What Works

When I signed off on my taxes last month, it was the first time in 10 years that I didn’t owe any money to the IRS. In fact, I got a refund. Now, I’d love to tell you that’s because I was much more diligent with my financial planning. And, that is partially true. But the main reason I’m getting a refund is that I personally made a lot less money last year. Not gonna lie: making less money was a big hit to my ego. Worse, I realized how much my personal identity as a provider, a businesswoman, and a leader was tied up in the dollar dollar bills. Let me clarify: I don’t define myself by how much money I make. I don’t think I’m worthless if I’m not rich… What happened is that I had been using money as validation. I equated my ability to do my job with my ability to continue to grow the revenue my company generates. So it wasn’t so much the money itself—but continuing to push the needle on that money that felt tied to my value as an entrepreneur. Taking a deliberate step back to pivot, as well as develop a new product and marketing strategy, as I have over the last 2 years, just didn’t allow me to grow at the same rate. But, instead of seeing that objectively, I responded emotionally. I’ve recently learned something fairly obvious but nevertheless profound about myself: I define myself by my accomplishments. Not just because my accomplishments tell others something about who I am but because I worry, deep down, that I don’t have much to offer. The more I accomplish, the more value I can believe I have. Accomplishing that year-after-year revenue growth was a sign that I had created something valuable… that I was valuable. In that way, money has been an easy metric for me to use to measure my worth and to calculate the exact value I’m creating in the world. That means that when my paycheck took a hit, it felt like my credibility took a hit. Of course, revenue is just one very small way to measure success or value. Thankfully, I can use it to pay my mortgage but otherwise it’s about as useful as a Facebook like or an Instagram follow when it comes to measuring my personal value. While I’m personally working on not defining my identity or credibility solely by what I’ve accomplished, it has been helpful for me to look at what we’ve accomplished as a company outside of my self-imposed numbers game. I’m choosing to take pride in the process and enjoy the journey of refining my approach. Today, my company produces this exceptional podcast that gives you behind-the-scenes access to how businesses actually run (no gurus, hype, or magic formulas). My company hosts an exceptional network of small business owners having candid conversations about what’s working and not working in their businesses. We’ve dialed in operations, honed our approach, and nurtured a community culture of constructive optimism. My company facilitates small group masterminds that bring business owners together around a common goal. I’ve personally had the chance to level up my facilitation skills and learn how much I love this role. Today, my company operates better than it ever has. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * What happened when Facebook ad strategist Claire Pelletreau returned to her business after an unexpectedly long maternity leave* Why she took a gig subcontracting from another ad strategist* How she found her confidence as a consultant, educator, and strategist again* What went wrong when she launched a product she thought would be a no-brainer* How her offers have evolved to support her business as it matures Last fall, I was hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and I felt the weirdest pain in my right ankle. It felt like I had rolled it, or sprained it, or done something very weird to it. But I hadn’t. I was just hiking along and then felt a shooting pain. I kept hiking—maybe not the smartest thing to do, but that’s what I did—and the pain would come and go. When I got home from the trip, still experiencing some odd pain in my ankle, I decided to take a break from running. First, I took a week off. I tried to run a few miles—no dice. It hurt. Then, I took a couple more weeks off. Ran again and made it a little further but still felt the pain. At that point, I gave myself permission to just work out in other ways for the foreseeable future. I’d attempting running every so often but I wasn’t putting in the miles like I did before that hike. That’s how I spent this winter: lifting weights, focusing on climbing, and becoming quite familiar with the elliptical machine. By February, I needed to start adding miles back in so that I was ready to start a half marathon training plan in mid-March. I was nervous. I was afraid that I’d not only lost the physical fitness I’d earned through running but mental fitness, too. It took me a long time to build up to being able to push through both the physical and mental barriers you run into with running. I honestly expected to have lost it all. Little bit by little bit, I realized just how little I lost. And sure, I needed time on my feet and miles under my belt