What Works

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 ★

Imagine you want to get stronger. What do you do? If you’re like me, you’d head to the gym, grab some dumbbells, and start squatting, pressing, and curling as many times as you could until your legs and arms felt like they wanted to fall off. It turns out… more isn’t always more when it comes to the gym. And more isn’t always more when it comes to your business, either. Now, repping it out at the gym isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There’s a time and place for focusing on lifting a weight more times. But it’s not the most efficient way to get stronger. It absolutely blew my mind when I learned that, if I want to get stronger, I should focus on lifting heavier weights just 1-5 times per set. Yes, just 1-5 times. For instance, in 2018, I set a goal of doing 10 unassisted, uninterrupted pull-ups in a row. Before I knew better, I would try to get as many pull-ups as I could every time I was near a bar. Then, I started doing some research. You see, the best way to hit this kind of strength goal isn’t—shocking enough as it is—to wear yourself out in one or two sets. It’s to pull way back and instead, try for 5 sets of 3 or 4 sets of 4. Then, slowly over time, increasing your sets and reps until you can manage the goal. By focusing on low numbers, you’re actually able to increase your results. And even better? You don’t feel nearly as spent at the end of your workout. The reason I bring all this up is that some of the most profitable businesses that I’ve had the privilege to examine operate in this sort of fewer reps for more results kind of pattern. They focus on efficiency. They concentrate on a few key actions. They value rest and space. As you might know, we have a community-based business model that invites small business owners into a private network where they can have candid conversations about making their businesses better, just like we do here on the podcast. In the beginning, we really wanted to overdeliver on the value of joining The Network, so we created all sorts of events and exclusive content. At one point, we were hosting 2-3 events and posting 3-4 article-length pieces of content per week. What we knew is that events and content gave our members something to connect with. It gave them a common language they could use to talk to one another. But what we didn’t take into account was just how much we were flooding them with points of connection and common languages! It wasn’t that it wasn’t valuable. It wasn’t even that it was overwhelming… It was just that it was all so diluted. It was burning out our team, our members weren’t showing up, and it wasn’t enticing new people to join. Last fall, we decided to pull way back on how many events we planned and how much content we created. In December, we decided to pull back even more. Now, we host 1 weekly event and we focus on conversation starters around a monthly theme instead of article-length content. The result? People plan for our events and show up. They anticipate our conversation starters and chime in. They’re more engaged, they’re more motivated, and they’re talking about The Network more with their colleagues. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * How Nicole Antoinette pivoted her business to focus solely on her podcast, Real Talk Radio* The question she asked herself to ensure the longevity of the podcast once she started it* Why she chose a community-funded business model through Patreon* How she structures her Patreon tiers, pricing, and rewards* What’s working to grow the number of patrons supporting the show Fill in the blank: I wish I could just get paid to __________. Maybe you said “make art,” “have great conversations,” or “write books.” Maybe you dream of being able to focus on world peace, doing sketch comedy, or telling stories about the world’s great philosophers. Plenty of creative, passionate business owners have the work they wish they could focus on and the work that pays the bills. The result tends to be a business model that is a bit fractured and unwieldy. You end up doing a bunch of little things to make it all add up at the end of the month. What if you could clean it all up and just focus on the thing you love the most? Today’s guest, Nicole Antoinette, faced a similar dilemma. Nicole is the host of Real Talk Radio, a podcast that digs deep into the lives of athletes, writers, entrepreneurs, parents, coaches, and activists. Four years into finding an opportunity to coach people who wanted a similar lifestyle to hers, she decided to make a big change. Nicole decided to do away with coaching and digital products and just get paid to having fascinating, honest conversations with people living fulfilling lives. To do it, she used Patreon. Patreon is a platform that allows creators like Nicole to create a community-funded business model. Nicole and I talk about how she arrived at the idea for the podcast, what she did to ensure the longevity of the project once it took off, and why she chose a community-funded business model. We also talk about how she structures the pricing, rewards, and growth of her Patron community. Have you discovered a way to get paid to just create? I’d love to hear from you. Find me on Instagram—I’m @tara_mcmullin—and let me know how you did it! Now, let’s find out what works for Nicole Antoinette! 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. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty-Gritty: * Tara shares why it’s important to clean things up–but not get caught up in making things perfect* Why the mess exists–and how that’s a feature, not a bug* How to use hypotheses instead of discrete goals to learn more about what works for you* How to create adaptable plans based on your particular mess and your goals Businesses get messy—old products, defunct systems, cluttered inboxes. And we’re talking about how to clean up your business all this month. You’ve already heard from Jereshia Hawk who took mess of offers and streamlined her business to just one product. You just heard from Mindy Totten who figured out how to clean up her schedule and work just 3 days per week. You even heard from me about 3 ways I’ve been cleaning up my business over the last 2 years. But, I think it’s also important to say that… Your business will always be a mess. The mess is a feature, not a bug. Sure, we want to make sure there isn’t excess clutter or wasted money—but we also shouldn’t focus so much on making things perfect that we forget the beauty in the imperfection. Today, instead of cleaning things up, I want to highlight the mess. You see, your business is a series of interwoven systems, mechanisms, and information that impact and influence each other so that no one component can be singled out as a problem or a solution. Every time you clean something up or organize a mess… …you end up uncovering something else that needs to be addressed. Russell Ackoff, a pioneer in both management science and systems thinking, said: Managers are not confronted with problems that are independent of each other, but with dynamic situations that consist of complex systems of changing problems that interact with each other. I call such situations messes. Problems are extracted from messes by analysis. Managers do not solve problems, they manage messes. If you feel like you solve one problem only to discover another, this is why. If you feel like every time you make an incredible discovery about your business it changes everything, this is why. If you feel like everything you learn about growing your business seems to influence everything you’ve experienced running your business, this is why. It’s a mess. And that’s okay. Your job is to manage this mess. That means being willing to adapt, try new things, experiment, and — most importantly — accept that the work is never done. Every change you make to your website has the potential to ripple through the rest of your business. Every adjustment you make to your pricing can set off a chain reaction. Every revision you make to your plan could create a counteraction later on down the line. The more aware you are of the messy nature of your business, the more you can use the mess to your advantage. The real problem is that… You’re not planning for the mess. When you plan for your business — whether it’s setting goals... ★ Support this podcast ★