Visibility goes well beyond publishing some podcast episodes or writing a few blogs. It’s about having a compelling message and sharing that message across multiple channels. And in 2020 and 2021, it’s also about navigating social justice and racial reckoning. Without it being something you simply check off your to-do list. Let’s talk about what that looks like. Because there’s no shortage of business owners telling us that we “should” speak up and speak out (and I agree!) but no one is sharing the best way to do that. I’m so grateful that Lakesha allowed me to ask her some of those hard questions. If you’re ready to get more exposure for your business while staying true to your messaging and beliefs, tune in now!   Mentioned in This Episode Episode 148: Creating Brand Awareness Outside of the Blog The Pieces of Pie Instagram post   About Lakesha Cole Lakesha Cole is an author, advocacy influencer, serial entrepreneur, and self-proclaimed chaos coordinator. With over ten years of experience in marketing and public relations, Lakesha is highly regarded for her ability to build powerful personal brands, increase visibility through the media, and ensure those who want a seat at the table get one. Lakesha founded she PR at the intersection of her advocacy efforts, media expertise, and new life as a retired Marine spouse. As a longtime mentor to help women discover how to convert their interests and skills into a profitable business, she realized that she could focus her experience specifically on the empowerment and the rising influence of women. she PR amplifies the voices and communicates the stories of women-led thought-leaders looking for more freedom and creative expression with their messaging and public image. In addition, Lakesha's business portfolio includes advocating for the military community and shedding light on the many challenges that military families face, most notably military spouse employment. As an Advisory Board Member for the Military Family Advisory Network, Lakesha worked with her home state Senator Tim Kaine (VA) on drafting the Military Spouse Employment Act, which was later signed into law by the President. She consults and serves as a partnership liaison in introducing companies and organizations to military talent and connecting military spouses and veterans to meaningful employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. Lakesha holds a B.A in Journalism and a minor in Public Relations from North Carolina A&T State University and an A.A.S. in Fashion Marketing from Parsons, the New School for Design. Before starting her own business, Lakesha worked as the Public Information Officer for Stafford County Government, as a Program Analyst for Headquarters Marine Corps, and in Business Development for Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. Lakesha has been featured by the Today Show, PBS, NBC News, Attn:, CBS This Morning, Fox & Friends, Black Enterprise, Military Families Magazine, Military Spouse, and Military.com. Lakesha and her family currently reside in Tampa, FL.

Stories in Small Business

151. Talking About Hard Things and Staying On Brand with Lakesha Cole

Every business needs an email list. Every. Single. One. Some (those who are trying to sell a lower-priced offer or a group program or a membership) need a larger list than others (those who are selling a higher-ticket offer to just a few 1:1 clients), but everyone truly does need a list. There are a lot of ways to get people on your list; one of those ways is a quality opt-in. But a checklist isn’t actually a quality opt-in. Sorry not sorry. Once upon a time, a checklist was an effective opt-in but not anymore. Your audience is looking for something more. What’s a business owner to do? What will you use to encourage ideal clients to opt into your list? Listen in and I’ll share some questions to ask yourself before developing anything and formats you can use to deliver exactly what your audience needs.   Mentioned in This Episode Episode 63: Staying Inside Your Zones of Genius Episode 138: Know Your Zones of Genius for Content Ease 

Episode 150

Making adult friends is hard; trying to connect with already busy business owners feels insurmountable. It’s not! With the right strategy and a good dose of action, you can connect with the right people for your business. On this episode of The Content Experiment Podcast, I’m talking with Amelia Roberts about how to make those quality connections and be really intentional about who you’re reaching out to (and who you’re having coffee chats with). Amelia describes her Modified 25 version of the Dream 100 and why your business foundation is so important before you start connecting so it’s more sustainable. Tune in and then start reaching out to people on your own list! Mentioned in This Episode LinkedIn Live with Amelia Dream 100 & Dream Buyer Strategy Content Mastery Lab About Amelia Roberts Amelia Roberts is a digital native who officially became a practitioner of online marketing twelve years ago with a role as a virtual assistant that quickly transitioned into marketing consulting. Student loans from nursing school and a desire for other income options inspired her to put a long time love of observing human nature, showing empathy and previous marketing expertise to work in new ways. As a result of launching this business, Amelia was able to pay off student loans in under two years, reach new financial goals and be invited to present her marketing knowledge to multiple stages working with B2B clients, Government organizations and high achievers. Now alongside other roles, you can find Amelia empowering under-recognized professionals to stand out and "get first dates" in business so that they can become pivotal players in industry shaping conversations all while nurturing and not neglecting opportunities that are waiting for them. When she is not optimizing human potential, getting people ready to be truly seen and simplifying marketing, Amelia enjoys Bible reading and planning both real and imagined food tours.