to establish my base running fitness again. I actually came back faster than I was before I took the extended break! When I started running, I was planting a seed—a small investment in my future fitness. The more I ran, the more I nurtured what was growing inside me. But even when I took an extended break, what I had planted didn’t stop growing. Now, my guest this week had a similar experience in her business. Claire Pelletreau is a Facebook ad strategist and the host of the Get Paid podcast. A few years ago, Claire took some maternity leave—and that maternity leave ended up being twice as long as she originally planned. Coming back to work was, as she put it, terrifying. She worried that she’s lost her edge and had gotten left behind by changes in the market. But what she ultimately found was that the seed she’d planted years ago was still growing… it just took her a little time to reclaim her confidence for tending it. Claire and I not only talk about her return from maternity leave, but why she took a gig subcontracting for another ad strategist, how she found a new level of confidence, ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Brittany Berger came up with the idea for the Work Brighter newsletter* How Work Brighter evolved as she continued to work her day job—and then as she struck out on her own* What her current vision for Work Brighter is and how it informs her growth strategy* Why Brittany chose to think of her company more like a software company than a content company A side business can be your main focus. Mike McDerment founded Freshbooks—a company that now reportedly brings in over $50 million in revenue each year—because he saved over an invoice he was working on for his internet marketing consultancy. But Mike didn’t quit his existing business to start a new one. He started building it on the side. And well before Freshbooks started making, well, really any measurable amount of money per month, he figured out a way to devote 80% of his time to making that company and his solution for small business owners like him a reality. He made the new company his top priority, even though it wasn’t paying his bills. This probably seems pretty counterintuitive. Don’t you want to prioritize what’s making you money? Sure, prioritize what’s making you money if it’s what you want to continue doing and has the potential to grow into the kind of company you really want to run. But that wasn’t the case for Mike. He saw the potential of Freshbooks long before anyone else did. He knew that Freshbooks wasn’t just a great idea—it had the potential to far exceed the earning and impact potential of the business he was currently running. Now, today’s show isn’t about Mike—but you can get the full scoop on what worked to get Freshbooks off the ground in the early days and what worked to reinvent it when they need to leap ahead of the market in Episode 152. But Mike’s story is the perfect introduction to Brittany Berger‘s story. You see, Brittany is all-in on the seed she’s planted, just like Mike. And, just like Mike, it’s not her primary source of revenue yet. Yet, the seed she’s watering and tending to has the potential to grow into a big venture. Brittany Berger is founder of Work Brighter, a digital media company that helps productive unicorns go beyond working smarter to a version of productivity that makes room for “unproductive” things like rest, self-care, and fun. Work Brighter currently publishes a weekly newsletter and hosts a membership community full of resources and templates. One of the things that stood out to me most about our conversation was how clear-eyed Brittany was about her priorities for this growing company. While she’s still earning income as a content marketing consultant, Brittany knows that Work Brighter is her future. It’s her primary focus. Brittany and I talk about about how Work Brighter got started, why she treats it more like a software business than a content business, and how she creates her weekly newsletter. We also talk about her business model and why she chose to focus on building monthly recurring revenue. Now, let’s find out what works for Brittany Berger! ★ Support this podcast ★

Even for successful entrepreneurs and small businesses, sometimes things don’t go to plan. The longer you’re in business, the more times you’ll deal with projects that don’t work out, offers that don’t sell, or strategies that take you down the wrong path. In many ways, staying in business over the long haul is a constant exercise in maintaining your heading—and navigating back when you inevitably veer off course. When we launched The What Works Network, I had a vision of small business owners who were frustrated with one-size-fits-all online courses flocking to our platform to work together on making their businesses better. I could see hundreds and then thousands of entrepreneurs sharing their challenges, offering their solutions, and deep diving into complex issues. I imagined leading the charge for more honest, open-minded, and sophisticated exploration of how we do business. That didn’t