What Works

This January, I’m celebrating 10 years as a small business owner. To say that a lot has changed since I started my very first website while breastfeeding my infant daughter is an extreme understatement. It’s not just the marketing tactics we rely on or the social platforms we frequent that have changed, though. I think it comes right down to the kinds of questions we’re asking and the visions we’re pursuing. Our businesses have matured—and we’re doing our best to keep up. Since my job is to both interview small business owners here on the podcast and observe the comings & goings of hundreds of small business owners in my company’s small business network, I have a pretty great vantage point for seeing how the landscape is changing. I see 5 key trends shaping small business in 2019. Over the next 5 episodes, I’ll be sharing each one with the help of interviews we’ve done over the last 3 years. The reason we can do that is because, well, these new trends are actually nothing new. They’ve been bubbling beneath the surface for years—as all good trends do. In 2019, I see them tipping, reaching the main stream, and affecting the way you look at how you do business. So while these episodes are old, I encourage you to listen to them with new ears and a new perspective. Things have changed—but these interviews represent the future, not the past. The first trend I see shaping 2019 is prioritizing sustainability for your small business. Now, what I’m not talking about here is the 4-hour workweek or passive income. In 2019, small business owners are going to make substantive changes to the way their businesses are run to create something that has staying power. People will worry less about what’s working right now and start thinking more about what’s going to work over the next 10 years. For some, that will mean building more robust teams. For others, it’ll mean prioritizing values for social justice and environmental sustainability and building them into their business models. For still others, it will mean taking a careful look at their offers and paring back to the core things they’ll be able to sell for the long-term. When I consider this trend, I think about Michael Siriani, who did the work to make his business a certified B Corp, or Jennifer Armbrust, who is exploring feminist business models. I also think about Susan Correa, whose line of environmentally-friendly children’s clothes is changing lives in India, or Michelle Fifis, who’s streamlined her business to make her business easier to run and more profitable. There’s also Natalie Sisson who is rebuilding her brand to be more focused on her customers and less on her or Chris Mittelstaedt, who has pioneered feeding the hungry with the product his company can’t use. Ultimately, the small business sustainability story I wanted to share with you is Michelle Ward’s. Michelle has been building her business under the brand When I Grow Up Coach for over 10 years. While things have certainly evolved over time, much of how she runs her business and supports her brand has remained the same. Michelle has approached her business with an eye for sustainability from day one—and it’s supported her through the ups and downs of breast cancer and adoption. As you listen to Michelle’s interview—whether it’s your first time or whether ... ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty Gritty * The origin story of the “wing woman effect” * How Mia Scharphie, founder of Build Yourself Workshop, uses what she calls a Virtuous Circle to connect with other business owners and grow her company (and how it differs from a mastermind) * Why making amazing connections with other entrepreneurs doesn’t come down to magic or luck but instead by intentionally crafting the relationship * How to use online business communities to find a business ally (plus, a number of ways to do this offline, too) * What to do when you struggle with making an ask in business Mia Scharphie believes in the power of a virtuous circle. It’s all about proactively cultivating the business allies within your realm who help take you to new heights — in business and in life. In this episode, Mia shares exactly how she cultivates strong business allies by making asks, connecting over a virtual coffee date with people she admires, and so much more. If you’ve ever wondered how to take your business to the next level through strategic business connections, a business bestie, or a wing woman as Mia describes, this conversation is for you. (And be sure to download her guide on growing your virtuous circle by clicking here.) We release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode. Creating your virtuous circle “It’s about linking together with other people who can support you and connect you to the opportunities that you want. But it’s also about building deeper, longer-term relationships with other people that really levels you.” — Mia Scharphie For Mia, a virtuous circle isn’t a nice to have; it’s a must-have. “It’s a fundamental approach to how I think about and grow my business,” she says. “It’s really about focusing on other people — but as part of this collective pact that can move you forward.” There are a number of totally practical ways that Mia creates and grows her virtuous circle. First, she has what she called a business wing woman. “It’s what some people might call a mastermind,” Mia says. “We get under the hood. We share language and templates. Sometimes we’ll even swap challenges and solve them for each other.” For example, Mia recently helped her wing woman