certain tasks so that you can keep your expenses down. By not hiring others to be on your payroll, you won’t have that immediate overhead commitment that you now have to worry about. Keeping expenses down keeps your stress level down also.

There are a lot of low budget ways to turn your dream into a reality.

So dream, and dream, and dream some more. Don’t stop dreaming. Don’t stop thinking of good ideas. ONE of those good ideas will turn into a GREAT IDEA.

Keep believing in yourself. I believe in you. “How?” you say, when I don’t even know you?

If I can do it, so can you!

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What if you could determine who in your audience is your best client in 180 seconds?

Juliet Clark is a dynamic and sought -after speaker and podcaster who has spent the last twenty years helping authors, coaches, speakers, and small businesses all over the world build expert platforms.

Corporate companies, start ups, and author/ speaker incubators world- wide have benefited from Juliet’s unique and massively effective method of mastering lead generation and qualification for expert status.

Juliet created a platform- building tool that assesses audience obstacles, generates leads, and qualifies leads for businesses. This simple technology can be used on social media, from the stage, and at workshops to build email lists and create conversations that build long- term relationships with potential clients. Her podcast, Promote, Profit, Publish, helps entrepreneurs understand how to use great tools in the coaching and small business spaces.

In this episode, Juliet and I discuss the writing, printing and publishing process and how Superbrand Publishing offers unique advantages over other, traditional publishing companies with their qualifying tools.

Juliet’s Contact Information:

www.linkedin.com/in/julietdillonclark

Websites

superbrandpublishing.com (Company Website)

Email

juliet@julietclark.com

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Markus Copeland is from Lynchburg VA and currently has a fitness training business SELF Dreams, in Colonial Heights VA, helping people of all ages with their unique fitness goals.

He’s been in the fitness industry for about 10 years and follows this philosophy: “I believe that everyone can accomplish any dreams they have by having self determination, self respect, self esteem, self assurance, being self motivated and having self sacrifice.”

In this episode, he discusses how he started his fitness business, some of the challenges he faced and how he worked with a marketing company to add products to sell that enhanced his fitness business.

Markus has an inspiring message of success and determination.

Website: https://trainwithselfdreams.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markus-copeland-52998654/

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Christine J. Gilbert shares how one book led to another and how she was able to build upon each book to have 2 very different 3 book series for both adults and children.

Christine has an inspiring story of how she grew up in a small town in Missouri, worked her way up to corporate executive and then later became a successful author and entrepreneur.

Christine is the author of six books- 3 books for the adult series and 3 for the children’s series.

Her 3 book adult series titles are:

• MANipulated Into Fear, There Is Always A Pattern, that was Book 1,

• White Roses In A Dream, Traits, Patterns, and Action Plans, that was Book 2, and

• DEEP SEEDED SECRETS, Corruption Lies, and Murder, as Book 3.

Based on a true story. Her books were written under her pseudonym, Marvela Dawnay.

She wrote a children’s series to educate children and adults about safety and awareness with a super magical power theme for fun.

Christine published the 3 book series:,

Super Grandma and Super Grandpa, The Unknown Superheroes, as Book 1 (2015), Book 2 (2016), Book 3 (2017)

All three books have 911 as the published date inside the book because in the story she educates on the 911 emergency phone number. The story also educates stranger danger, cyber-bullying, stop, drop, and roll, and much more!

She was also in the Army reserves for 6 years.

In this episode, she shares with us her experiences through the writing, publishing and product development process and gives aspiring authors tips on how they can get started with their journey to being a published author as well.

https://www.supergrandmaandsupergrandpa.com/

https://www.christinejgilbert-books.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinejgilbert/

https://www.facebook.com/authorchristinejgilbert

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Kari Schwear has spent most of her professional life helping people find the story they want to tell about the choices they make in their lives. For the past two decades, she has helped companies grow by finding new ways to serve clients.

Kari believes the best way for a company to expand is to help its clients expand. She founded GrayTonic and Question the Drink (QTD) in 2018 for professionals like herself that are using alcohol as a coping mechanism for stress. Kari is a Discovery Coach, speaker, and a co-author of the book, The Successful Mind, Tools for Living a Purposeful, Productive, and Happy Life.