happen. Despite years of experience and success, my new idea didn’t take off as planned. It’s taken many experiments, mistakes, and a lot of frustration to finally feel like we’re gaining traction. During this time, though, I learned so much about building an exceptional product. I learned about building a community—and not merely an audience. I learned about leadership and earning others buy-in. I know that almost two years of heartache and frustration have taught me what I need to know to create something even better than what I dreamed of in the beginning. And, I know I wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t been able to cope with those trials. One of the benefits of being in business for over 10 years is that you know that you’re not alone in the dips. You know that others have suffered setbacks and created their own mistakes, too. Today, we’ve released our 200th podcast episode out into the world. And to mark this milestone, we wanted to share exactly these kinds of stories with you—so that you, too, know you’re not alone. I asked 6 small business owners to share with me about a time when things weren’t going to plan and how they got back on track. In this episode, you’ll hear from Kathleen Shannon from Braid Creative, Jason Harrison from Present Tense Fitness, Laura Simms from Your Career Homecoming, Molly Mahar from Stratejoy, author Esme Weijun Wang, and jeweler Megan Auman. We’re having really honest conversations about entrepreneurship, leadership, and running a small business. Each of these stories contains some element of essentialism—recognizing the highest value of the business and the business owner and eliminating everything that doesn’t serve that value. In his book, Essentialism, Greg McKeown writes, “Saying no is its own leadership capability.” Throughout these stories, you’ll hear business owners recognize the importance of “no” and step up their leadership to get their businesses—and their lives—back on track. I think, at this point, we all recognize the importance of saying “no” to ... ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Racheal Cook scratched her own itch and created a 1-day event without a “grand plan”* Why the CEO Retreat helped her overcome a persistent challenge for her clients* How the event evolved to become a key part of how her business has leveled up over the last year* What Racheal did to overcome her greatest fear about hosting an in-person event “Meet me in Astoria, Oregon. No charge to you. Let’s talk business for 2 days.” That was the invitation I sent out to our business coaching clients about 5 years ago. I legitimately had no idea what I was doing… I just believed that, if I got as many of them as possible in a room together, they could help each other in ways we couldn’t yet imagine. Some drove to my tiny little town on the Oregon coast. Some flew into Portland and made their way two hours west. As they arrived, I knew we were doing the right thing. There was nothing fancy about that first retreat (or most of the ones that came after it). We sat at Ikea desks and we ate pizza from the local pub. We used giant post-it notes and scribbled on whiteboards. There wasn’t much of a curriculum, just an attempt to address each attendee’s challenge one-by-one or two-by-two during the time we had together. And while we don’t do these events anymore, this concept is never far from my mind. Getting the right people in the right room to talk about things we don’t often talk about when it comes to business—well, that’s the heart and soul of everything I do now. That small retreat blossomed into a whole new way of doing business for me and a whole new way of solving problems for our clients. My guest today has a similar story. Racheal Cook is the creator of Sweet Spot Strategy and the CEO Retreat. Today, the CEO Retreat is a key touchpoint of how Racheal works with her clients. But it didn’t start that way. In fact, you’ll even hear her admit that there was no “grand plan” behind her first experiment with a live event. She just had the urge to get the right people in a room together to work on their businesses. Racheal and I talk about how she came up with the idea of the CEO Retreat, how it solved a persistent problem for her clients, and what her greatest fear about hosting the event was. We also discovered how the idea has evolved and the role it plays in her business today. Hint: it’s big! Do you have a story about planting a seed in your business? Have you run a small experiment and watched it transform your business? Have you taken a small step and put yourself on a whole new path? I’d love to hear your story. Share it with us on Instagram using the hashtag #explorewhatworks and tag me, @tara_mcmullin. We’ll be sharing your stories throughout the month! And, you’ll be entered to win a free lifetime membership to The What Works Network. For full rules and giveaway instructions, go to explorewhatworks.com/aprilgiveaway. Giveaway closes April 22, 2019. Now, let’s find out what works for Racheal Cook! What Works Is Brought To You By ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How a conversation at a networking event planted a seed for Abundance Practice Building founder Allison Puryear* What the first business coaching program Allison led looked like* Why she knew this opportunity was the right thing to pursue* How Abundance Practice Building has grown and evolved since that first group I’d like to introduce you to Shannon Paris. Today, Shannon is our Director of Product for What Works. But when I hired her, I was hiring a community manager. I’d known Shannon for over 10 years. She and I had co-managed a Borders Books and Music until she left to join a company as a visual merchandiser in the fair trade industry. When she was looking for a new gig, I knew she was the right person for the job. But, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t take some convincing on her part! Shannon had never been a community manager before. She didn’t know what the job entailed and she wasn’t necessarily steeped in the culture of the internet. What Shannon had, though, was extreme people skills. She’s a master of friendly matchmaking, professional networking, and team member buy-in. I also knew she was detail-oriented, focused on helping people feel like they belonged, and excellent at having difficult conversations. In other words, I knew Shannon was the perfect community manager. Luckily, she trusted me enough to take the job. Not only does she make What Works Network members feel at home, connect them to resources, and help them turn their challenges into posts that get our whole community talking, she also makes The What Works Network hum like a well-oiled machine. I could see the seed of a community manager well before Shannon saw it herself and bloomed in the position. That’s the funny thing about some seeds we plant as small business owners: sometimes it takes someone else to tell us something is starting to grow! That was the case with Allison Puryear. Allison is now the founder of Abundance Practice Building. But before founding this business, she had 3 private therapy practices in 3 different states. Then, someone started to show her the seed she’d been planting all along: Allison was really good at building private practices. The peer pressure started to mount and she couldn’t escape it anymore. It was time to bloom! In this conversation, Allison and I talk about how she created her first group business development program, where she found her first clients, and how she evolved the group from that point. We also discuss how her business has grown into what it is today, including a high-touch mastermind and a membership community. Do you have a story about planting a seed in your business? Have you run a small experiment and watched it transform your business? Have you taken a small step and put yourself on a whole new path? I’d love to hear your story. Share it with us on Instagram using the hashtag #explorewhatworks and tag me, @tara_mcmullin. We’ll be sharing your stories throughout the month! And, you’ll be entered to win a free lifetime membership to The What Works Network. For full rules and giveaway instructions, ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty * Why Val Geisler, email marketing specialist and founder of Fix My Churn, used a 2-hour workshop as a test run for a bigger program* How she sold the workshop to her email list and followers* What she did after the workshop to flesh out her 12-week program once she had proof of concept* How she used the success of her workshop to create the initial sales for the program Big results typically start with small wins. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I love sharing parts of my workouts on my Instagram Stories. Sometimes I share a bouldering problem I’m especially proud of. Sometimes I share a new-to-me movement. Sometimes I share a new PR. Last week, I shared a video of a progression of pull-ups I did after a climbing workout. I did 4 wide grip pull-ups, 4 strict pull-ups, 3 neutral grip pull-ups, and 1 measly chin up with minimal rest. Whenever I share things like that, I can count on getting some version of “Oh, I could never do that!” or “How the heck did you even start working on that?” in response. The truth is that, just over a year ago, I couldn’t do a single pull-up. And that just a year before that, I couldn’t run a mile without stopping to catch my breath. My fitness journey started with the seed of an idea. I thought that if I got myself out of bed and walked on the treadmill for 10-15 minutes every morning before I had my coffee, my quality of life would improve. I didn’t imagine doing pull-ups. I certainly didn’t imagine running a half marathon. And I didn’t imagine playing with barbells on a regular basis. But I committed to that small action to test my hypothesis. Would life be better if I moved a little more? Yes, yes it was. It was easy to see that moving made me feel better. It made me sharper. Once I’d established that, I started to add a little more intensity. I incorporated a few minutes of jogging. I started hiking. Eventually, I tried climbing