149. Making Quality Connections One Person at a Time with Amelia Roberts

Back when I started my business, blogging was the thing to do to build brand awareness. That and posting to social media. And while both are still valuable, neither gets the reach that they used to. That’s why we need to think outside box and consider some strategies that can complement your blogging and social media presence.  What are those strategies? That’s exactly what I’m talking about on this episode--along with the most important element to all of the strategies I list. And my guess is that you’re forgetting this one element! Listen in today! Mentioned in This Episode Client Journey eBook Episode 120: Knowing and Growing Your Client Journey Speak to Scale Podcast: How to Select the Right Speaking Topics for Your Business Episode 138: Know Your Zones of Genius for Content Ease Speak to Scale Podcast: How to Create a Content Strategy for Public Speaking 

148. Creating Brand Awareness Outside of the Blog

Every corner of the internet is filled with content. And in the small business world, it can feel really overwhelming to try to “keep up” with others. (Where are you going to find the time!?) The truth is, you already have the time (if you use the right tools to help). Oh, and you don’t actually have to “keep up” with anyone. You do content your own way. Today on the podcast, guest Melissa Morris is sharing her expertise as a project manager and operations consultant. We talk about why workflows are so important, why befriending the inbox search bar may not be the best idea, which CRM is best for your business size, why batching doesn’t work for everyone (including Melissa!), and so much more. We also discuss why Melissa’s favorite CRM is not mine at all. It was a friendly disagreement. If you’ve been struggling with time around your content, be sure to tune in! Mentioned in This Episode Save time creating content! Grab Melissa’s Automation Roadmap  Episode 129: Mapping Out Your Unpredictable Content Episode 73: Repurposing Content for Maximum ROI with Amy Woods Free Batching Guide   About Melissa Morris Melissa Morris is a project manager and operations consultant for digital marketing and social media agencies. Using her 10 years of agency experience, Melissa helps agencies maximize their team, increase their productivity and increase profits. Her T.A.P.P. Framework takes agency owners from disorganized and chaotic to streamlined and efficient so they can spend less time stressing about details and more time on agency growth. Melissa’s been seen in publications such as INC Magazine, Keap Business Success Blog and CEO Blog Nation and heard on podcasts such as My Biz Bestie, Productivity Straight Talk and BizChix. Visit her website and follow her on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

147. Finding Balance and Time in Content Systems and Tools with guest Melissa Morris

Do you love hearing the experiences of other business owners? I do! And I’m hoping you do too because today I’m sharing with you my journey through two full years of weekly (and more!) podcasting. Over the last two years, I’ve published 146 episodes, which works out to be 2.8 episodes per week. That’s a LOT of episodes. And things are going to change up a bit in Year Three of the podcast.  In this episode, I’m sharing changes I’ve made, what I don’t like about podcasting, and some of the biggest wins and takeaways I’ve had over the years--most of which are very recent. Curious? Then tune in! I’m excited to share this with you! Mentioned in This Episode Episode 60: What a Year of Podcasting Does to a Business Owner Episode 100: The Content Experiment She Podcasts Live Ask Your Audience Challenge 

146. Takeaways and Learnings from 2 Years of Podcasting

Every stage of life has its challenges, especially when you’re trying to find balance and happiness. But speaking from experience, midlife is tough. There are so many life changes going on and honestly, you just want to feel grounded and like you’re fulfilling your life’s mission. But how? It takes work, and often it takes another set of eyes and ears on your thoughts and feelings. This is just one of the things I’m talking about with this week’s guests, Carmen Reed-Gilkison and Deirdre Harter. If you’re feeling like you need a bit of a shift in life or business, this is the episode for you. And we’re talking about what to do in business to ensure you’re on the right track. Tune in now! Mentioned in This Episode Episode 135: When Long-Term Content Planning Goes Wrong Optimize Your Online Business LIVE About Carmen Reed-Gilkison and Deirdre Harter Carmen Reed-Gilkison, whole person certified coach, and Deirdre Harter, CPA and business strategist, are the Co-Founders of Encore Empire. Mission-oriented women over 40 hire Encore Empire to help optimize their foundational business strategy so they can focus on positively impacting the world. Carmen and Deirdre help new and established female entrepreneurs increase bottom line profits in their online business consistently and holistically by leveraging their past experience, honoring their values, and becoming financially savvy. With decades of combined entrepreneurial experience, they understand all aspects of business-building in the online marketplace. By combining their two areas of expertise Carmen and Deirdre have created a uniquely holistic approach to launching and growing businesses. Women relate and interact differently at this age than their younger counterparts, and definitely different than men. Carmen and Dierdre believe in relationship marketing and that’s where women in midlife excel.