Kari discusses the transition she went through from the corporate life at Porche to being self employed, the obstacles she faced, the steps she took to build a team, take on a business partner and how her husband supported her through it all.

She's built her successful business and provides some encouragement for new entrepreneurs on what they can expect when they start a business, to not give up on the dream, but stay focused and know that if they keep working at the business, you, too will realize your dream as well.

Website: https://www.graytonic.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karischwear/

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Finding Your Zone of Genius

Have you reached your true potential? If not, what is holding you back?

Do you know what your true potential is?

In this episode, we will be diving in to the possibilities of aiming higher and achieving much, much more than we ever thought possible.

There is a very popular book that hit the shopping carts in 2009 called The Big Leap, by personal growth guru Gay Hendricks, that refers to a concept called your “Zone of Genius”. In Hendricks’ book he explains there are four zones we all operate from:

1. The Zone of Incompetence: In this zone, you are engaging in something you inherently do not understand or are not skilled at.

2. The Zone of Competence: In this zone, you are doing what you are efficient at, but recognize that many people are likewise efficient at it, thus not distinguishing your capabilities in any significant way.

3. The Zone of Excellence: In this zone, you are doing something you are tremendously skilled at. Often, the zone of excellence is cultivated, it's practiced and established over time.

4. The Zone of Genius: In this zone, you capitalize on your natural abilities which are innate, rather than learned. This is the state in which you get into "flow," find ceaseless inspiration, and seem to not only come up with work that is distinguished and unique, but also do so in a way that excels far and beyond what anyone else is doing.

Now, he’s not talking about how to become a genius, but how to enter into that special, personal ‘zone’ as we’re calling it, that uses your best skills to the fullest and what will bring you the most fulfillment in life.

Most successful people build their careers in their zone of excellence, the area of life in which your skills are proficient. The problem with the zone of excellence — and the reason why so many people in it are most unhappy — is that it doesn’t take you into that special place…that ‘I feel the most fulfilled’ in. If you can pinpoint, the one skill or talent in your zone of excellence that you feel most comfortable with, and at ease with, then that is the place where you can actually thrive.

As you can probably imagine, highly successful people function in the ZOE, in which they are doing things at which they are highly skilled. But staying in this zone is ultimately unsatisfying, though, because it does not engage the innate genius of the individual.

Also, in the book, Mr. Hendricks poses four questions to help you start to identify your Zone of Genius:

· What do you most love to do? (In other words, this one thing, you love so much, you can do it for long stretches of time without getting tired or bored.)

· What work do you do that doesn’t seem like work?

· In your work, what produces the highest ratio of abundance and satisfaction to amount of time spent? (Even if you do only ten seconds or a few minutes of it, an idea or a deeper connection may spring forth that leads to huge value. Whatever that one thing is, find it and put the highest priority on doing some of it every day.)

· What’s your unique ability? (There is a special skill you’re gifted with. This unique ability, fully realized and put to work can provide enormous benefits to you and any organization you serve.)

As with any other kind of lasting, meaningful change, commitment is the gateway to the zone of genius. Make a commitment to blocking out just thirty minutes a day in their calendars to devote to cultivating their genius. The thirty minutes can involve journaling, meditating or any number of other activities, just as long as you are focusing on your genius for thirty uninterrupted minutes. After you have gotten your thirty minutes a day you’re your routine, then, bump it up to forty five minutes. Ultimately I want to see people I work with spending 90% of their time in their zone of genius, but you’ve got to start somewhere and my recommendation is to start with 30 minutes a day.

Your zone of genius is what is most effortless for you. If you are truly able to relax and begin the work, you recognize that you are able to create almost instantaneously, and without too much thought. When you combine this natural talent and skill with hours of practice and repetition, you find yourself among the small percentage of people who can break through and redefine an industry.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

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Show Notes

Finally!

Yes, you’ve finally decided that you want to have your own business doing what you love to do. No matter what others may say or think, this is what you want. You’ve been thinking about this for awhile and even though you don’t have the whole plan mapped out yet, that’s ok. You already know that you can’t have it all planned out to the letter anyway, so why waste the time in trying.

Plans change, decisions change, the consumer demands change, finances change, relationships change… you get all that. But you also get that you should have some sort of a blueprint to refer to over and over again so that through all the changes, the overall plan…the overall goal still keeps you travelling in the right direction.