for the first time. My life kept getting better and better. I added strength training and lengthened my workouts. Today, I’m training for a half marathon and teaching a climbing class at my gym. Two years ago, these things would have seemed ridiculous. As I’m sure you already realize, this same pattern of behavior applies to business, too. What you will be working on 2 years from now may be unbelievable to your current self. But the road to get there starts today with small actions, ideas, and experiments. My guest today is Val Geisler. Val is an email marketing specialist and the founder of Fix My Churn. Today, Val is wrapping up a 12-week email marketing program that netted her about $90,000. But just 6 months ago, this kind of result would have been hard to believe. A small offer—a 2-hour workshop on the research behind successful email marketing—changed everything. I talk with Val about how she came up with the seed of her big idea, how she sold the workshop that started it all, and how she developed the 12-week program once she knew it would be a success. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Bonnie Gillespie started building her content empire before she even started a business* Why a 3-ring binder was all the evidence she needed to know it was time to write her first book* How she used an automated Twitter account to build her audience and produce a new product from repurposed content* And, why Bonnie doesn’t buy into guru culture—despite being a leader thousands of people look to for guidance Writer’s block—most people who write have experienced that crushing feeling of having nothing to say. And if finding new customers, convincing them to buy, and developing new products depends on your ability to produce great content, writer’s block can feel worse than an empty bank account. But what if everything we believe about writer’s block and our business’s dependency on a steady stream of new content is wrong? This month, we’re examining the stories of business owners who have planted a seed, watered it, tended it, and helped it grow. In this episode, you’ll learn how Bonnie Gillespie, the author of Self-Management For Actors, planted a seed before she even started her business. Her bridge job as a show business industry columnist blossomed into an empire that is still rooted in the words she wrote over 20 years ago. Email by email, article by article, blog post by blog post, book by book, even tweet by tweet, she’s strategically pieced together her body of work. Bonnie and I talk about how she realized her first book was waiting to be born, the way she used an automated Twitter account to develop a new product, how she stays in dialogue with her audience to fuel the content she publishes, and why she doesn’t buy into guru culture. Do you have a story about planting a seed in your business? Have you run a small experiment and watched it transform your business? Have you taken a small step and put yourself on a whole new path? I’d love to hear your story. Share it with us on Instagram using the hashtag #explorewhatworks and tag me, @tara_mcmullin. We’ll be sharing your stories throughout the month! And, you’ll be entered to win a free lifetime membership to The What Works Network. For full rules and giveaway instructions, go to explorewhatworks.com/aprilgiveaway. Giveaway closes April 22, 2019. Now, let’s find out what works for Bonnie Gillespie! What Works Is Brought To You By Mighty Networks powers brands and businesses – like yours! – that bring people together.With a Mighty Network, online business owners just like you can bring together in one place: * Your website* Your content* Your courses* Your community* Your events online and in real life* And charge for them…all while building YOUR brand. Visit mightynetworks.com to see more examples of brands bringing people together and taking their businesses to the next level. It’s tax season… and that means you’re thinking about whether your books are in order. If you’re ready to stop stressing about cleaning up your business finances yourself, it’s time to get Bench. Bench combines easy to use software with real human beings who do your bookkeeping... ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty * Tara shares the story of how the seeds she panted at the beginning of her business journey have grown into The What Works Network* How a small action now can turn into big success for your small business down the line * Why your next big idea will probably come from the small ideas that you are planting today* And a sneak peek at the candid conversations coming up in April Well before he was a New York Times bestselling author, Chris Guillebeau penned an ebook called 279 Days To Overnight Success. In it, he outlined all the hard work he put into becoming a full-time writer over the course of 10 months. The point was simple: fulfilling his dream of becoming a full-time writer didn’t happen because someone tapped him on the shoulder and made him a full-time writer. It didn’t even happen because he got a big media break or a had a viral hit. Chris planted seeds with every blog post he wrote and connection he made. He did the work of raising those seeds into saplings and watched them grow into trees. All along the way, he continued to plant seeds. Chris is now the author of 5 books, the host of a remarkable conference, and an international speaker. But he certainly didn’t get there overnight. The first seed I planted in my business was my first post-collegiate blog: Handmade In PA.net. I had no idea what I was doing at the time. I just knew that I loved blogging and I loved the new maker movement. When I started that blog, my only plan was to sell some advertising in the sidebar to cover a few lattes per month. I can remember telling a reporter from the local paper how much I was charging for advertising and he chuckled. It wasn’t much. But, low and behold, I got a few advertisers and made a little money. More importantly, the site was a hit among a very niche, very small group of people. I wrote consistently, I connected with the audience, and I connected the audience to each other. They loved it. Now, this is not a story about how Handmade In PA.net beat the odds and grew into a behemoth indie craft site. It did not. Instead, it’s a story about how my vision grew. By starting out small, I started. I turned words into pixels. I met people. I learned things. I went from a local craft blogger to a global craft blogger. I went from a blogger to a writer and teacher. I went from a writer and teacher to a coach. I went from coach to trainer, facilitator, podcaster, and CEO. My vision grew and grew and grew to what it is today. The second seed I planted in my business started with a mind map. Back in 2012, I worked with clients through a one-off consulting session model. They’d share their goals and challenges through an intake form. I would pour over the intake form, research their digital presence, examine their market, and create a overview of where I saw opportunity and what they could do to seize it. I loved these sessions and the businesses I got to work on in that model. Even more importantly, my clients loved these sessions and got great results. And often, they’d come back looking for more. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty * How Janeris Marte transformed her photography business when she went from a jack of all trades to specializing in adoptive families* The simple strategy Janeris uses to connect with prospects* How she designed photography packages that perfectly align with her clients’ unique needs* Why finding her niche not only made it easier to market herself but made it more efficient to run her business, too Could your target market use a clean up? There’s a reason that every marketing class you’ve ever taken or any business coach you’ve ever worked with has asked you to start by defining who your customer is. And that reason is simply that most beginner business owners—and even plenty who should know better—end up trying to be everything to everybody. And, of course they do! It seems like it would be so much easier to make a product that everybody wants to buy. It seems like it would be so much more effective to create marketing that resonates with everyone. But… in the end, when you’re speaking to everyone, you’re speaking to no one. When you’re creating for everyone, you’re creating for no one. We’ve been talking about decluttering your business this month. So far, we’ve tackled streamlining your business model, limiting your working hours, and focusing only on the work that truly lights you up. Plus, you’ve heard how members of The What Works Network have created more results with less work in a variety of ways. This week, we’re going to look at decluttering your customers. Now, a serious note: I’m not at all suggesting anyone you work with or create for is clutter! But… I am suggesting that there’s a good chance you’re not as clear on who you serve and why you serve them as you could be. Case in point: Janeris Marte had been a photographer for 18 years with limited success. She was a self-described jack of all trades. Then, she realized she had an opportunity. She could specialize in photography for adoptive families. Instead of creating portraits of anyone who popped into her inbox, she could focus on connecting with a community of people she knew well with a service that could transform their families. In this interview, you’ll hear how Janeris decided to focus on adoptive families, how she connects with new clients, and the specialized packages she’s able to offer because of her niche. But I also really want you to pay attention to how Janeris describes the impact this focus has had on her business operations and client experience, too. She wasn’t only able to clean up the way she markets herself as a photographer, she was able to become much more efficient at the way she communicates with clients and delivers her services, too. Has your business gone from a jack of all trades to a highly specialized venture? I’d love to hear your story. Share what works for you on Instagram using the h... ★ Support this podcast ★