through a recent challenge on structuring her calendar… and ultimately, Mia helped streamline her schedule so it’s that much easier to say yes to what she wants and no when she feels it necessary to preserve her energy and focus. Working with this business ally is something Mia’s done for the better part of four years. She also makes goals to meet for virtual coffee with interesting business owners that she connects with through CoCommercial and podcasts. This approach to connecting with other members and online business owners has led to partnerships and a safe space to share what’s working — and what’s not — in business. Intentionally crafting connections “Sometimes things seem magical… but I think you can craft a relationship this good.” — Mia Scharphie In this episode, Mia talks about the origin of her relationship with her “wing woman” Kristen… and how, over 4 years, they’ve supported each other through countless business challenges. And, as Mia mentions, this connection with Kristen didn’t happen by magic or by accident. Instead, relationships that click and last begin with your willingness to make an ask — even if you’re not fully clear on what you’re asking for, Mia says. The other key, she adds, is “to show — not tell — what is really going on in your business. ★ Support this podcast ★

Both as humans and as business owners, we tell ourselves stories. I might tell myself that no one will pay what I need to charge for my work. You might tell yourself that you can’t hire anyone who will do the work the way you want it to be done. Someone else might tell themselves that they don’t have enough experience to be taken seriously, that hard work equals results, or that they can do it all themselves. These stories aren’t necessarily good or bad–but they do frame the way we see our opportunities and challenges. These stories influence our plans and calculations. They impact our relationships with others and the relationship we have with ourselves. The more I’ve learned about business, the more I’ve learned that these stories play a huge role in how likely our businesses are to succeed or stagnate. The stories we tell ourselves as entrepreneurs make up our mindsets. Another way to look at it is that these stories create a pattern of expectations and beliefs. Every action you take and every decision you make is filtered through these expectations and beliefs. Your expectations and beliefs can keep your business stuck—even when it feels like you’re doing everything right. Your mindset can reinforce assumptions and prevent you from seeing opportunities to innovate. Your mindset can even create problems where there were none before. You might build a new product, streamline your business model, employ a new marketing strategy, or even pivot your business entirely–but if your fundamental beliefs and expectations about your business are off, you’ll remain stuck. Last week, I realized an old mindset that I need to work to rewrite and redefine. It’s a story about not being popular–an old, ingrained expectation that who I am, what I create, and what I value isn’t something people actually want. And when I say this is an old story, I don’t mean “as old as my business” old. I mean it’s almost as old as I am. I can see how this mindset has repeatedly caused me to sabotage my own work. I start a project assuming it will flop or be misunderstood. I finish a project with half the attention I started it with because I can already see it bombing. Maybe it surprises you to hear this. It surprised me to realize it! But it’s true. This is the #1 thing I need to address in the new year–for both my personal satisfaction and the health of my company. I know my true goal isn’t to be popular or to create something for everyone. However, I am on a mission to create work that serves people in a big way and I can’t do that while continuing to operate under these expectations and beliefs. As you can imagine, discovering a story like this can start to change everything. Suddenly, you see yourself, your business, and your opportunities in new ways. It’s been a constant theme here on the podcast as many conversations about marketing, management, or brand have turned into conversations about an unexpected identity crisis or mindset shift. So we wanted to dedicate a whole episode to exploring the ways that shifting your mindset can shift your business. Now, before we get too far in, I want to make one thing clear: shifting your mindset is not a magic bullet. While your mindset can absolutely get in your way and impact your actions, it does not instantly solve systematic racism and sexism. It doesn’t break down very real barriers that exist because of your gender, your sexual orientation, the socioeconomic status you come from, or the place you were born. These things are not in your head. They require extra work and energy–whether you’re a white man doing the work to create a more inclusive work culture or a genderqueer person of color battling these obstacles on a daily basis. But again, to do that work effectively, you have to be aware of the assumptions, beliefs, ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty Gritty * Why Maggie of Scoop Studios pivoted from working with online entrepreneurs to local, in-person clients — and how tapping into her existing network made all the difference in finding leads * How Maggie’s role within the agency shifted to Director of Sales when her business partner left — and how that impacted the rest of the team structure * Who updates standard operating procedures and when * Why