You’ve read some good books on starting a business, but books can only bring you so far. And so can Google. And YouTube. And any other Internet search you can do.

You don’t need more convincing. You don’t need more inspiration. You just need someone to tell you what the key components of an online business are and how to get them done.

But at some point, you have to learn by doing. You have to move forward, make decisions, see what happens, fix what needs fixing and keep moving forward. Little by little, day by day. This business won’t launch on its own. It won’t bring in clients or sell products by itself. Now you can hire someone to run this business for you, but I hope you’re able to let go of a thousand decisions that need to be made and let someone else make them.

Or, you can believe in yourself and have confidence that you can do this. If tens of thousands of others in your situation figured out a way to do it, then you can too.

And this Podcast is here to help you through the process. This Podcast can help to be your blueprint. You can download the episodes that offer you the most value and listen to them over and over again.

Who Are You?

So, who are you? What skills and experience can you offer to people? Do you have a product or a service? Or are you trying to do both? But I hope you’re convinced by now that you’re unique. You have specific:

• skills

• experience

• personality,

• knowledge,

• wisdom

And it doesn’t matter who else is out there already running their successful business in the space you want to run yours. There’s plenty of opportunity out there for you to be successful as well. It’s because you are unique in who you are and what you have to offer; that will be your ticket to success.

Your uniqueness will be your brand. Your special talents and how you offer a solution to solving that problem you solve for people will be your brand. You already have a brand. You already have a certain persona and style and perspective on what you know how to do.

So since you’re already a brand, build that brand. Branding expert, Mike Kim, puts it this way, “It’s not going to be easy, but if you build your personal brand with intention, you truly can create a highly profitable and personally fulfilling business. You truly can change your life while changing other people’s lives, and I truly believe this is one of the most noble ways to make a living.”

And friends, I’ll help you through this process. Whether you’re trying to figure out step 1 or even if you haven’t gotten to step one yet. I’ll help you figure out who you are, what you have to offer and how to market your ideas.

It’s going to take work and some vulnerability on your part sometimes to take some advice and maybe do things a little differently that you thought, but if you’re willing to take some guidance, we can work together to turn your dream into a reality.

But it’s easy to think ‘Great, once I have this all figured out, I’ll start.” Nope, I’m going to ask you to start before you’ve got it all figured out with me alongside as your guide.

The New Version of You

The new Entrepreneur you will need to be nurtured and developed. You see, we all have different versions of who we are based on what we’re doing. There’s:

• The work you

• The home you

• The parent you

• The son or daughter you

• The spouse you

• The out with friends you

• If you have a gym membership, there’s the gym you

And that’s just normal. You’re being a different person for different scenarios but you’re still being authentically you. So now, with this new role of starting and running your own business, you need to work on the entrepreneur you. The business minded version of you.

Be Authentic Online

Most of us have some sort of apprehension to how we appear on the Internet. And trust me, I know why. Once it’s out there it can be there for a long time. Now, I don’t have anything to worry about specifically, but it can get to be a bit too much if we’re sort of consumed with that online image.

And I think it’s really getting to be too much the way we’re bombarded with all the show and hype of people that present themselves as ‘Internet stars’ and that we should just automatically be in awe of them. I’m tired of the phoniness, aren’t you? The constant noise, the empty promises.

But don’t let their phoniness stop you from being authentically you. You are who you are, and your success will be based on that. Hey, I’ve said for some time now, that I think I have a face for radio and a voice for print, ok. But even though I’m not thrilled with how I look or sound, I didn’t let that stop me from having my own Website and Podcast. I’m going to be me and if others don’t like that then they can go to someone else for startup advice. It’s their choice.

If you’re like me, you tend to look at others and think that there path to success is straight and they had it all figured out. But trust me, their path, as well as your path will not be straight. It’s going to be full of curves and twists and turns and even a few circles now and then. But that’s normal. You can even throw in a few failures here and there and that’s ok too.

Now I really don’t know your specific situation and at what stage in life you’re going through. I specialize in helping those making that later in life pivot to an online personal brand business because I know how the business climate used to be and how it is now. And I can help them with that internal, mental transition and to get past all the technology that gets in the way in this modern world.