145. Creating the Midlife (and Business) of Your Dreams with Carmen Reed-Gilkison and Deirdre Harter

One of the biggest challenges business owners seem to face is knowing what content to publish for their audience. Are you one of the many who sits and stares at the computer screen, paralyzed into publishing nothing? The solution? Ask your audience what they need and want! It’s truly that simple, and on this episode I’m sharing the six big benefits of surveying your audience. So if you’re unsure of what content to create or you’re finding it difficult to get the results you you want on your content, tune in now!   Mentioned in This Episode Ask Your Audience Challenge - Live Episode 134: They Ask, You Answer Episode 57: Make Your Content About Your Audience, Not You 

144. 6 Reasons You Need to Ask Your Audience

Like it or not, service providers have their own glass ceilings. There’s only so much time in the day to do spend offering your services to your clients. Eventually you’ll reach a revenue limit--there’s no more time in the day and it’s not possible to raise your prices more. This glass ceiling is one of the big reasons why service providers choose to scale their businesses with digital products. It opens up more possibilities for creativity and revenue (and time freedom, if done right!). On this episode of The Content Experiment Podcast, I’m chatting with Dr. Destini Copp, a business and marketing expert who helps business owners scale with digital products. We talk about where to start with digital products and her recommendations for how to offer a product that turns your customers into 1:1 clients. Of course, the episode wouldn’t be complete without some discussion on where to get the digital traffic needed to make a product venture successful. Tune in!   Mentioned in This Episode SCALE Your Business Summit Ask Your Audience live challenge   About Destini Copp Dr. Destini Copp is a business and marketing expert who helps entrepreneurs scale their digital product revenue with automated sales funnels and reduce their reliance on services or freelance work. She is a college marketing professor turned online entrepreneur and a wanna-be, Serena Williams-like, tennis player. She is the host of The Course Creator’s MBA Podcast and the Creator of The OneClick MBA membership. You can connect with Destini on her website, as well as LinkedIn, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

143. Scale Your Service-Based Business with Digital Products with Destini Copp

Are you good at making decisions for your business? No matter what stage you’re in, it can be HARD. What if I do the wrong thing? What if what I decide to do is the wrong thing...and I need to shift? What if it costs me money? And sometimes, this is such a challenge that we end up paralyzed.  When you’re working from a strategic plan, decision-making is much easier to do. And on this episode of The Content Experiment podcast, guest Liz Watson is sharing how being strategic, measuring results, and making decisions all go hand-in-hand. She also shares the impact of your personal life on your business, how to know what to stop doing, and why knowing your values is one of the best things you can do to support good decision-making. Tune in now!   Mentioned in This Episode Content Mastery Lab The Ops Authority Podcast: From IT Project Manager to Director of Operations Episode 136: Creating Your Process, Strategically with Anne Hill Book a call with Liz!   About Liz Watson Liz Watson, founder and operations strategist at The Impact Trail, serves small business owners that care about people, planet, and profit. She helps them map out strategies and measure metrics that matter so they can make the next right decision to optimize their business and ultimately make an even bigger impact in the world. Connect with her on LinkedIn or Facebook or visit her website.

142. How to Know What’s Next in Your Business with Liz Watson

How much do you outsource in your business? A little? A lot? Everything? I don’t know many small business owners who outsource everything, but I do know some who outsource a lot. And while there’s nothing wrong with that at all (I outsource quite a bit too!), there’s something to be said for being able to do the work yourself too. There’s nothing worse than needing something to be done--pronto--and not knowing how to do it or not having the right log-in access. And I know, this is why SOPs are so important. But as the leader of your business, it’s also important to know what the work looks like, how long it takes, and what potential challenges might arise. That’s exactly what I’m talking about on this episode of the podcast...why you need to be able to do the “grunt” work in your business. (And please listen in to hear what, exactly, I mean by “grunt” work. It’s not what you think!)   Mentioned in This Episode Ask Your Audience - Live! 