Maggie only works with clients on engagements six months and longer (hint: healthier cash flow and happier clients!) Maggie Patterson, Principal of Scoop Studios, recently made a huge pivot in her company. For the first year or so of business, Maggie worked primarily with online business owners. But when she saw that business wasn’t growing and finding leads became increasingly harder, Maggie knew it was time for a shift. That’s when she decided to stop working with online business owners and instead work with local business owners. The results? She’s getting paid more,  she’s working with her ideal clients, and she’s working with them on a longer basis. “I’m so glad we made that move,” Maggie says. In this episode of What Works, Maggie shares the process of pivoting her business, growing her team, and setting herself up for success over the long-term. We release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode. Embracing local events to find clients “I can walk in and be one of the smartest people in the room whereas online there are a lot of smart people. I have a different perspective than everyone else in that room. That enabled me to make a lot of connections quickly and really parlay that into business a couple months later.” — Maggie Patterson Despite living in a town with a population of 500, a post office, and a pizza place, Maggie found there were more than enough leads right in front of her. But, as an introvert, she had to motivate herself to get in front of them. “My motto during that time was: every single day, I have to talk to people,” she says. “It’s so easy when we work behind a computer to go an entire day and not connect with people. To not leave our house. To basically hide out and do our thing.” So as Maggie shifted from working with online businesses to local businesses, she knew she had to look elsewhere for leads. That’s why she started going to the Chamber of Commerce meetings and realized that her next clients were in that room. Reinvigorating your network “I spent a lot of time reconnecting with past clients and reconnecting with people I worked with that were in different corporate roles. I was really reinvigorating my network and investing in those people and letting them know that I’m open for business. Because you can’t assume that people know what you’re doing.” — Maggie Patterson Maggie doesn’t just find leads from going to in-person events. She also reconnects with past colleagues or past clients to let them know: here’s what I’m doing and I’m open for business! Maggie stresses the importance of staying connected with those folks and investing in the connections that already exist. They are a goldmine! Longer engagements = win “Longer engagements are easier for us to manage because we aren’t doing the kind of project work where we’re parachuting in and out of someone’s business. There’s always so much context missing. When we’re doing ongoing work, month in and month out, we can provide a better work product. And, ultimately, it’s much easier for me to not be involved on a day-to-day basis for the smart cookies on my team to take that mantle and run with it. That frees up my time to really focus on running the business. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty Gritty * The live video broadcasting opportunity Sai Hossain saw for creators and entrepreneurs that inspired him to create Crowdcast * How small business owners are generating leads with live video and 2 key ways they are using live video to drive revenue * How live video is working for small business owners today as they build audiences and nurture relationships * Plus, the inside scoop on the future of video broadcasting and some features coming soon to Crowdcast Must See TV might be all but a thing of the past but there is still one place where appointment television is alive and kicking: live video broadcasting. Today, you can get up close and personal with your favorite brands, celebrities, influencers, and entertainers streaming places like Instagram Live, Facebook Live, and YouTube Live. Plus, you can hang out with a community of fans, ask questions, and suggest topics while you watch. But live video broadcasting isn’t just for internetainers. By 2021, live video is projected to be a $70 billion industry and small business owners and emerging creators are using it for big business results. So, how, in the current environment, are business owners using live video to power their businesses? Sai Hossain, founder and CEO of Crowdcast, is leading the charge. He’s taking live video broadcast beyond the webinar to build audiences, nurture relationships, and drive revenue. We release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. Helping people share their knowledge “How can I create a new live video experience that is really focused on conversation?” – Sai Hossain While on a retreat in Costa Rica with creators and thought leaders, Sai learned about a key challenge influencers faced in expanding their audiences and spreading their messages: outdated webinar software and clunky online course platforms. He discovered an opportunity to help creators and entrepreneurs share their knowledge, host conversations, and gather their communities together. Sai created Crowdcast to solve this problem. Live video broadcasting is an evolving market “We know that the world of live streaming is going to merge with the world of live seminars.” – Sai Hossain As small and creator-owned businesses push the limits of social media and live video, technology is evolving to meet demand. Live