So, what’s in store for some upcoming Podcast episodes? Well, stay tuned because in one way or another, I’m going to go over what I call ‘The 7 Building Blocks to a Successful Business’. These are the 7 core topics that I think every small business should understand and implement. What are they?

1. Your vision

2. The Website

3. Products or Services

4. Marketing

5. Email list

6. Branding

7. Copywriting

Now of course, there’s a hundred more topics that we’ll go over too, and even some interviews of people that we can learn from on how they build their business, but if I had to pick what the core topics are for LAUNCHING the business, it would be this list of 7 that I just mentioned.

So…FINALLY, you’ve decided to start your own business. Well, jump on the entrepreneur train and hang on. We’re going to have quite a ride.

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call with Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Show Notes

Some people may be struggling with not only developing your mission, but not even knowing what the mission is supposed to be. But where does the ‘mission’ fit into the bigger picture here of our lives?

I like to look at it this way..

We all have a purpose in life.. even though many struggle to figure this out. But if you separate the perspective into layers and look at it this way, it may help. For example.. I like to think of life this way.

· A Vision

· A Mission

· Goals

· And Tasks to accomplish the goals.

Our ‘vision’ is the greater purpose.. why we think we are here on this planet. What are we ‘called’ to do?

The Mission is defined as how we are supposed to focus on fulfilling the vision.

For example.. I have been helping a non-profit org for a few years now called Fresh Water Friends and the Executive Director has a ‘vision’ to serve humanity.

The ‘mission’ is to install water wells for impoverished villages in India or Uganda.

The goal, is one well per week.

The tasks are all related to the goal.. raising money, communicating with the field manager in India or Uganda, supporting them with their problems and installation issues.. etc..

If you are unsure at to what your mission in life would be, knowing what your strengths are…and weaknesses… will help you decide. Everyone is good at something.. whether you are born with a certain talent or skill, or if you have some other talent that gets developed over time and turns out to be something that you love to do.. or maybe it’s some sort of hidden talent that you never even thought you had.

You can take these talents… whether they are natural or developed.. and capitalize on your specific business niche. Learn your strengths and build on them. Too many people focus on their weaknesses and try to make them better, instead of taking what they do well and capitalizing on those skills. I recommend taking the Kolbe self evaluation test for about $50. They have a great personal evaluation test that will highlight your strengths and give you a better understanding of yourself

Knowing yourself better will help you get from where you are, to where you want to be.

You are the only one who is going to get you out of your situation. Only you can turn your dream into a reality. If you are serious, you will stop making excuses and open your mind to the possibilities..

Take advantage of living in the United States of America and all that it had to offer.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Show Notes

As I talk to people about the startup process, I hear a question over and over ‘How do I decide if I should start a business?’

This all comes down to ‘what’s your motivation?’ In other words.. what is your ‘why’?

Many reasons motivate entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams of launching profitable companies. Some reasons are better than others while others are downright awful.

Before making a decision that is difficult to undo, it's important to ask yourself difficult questions about your underlying motivations for starting a business. By doing so, you can protect yourself from unnecessary risk, and you may just confirm why you definitely should become an entrepreneur.

You can go to www.tomclairmont.com for more information on how to work through the process of starting your small business. Personal coaching is available also.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Show Notes

We all have those times in our lives that we wish we could take back and do over again, right? Well, that’s how I feel about my startup experience 20 years ago. Not having somebody to turn to that had the know-how and proven success as a friend, coach or mentor was a significant hurdle to my launch and business building process. Mistakes were made on having a solid planning and launch process. Constant confusion about a basic course of action to take. It was all very challenging.

So I created a short list (it could have been a lot longer) of the top 6 things I did wrong, so that you could hopefully learn from my mistakes and have a better launch to your small business.

1. Doubt Yourself

We’re all stuck with our own self image problems and perspectives and we have to deal with it. But knowing about the problem is the first step in dealing with the problem and eliminating the problem, right? Well, I didn’t really think I could accomplish much, so my vision was small. And with a small vision, comes small thinking, small planning, small expectations.. you get the picture. Since I didn’t think I could accomplish big things, the bigger things weren’t even on my radar screen for goals.

2. Wait

So another thing that I wish I had done, was to start a lot sooner. I waited way too long to finally throw that switch in my head and think of myself as an entrepreneur.