141. Why You Need to be Able to Do the Grunt Work in Your Business

Are you hesitant to start your client work with a contract because you’re worried you might seem too aggressive or upset your clients? Creating a contract ensures your projects are well-defined, have boundaries, and establish mutual level integrity. Who wouldn’t want that? Contracts and agreements are some of the pieces of content that we don’t really think about as content because they’re behind the scenes and only seen by a few people. But today we’re talking about contracts, copyrights, and legal protections in your business. I’m chatting today with Tania Shah, a small business attorney and co-founder of In The Know Legal. Tania explains all things business protection—how to protect your personal finances, how to protect your time and boundaries, where breakdowns happen most often, and why you don’t need to copyright all your content. Listen in!   Mentioned in This Episode Free Business Checklists In The Know Legal Affiliate Program Client Journey Ebook The Content Mastery Lab   About Tania Shah Tania Shah is a Co-Founder of In The Know Legal, a new legal product company for women entrepreneurs. A serial entrepreneur and proud mom to her little rescue dog, Toothless Johnny (the Chief Dog Officer of all her endeavors), Tania takes pride in paving her way in the legal world. In addition to being a Co-founder at ITKL, Tania owns LawTutors, LLC (an all-women led education company to help law and bar students), Shah Law, PLLC (a business law firm focusing on mom-owned and women-owned businesses) and is a full-time law professor in California.   To learn more about Tania, check out her website, Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

140. Getting in the Legal Know with Tania Shah

No matter where you look, you’re going to find messaging around all the things you should be doing in your business. Heck, I talk about it, too! But the reality is that you need to weigh those “have-tos” and “shoulds” and decide what works for you in your business and your life. Being a business owner is an amazing gift and challenge and I personally wouldn’t do it any other way. But in my conversation with Linsi Brownson, we talk about how there’s really no one right way to do business. And she gives you permission to allow you to look at business differently and embrace the way your personal life merges with your business. As the world opens back up and we’re getting back to our old habits, let’s let go of the hustle culture and lean into the space and downtime that we all need. Listen in!   Mentioned in This Episode Episode 123: Behind the Scenes of The Content Experiment Be Brilliant in Your Business: How to Make Content that Goes the Extra Mile Ultimate Business Clarity Meditation & Action Plan Workbook Join Maverick HQ   About Linsi Brownson Linsi Brownson is a coach for creative entrepreneurs who want to say buh-bye to burnout and grow their business while enjoying their life. As an entrepreneur in creative industries for 15+ years, she understands the unique pitfalls and possibilities of running a creative business. Linsi is a certified life and business coach who has helped dozens of perfectionists, people-pleasers, and busybodies alike, take charge of their energy and operations so they can create more and live better. In addition to coaching business owners, Linsi hosts a podcast called “Be Brilliant In Your Business” where she shares insights on habits, productivity, and happiness.To learn more about Linsi, check out her website, Instagram, or Pinterest.

139. Letting Go of the Have-Tos and Shoulds in Your Business with Linsi Brownson

Coming up with content ideas can be tough, if you don’t know what to talk about. Sounds reasonable, right? There are a lot of factors involved in developing your content ideas, including talking to your audience to find out what they need and want from you. But there’s work that you need to do on your end first, and that’s developing your own zones of genius. Your zones of genius already exist, but you probably haven’t put them down on “digital” paper yet. In this episode, I’m sharing with you how to get those ideas from your head to the computer screen. Getting really clear on your zones of genius can help you gain clarity in your business and your content and it will help your content flow in a way that you’re no longer tied to your computer. Tune in now! And be sure to sign up for the free Ask Your Audience Challenge LIVE that starts on September 27! Mentioned in This Episode The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks Episode 134: They Ask, You Answer Ask Your Audience Challenge LIVE 

138. Know Your Zones of Genius for Content Ease

How many times have you visited someone’s website or Instagram page, and thought to yourself, “Wow, I love their vibe” or “They have a great personality?” What about the opposite? You're online trying to find the perfect person to hire or buy from, and everyone you come across looks the same. Bland.  It’s really important that your online presence be truly YOU, which is exactly what today’s guest and I are talking all about. How to make your copy you. Tracie Kendziora is the founder and creative voice of Okay, Okapi where she helps online business owners, coaches, and creatives write personality-packed copy so they can build a brand that reflects who they are—personality quirks and all. Tune in to hear what Tracie has to say about creating different and fun copy—without going overboard.   Mentioned in This Episode Okay Okapi Spicy Headlines Client Journey Ebook The Content Mastery Lab   About Tracie Kendziora Tracie is the founder of Okay, Okapi, where she helps online business owners, coaches, and creatives write personality-packed copy so they can build their brand online, create a rock-solid connection with their audience, and book more dream clients. Her sweet spot is working as a copy coach and editor to help her clients create totally unique brand voices and unboring content that connects more and converts better. Follow Tracie on her website and check out her Facebook and Instagram.

137. Creating Personality-Infused Copy with Tracie Kendziora

Stories in Small Business is a podcast experience that puts to rest the idea that we all need to do business in the same way and it celebrates the unique stories and paths that we're all on. Through solo episodes and guest interviews, we’re going to dive into how to use story--your story--to grow your business, overcome your own mindset challenges, foster business relationships and use content to gain more visibility online.

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Stories in Small Business

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