video platforms are constantly rolling out new features and programs. Sai and his team are talking with users, watching the trends, and adapting Crowdcast to meet demand, too. They’ve recently rolled out features that allow for better lead generation and payments–with more on the way. More than just webinars In the past, when creators, influencers, and online business owners thought “live video,” they thought about webinars. However, Sai sees an opportunity to create beyond the traditional webinar format. From his perspective, the distinction between audience-building and revenue-generating content is a blurry one. Crowdcast users are creating regular live shows, interacting with their audiences in Q&A sessions, and hosting roundtable discussions. They’re creating content in real-time–even when they’re not launching or selling. Live video can create that coveted “know, like, and trust” factor fast when creators and marketers put relationship-building and content first. This content can both build community and drive revenue over time. Crowdcast for activism “I would say the biggest issue with tech companies... ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty Gritty * What Jessica Fialkovich’s daily life looks like as President and Cofounder of Transworld Business Advisors—Rocky Mountain, investor, and nonprofit board of director * How Jessica uses the bottom up approach for setting company goals * How goals are established among team members and how those goals influence yearly company goals * Why you should think about your business not as an extension of your identity but as a financial asset — and ways to shift your mindset * Jessica’s tips for efficient team meetings Jessica Fialkovich knows what it takes to start and grow a successful small business. And, she knows how to buy and sell them. Today, Jessica’s the President and Co-Founder of Transworld Business Advisors—Rocky Mountain and she strategically leads and supports her team. In this episode, Jessica outlines exactly how she and her team set the yearly company goals. She also describes goal setting is a personal process — and how she works with each team member to create goals that work to motivate and inspire them. We release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode. Setting and establishing yearly company goals “I look at all of my team’s goals individually and then I roll them up into overall company goals. We usually establish somewhere between 3-5 goals for the year. Then we establish an overall theme.” — Jessica Fialkovich Together with her team, Jessica sets a handful of yearly goals for the company. What do they want to accomplish? Who do they want to help? What’s their upcoming focus? Right now, Jessica and her team are setting goals for 2019 because they like to have them honed in on by the end of the year. As a team, they decide on a yearly theme as well. Their goal for 2019 is to take really good care of the buyers. “This is an area where we really can improve,” Jessica says. Once the goals are set, Jessica summarizes them into one company document which is distributed to the entire team. Empowering team members to set goals “Most of the team are salespeople and salespeople are very goal-oriented to begin with. I talk to them about them running their own mini business underneath our business. As much as we do well, and as long as their business is increasing, they’re going to do well. Their financial rewards are tied directly to their performance.” — Jessica Fialkovich Not only do you want to set goals, but you also want to empower your team members to reach them. Jessica keeps her team focused by hosting quarterly kick-off meetings to do just that. Every team member creates between 3-5 personal metrics for the year, including: * What is their gross commission goal? * How many deals do they want to close? * Is there a specific industry or niche they want to specialize in next year? * How do they plan to personally grow and develop next year? Their goals also draw back to the company’s yearly theme. Motivation and personalizing goals “Show me what’s worked in the past and let’s amplify that for the future.” — Jessica Fialkovich Every person is motivated differently. Some people are motivated by stretch goals that almost seem impossible to reach. It pushes them. Alternatively, some people resonate with more realistic goals that build off of their work the year before. These same people would be demotivated by such a big stretch goal. That’s why Jessica works with each salesperson on a personal level. Together, they look at what happened in the past that worked (and what didn’t), plus what needs to change to reach that new goal. For example, ★ Support this podcast ★

I avoided confronting my mindset as a business owner for years. I figured that, if I got the numbers and the strategy right, I could grow my business without worrying about my own personal development or leadership. But the more I looked around, the more I realized that the entrepreneurs who were excelling in ways I wanted to excel thought differently than I did. They approached their systems, customers, and identity in a way that felt unfamiliar. After a good long while and plenty of false starts, I realized that mindset was every bit as important to the success of a business as strategy and numbers. I’ve been hosting the What Works podcast for over 3 years now and I’ve interviewed over 150 small business owners in my quest to find out what’s working—and what’s not—to grow and manage a business today. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to ask creatives, coaches, tech entrepreneurs, educators, writers, and designers how they approach their businesses. Sure, they’ve given me the nitty-gritty on how things work and why they do things the way they do. But they’ve also given me—and you, our listeners—a front-row seat to how they think. To grow our businesses, the way we think about our businesses needs to grow and evolve, too. Sure, the business owners I’ve interviewed do things very differently. I’ve talked to people who sell high-end services and those who sell accessible physical goods. I’ve talked to people who are building big teams and those who are going it solo. However, I’ve noticed that the most successful among them have a similar mindset about key aspects of their businesses. They think pretty similarly about how they tackle problems and create value. But they didn’t start out thinking that way. Their mindsets have evolved over time. Many have even gone through similar identity crises, mindset shifts, and vision overhauls—all because the way they were thinking about their businesses subtly shifted. These subtle mindset shifts are—as I see it—a key missing piece for many small business owners confused about why their businesses aren’t growing. I wanted a way to document the patterns and changes I saw among our guests here at What Works. So over the last 6 weeks, I wrote a small book called, Subtle: The Small Shifts That Lead To Big Results. Today’s special episode of What Works is one of my favorite chapters from the book: the shift from Special Snowflake to Special Sauce. Be sure to listen if you have a hunch that the idea “only you can do what you do” is holding your business back from greater success. And, if you want to grab a copy of the whole book (including audio version) for yourself, click here! ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty Gritty * Why speaker, author, and publicist Dana Kaye prefers intentional slow growth in business — and how she manages her company’s growth today * How growing too fast can negatively impact you, your clients, and your business — and, on the contrary, how growing more intentionally can change everything for the better * How Dana uses strategic partnerships to grow her business and serve her clients in an out-of-the-box way * How she collaborates with other service providers to serve clients in an organized and comprehensive way * Why she schedules in lunch dates in person (or on Zoom) every week — and the importance of sending out thank you notes Dana Kaye does things differently. She won’t give you the same run-of-the-mill advice that other publicists will… and that not only helps her company grow, it also helps her clients reach new heights. In this episode of What Works, Dana describes how partnerships lead to smart and intentional growth. She also discusses how important networking and expressing gratitude is for small (and big) business. We release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode. Using partnerships to grow your business “The reason I was able to grow my PR company so quickly was because I was bringing something to the table that the publishers weren’t. I was implementing out of the box strategies to promote books where the publishers weren’t.” — Dana Kaye Dana started her book PR business in 2009 at a time when “book sections were dying and newspapers were going under.” How do you help authors stand out when people seemingly aren’t buying books (or maybe not even reading) anymore? That’s precisely the question that Dana asked herself — and realized that the only way to make it work was by thinking outside of the box. One of those ways was partnering with companies that shared something with her clients. For example, her first client Jamie Freveletti wrote international thrillers about an ultramarathon runner. “My first thought was to partner with a running company to sponsor her book trailer.” And that’s exactly what happened — and more. Dana secured a partnership with specialty athletic wear company Sugoi. Not only did they sponsor the book trailer as hoped (they even sent Jamie some of their clothes to wear in it!), they went even further. They included the book in their newsletter and on their website and co-sponsored in-store book tour events. Overall, it was a win-win for both Jaime and Sugoi: they both got in front of a new audience and grew brand awareness for their products. On top of it all? It was fun! Curious if you should pursue a partnership? Dana created a sweet quiz you can use to vet any opportunity or idea. Intentionally growing slow “By slowing down and focusing on the types of clients that you want to work with on the projects and services you really want to offer, you’re going to offer a higher level of customer service, be overall better at your job, and I predict be happier and less stressed, which we all want.” — Dana Kaye One of the loudest entrepreneurship stories you hear is on hustling and growing your business fast. “I see a lot of entrepreneurs jumping in and trying to scale really fast,” says Dana. “They see one thing that’s working and try to do it 10x that.” “But more money, more problems,” she adds. “Are you really equipped to deal with those problems?” And the answer is usually no. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Nitty Gritty * Why Natalie decided to pursue a personal brand under her name — and why she decided to keep The Suitcase Entrepreneur, too. * What Natalie’s personal brand looks like from the inside out — and why she’s considering a done-for-you offering as part of her services * What she learned from taking a 3-month sabbatical to figure out her next moves — and how Natalie decided to move back to her native New Zealand * How Natalie uses an “idea journal” to quickly document new project ideas before committing to them. Plus, a quick look into how she makes decisions for her life and business so that they align with her purpose, vision, and goals. Natalie Sisson spent the better part of six years working remotely and traveling around the world. And while many of you likely know her as the Suitcase Entrepreneur, she’s set her bags down to make a home in her native New Zealand (puppy and partner included!). Although life’s changed quite a bit for her from her working-and-traveling-the-world-days, Natalie’s still teaching business owners how to create a more sustainable and profitable business using smart systems. Her latest feat? Launching the brand new book, The Freedom Plan. Through it’s pages, Natalie teaches entrepreneurs how to reclaim their time, streamline their business, and be more profitable while living your ideal lifestyle and feeling on purpose. Check out this episode to hear more from Natalie about shifting her work away from the Suitcase Entrepreneur and to her personal brand under her name, why implementing systems can completely change the way you do business, and so much more. We release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode. Using a personal brand to better serve your clients “I’m helping people create a more streamlined business that gives them freedom. I might say: hey, this is Natalie and this is how I want to help you. But it’s not about me. This is not a blog about following my journey or what I’m doing right now — although there’s an element of that that people want to learn from.” — Natalie Sisson Even though Natalie works under her name now rather than the Suitcase Entrepreneur, it’s really not about her. “It’s about you and what you can accomplish and how I can help you accomplish that thing,” Natalie says. The biggest difference between her personal brand and the Suitcase Entrepreneur? Now she teaches people how to implement the systems and tools that she’s used over the years to grow her business. It’s a lot less about Natalie personally and more about how she can serve her clients with what she knows. Implementing systems and hiring to optimize the work, save time, and spend more time doing what you’re good at “I’ve noticed that when I’m working I’m expanding my time to fit the work; I can actually do it in a lot less time than I realize because I’ve created good systems and because I’ve created a little virtual team around the world. A lot of the stuff that I do is the strategy and the content creation and the curriculum creation for the programs and offerings that I have.” — Natalie Sisson Right now, Natalie’s challenging herself to work one single hour a week — just to see if she can based on the systems she has in place. Part of her ability to optimize her work is through developing efficient systems. She also hires out some of the work — but only did so once the systems were strongly in place. Natalie works with a part-time virtual assistant “who knows my systems and business inside and out.”  Her V.A. ★ Support this podcast ★

What would 11-star service look like? That’s the question that Brian Chesky asked himself to figure out how he and his team at Airbnb needed support hosts to help everyone involved have an exceptional experience. I first heard this idea of 11-star service during Brian’s interview with Reid Hoffman on the first episode of Masters of Scale. The idea is that you want to create the capacity for these exceptional customer experiences to happen on a regular basis. The more regularly they happen, the more people come back and buy again–and the more they tell their friends. Of course, creating this 11-star service doesn’t just produce business results. It produces human results. Someone who takes the time to create an 11-star service isn’t just concerned with the bottom line, they are truly invested in showing genuine gratitude to the person they’re doing business with. This month at CoCommercial, we’re talking about Gratitude and how it shapes the way we do business. What does authentic, meaningful gratitude look like? How are small business owners showing their customers this gratitude and creating exceptional customer experiences on a regular basis? So we asked a few of our members: what do you do to ensure your customers know you’re grateful? In talking with 5 of these members we noticed a pattern in their responses. Gratitude wasn’t about a thank you gift or note. It wasn’t something that happened once at the end of an engagement. It wasn’t even a bonus surprise that got thrown in as a special value-add. These are the themes being explored in the conversations we’ve been having all month long with our CoCommercial community. These business owners have operationalized gratitude into the very bones of their businesses. It’s how they do business. They are integrating gratitude into every step of the customer experience. From the very beginning, they’re connecting the customer’s experience to the mission of the company. They are making sure that their customer feels like more than a transaction. For them, gratitude is the whole customer experience.  Prefer to read? No problem. Find the entire episode in article form by clicking here. This episode features Lacy Boggs, Nicole Lewis-Keeber, Bonnie Gillespie, Anna Laman, and Kristen Runvik.  ★ Support this podcast ★