It’s easy to make excuses and put your dream on hold. There’s always something that gets in the way of launching your business idea. The list seems endless. Between lack of confidence, lack of information, lack of planning, lack of strategy, it’s a struggle just waiting to happen.

3. Hold Back

Then, when I did finally get the courage to launch, I held back and played it safe. Why? Why would I do that when I was getting clients and making some decent money? Fear of failure? Maybe. Fear of success? Probably more of that.

4. Dream Small

So small dreams, small accomplishments, small results. Never craving more. Always satisfied with making less than I should have been making. No specific strategy? No specific success.

Dreaming small was about all the dreaming I could do. So I had to learn how to dream all over again. I had to learn how to think big, dream big, expect big, and that’s something that didn’t come easy for me.

5. Avoid Details in the Business Plan

You see, when you skimp on the planning in the business plan, you skimp on the dream as well. Vague details give vague results. Vague dream provides a vague sense of accomplishment. Taking the business plan seriously was not really part of the plan. Tom, just wing it for awhile and see where it goes was more like it.

6. Quit your job without a plan

And while I’m talking about the plan… or lack of it, I REALLY need to mention that you shouldn’t quit your full time job without a solid plan.

I thought that quitting my job was part of the dream solution. But it wasn’t. It was just the beginning of another problem. Because I launched without a solid plan.

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

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Well hello, and welcome to the Small Business Startup Essentials Podcast. I’m Tom Clairmont, a small business, personal brand, startup coach and I am honored to have you here today.

I just wanted to dedicate this first episode to fill you in on what you can expect in the upcoming episodes.

The goal of the podcast is to inform and inspire new entrepreneurs or those that are in the three phases of the journey. The Dream phase, the Planning phase or the Launch phase.

There’s a lot to talk about and it won’t all come from me. I’ll be interviewing guests that have successful businesses and ask them questions about how they made their transition from job to business owner and the challenges they faced. Experts sharing their expertise.

You’ll hear from others how they overcame their challenges so that hopefully, you can be inspired to follow your dream as well.

I’ve been in the small business realm for 20 years and I’ve have had a bunch of different roles along the way.

Am I a Guru with all the answers? No.

But at 59 years of age, I’ve been around awhile and have seen a lot of small businesses come and go, while I’m still around.

Having an IT background myself, the things related to IT come a lot easier for me and it makes success in the realm of Internet and social media a lot easier as well.

What can I help you with?

• Do you have an idea and don’t know if it’s worth the risk of starting a business?

• Did you launch your business but it didn’t take off and you’d like to do a ‘re-launch’?

• Are you wondering if you need a business plan?

• Are you convinced you need a business plan but not sure how to tackle that monster?

• Do you want to have multiple streams of income and not just being paid for your time 1:1?

• Want some tips on branding, marketing, websites, blogs and podcasts?

• Are you making a pivot to self employment later in life and you’re sort of finding that the business world is a very different place than what you remember it being just 10 years ago?

• Or do you just need a regular dose of inspiration?

Well, these are the things I intend to cover through episodes from me and my experience, but also from the interviews I’ll be doing of others that know how to not only grow, but thrive through the toughest times.

So, again, welcome. Subscribe, or follow the Podcast so you get all the episodes automatically sent to you.

The show is on a number of platforms so you can choose which one works better for you. Hopefully, the show will be able to help you on your small business journey, every step of the way.

I plan to keep each episode to under 25 minutes so that I don’t take up too much of your valuable time.

So if you’re thinking about starting a business and don’t know where to start? Or, if your already on your journey, glad to have you with us.

I welcome your feedback and I’ll have a link on each episode so that I can hear what you think about the topic and if you have any questions.

Friends, follow your dream, stay encouraged, and DON’T GIVE UP!

Do you want to start your own Podcast? Download the FREE E-book I have for you 'Starting a Podcast Mini-Course'.

FREE Webinar video series: Starting a Podcast

Need help getting your online business or Podcast started? Book a call through Tom's Online Calendar

Check out my FREE, E-book of the Month Club that deals with a lot of the core issues that small business startups can have.

Website: www.tomclairmont.com

Free Resources: www.tomclairmont.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasclairmont/

We'd love to hear from you about this episode! Click on this link to rate the episode or leave a comment and get a free gift: Episode Rating

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/small-biz-essentials/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands