Style and Substance

Picture this: you've spent months, maybe even years, perfecting your unique product or service, pouring your heart and soul into every detail. Then, out of the blue, you stumble upon a carbon copy of your efforts being touted by a competitor. How do you handle it? Today, we're taking a deep dive into the murky waters of copying, comparison and competition within the entrepreneurial world.Inspired by a listener's question, we break down how to handle the experience of being copied, the emotional toll it takes, and the different forms copying can take, such as mimicking branding, ideas, or approaches. We'll look at how copying is not only a blow to the original creator but also a stumbling block for the replicator's business. As ever, we share from our own experience as well as valuable resources for addressing more serious copyright infringement. The two mentioned in the episode are ACID more info can be found here https://www.acid.uk.com/ and Sarah Watson offers helpful advice on dealing specifically with product design copies on her website here https://www.balineum.co.uk/pages/dealing-with-product-copiesWe also address how to approach things when confrontation feels like conflict, especially on public platforms such as social media. In an era of AI and shortcuts often leading to unoriginal content, we champion authenticity in branding and copywriting. We explore how to maintain professionalism and empathy, even when putting down a clear boundary. We wrap up with a word on creating agency in your own space, emphasising the need to take control of our own energy and create a positive impact that ripples. We hope you enjoy listening and as ever do let us know what you think and if you like it do leave a rave review, we're always grateful. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we explore the secrets of successful brand positioning and the power of creating a strong strategy. We look at how to set your brand apart in a crowded market and make sure it resonates with the right audience. We start with the importance of finding your niche or your ‘space’ - a crucial step towards attracting the right clients and building a loyal customer base. We'll take you through the process, emphasising the need for clarity, simplicity and understanding your unique purpose.The journey continues as we navigate the challenges of narrowing down your offerings without the fear of missing out on potential clients. We explore micro-niching and why assessing your positioning regularly is necessary for long-term success. We share insights on the role of visual identity and the influence of external factors, such as the economy, on positioning effectiveness. We also talk a little on how to make your brand's messaging compelling, clear, and consistent.Drawing on stories from our fields of coaching and people development field, we explore how to feel empowered and credible in your chosen niche, and combat the dreaded imposter syndrome. We discuss the need for evolving and refining your brand messaging in response to market changes. We'll explore some of the complexities of when, why, and how to consider a pivot in your business. We hope this is inspiring, enlightening and will leave you in a stronger position to position your brand in the best possible way. We really hope you enjoy and, as ever, if you do please like, review and spread the word. Thanks for listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us as we discuss the fascinating world of pricing, its complexities and the challenges it poses for entrepreneurs. Navigating the world of contextualised pricing is not an easy task. However, understanding the importance of the value behind the services being provided, the costs associated with the production and delivery and the overall business positioning is key. Hear us out as we shed light on value-based pricing, and why pricing for the value being added, rather than simply the time spent, can prove really beneficial for your business.We start by examining the key factors that should be considered when pricing your product or service - what the market can bear and what feels comfortable for you. We delve into the significance of self-worth and the role it plays in pricing decisions, exploring how it directly impacts the level of responsibility an entrepreneur takes when delivering a product or service. We further explore how pricing affects service-based businesses and the power of a brand to influence pricing decisions. We talk about the role of pricing in inducing feelings of delight and avoiding dreaded buyers remorse. We'll debate on the impact of frequent discounts on our perception of value and the art of efficiently handling price increases. We wrap up with a reflection on the emotional impact of pricing during challenging times and the importance of aligning your pricing with what is authentic and what the market is doing. We really hope you find it helpful and look forward to hearing your thoughts.Happy listening Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back lovely listeners and we are getting into the swing of season six with what we hope is a pretty dynamic episode. What if the hustle culture, so often glamorised and idolised as the only path to entrepreneurial success, was in fact a toxic trap? Leading you down a path to imposter syndrome and burnout? Imagine a business landscape where worth isn't defined solely by the latest ‘big numbers’ of the income-boasting hustlers, but by something much deeper and more sustaining? That's the world we'll take you into during this intense discussion.We'll confront the problematic behaviour associated with overcharging and its correlation with imposter syndrome. We'll delve into the importance of rest cycles and the necessity of maintaining integrity within our craft. And, we'll scrutinise the damaging effect of striving for unrealistic goals, exposing the often overlooked connection between money mindset and susceptibility to manipulation. Lastly, we'll shine a light on the often unspoken aspects of entrepreneurship - resilience, innovation, and empowerment. These are the factors that can truly navigate you through the challenging journey, while maintaining your sanity and fostering sustainable growth. We won't promise you 'get rich quick' schemes, instead, we'll encourage you to listen to your intuition, trust your discernment, and to be kind towards yourself as well as others. So, tune in to this no-holds-barred discussion, it's time to debunk the toxicity of hustle culture together. We really hope you enjoy the episode, do let us know how it lands and as ever, thanks for listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back lovely listeners, season 6 is upon us and opening up this new season is our conversation about Entrepreneurial Spirit.Being an entrepreneur is such an exciting space to be in and one that both Fiona and I get so inspired by. In this wide ranging conversation we talk about what it takes to be an entrepreneur, the traits that make entrepreneurs different from other types of people and the upsides and inevitable downsides of that. We dig into our own personal views of whether we ourselves have what it takes to be called an entrepreneur and why, or why not that might be the case. Towards the end we talk about the very tricky balance that confronts so many of us when we need to balance drive and ambition with wellbeing and what it takes to make business these days truly sustainable. We had such fun recording this episode so I hope it's an enjoyable listen. Do let us know how it lands, we'd love to hear from you.p.s So sorry folks, we discovered a ghost in the edit of the soundtrack which was playing! over the intro it's now been removed so apologies if you couldn't hear us clearly over the music it should now be resolved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well here it is folks, our final episode of season five before we break for half term and we hope you enjoy it. We've shaken up the format this week and dedicated it to answering some of the many questions that have come in from our lovely listeners. Everything from "how do I deal with growth not being what it was last year?" to "where do I start if I want to become a designer?" and all sorts in between. We hope it's useful. We want to thank everyone who has taken the time to send in questions and also to review the podcast. It means so much and genuinely makes it all worthwhile to know there are lovely listeners who are finding it valuable. Happy listening and see you on the other side for season six. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have a goodie for you this week lovely listeners. I am picking Fi's brains on a subject close to both our hearts - resonant branding. We explore the power of a resonant brand what it can do for your business as an entreprenuer and the game changing impact for designers. We dig into what it takes to create a truly resonant brand, what foundations you need, how to set you up in the best possible way to find a designer that can deliver resonant work, and the skillset designers need to be developing to work in a truly resonant way. I know this will be inspiring and informative in equal measure. As ever, do let us know what you think and if you love it do rate and review it makes all the difference. Happy listening Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello lovely listeners, how are you feeling? Well if it's overwhelmed then we have a goodie for you! In this episode we start to explore the topic of overwhelm and our conversation goes far and wide. We cover everything from what triggers overwhelm, how we experience it and what we instinctively do in response to some of the potentially more helpful ways to tackle it. There's a whole section in the middle where Fi makes sense of the potential overwhelm of the branding process and how we can take a very clear and logical path through to make it less overwhelming and much more enjoyable. We end with some very simple immediately actionable steps you can do right now if you're feeling overwhelmed. We really hope you enjoy listening and if you do please rate review and spread the word, we really appreciate it. Until next week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've been hearing from more than a few people that it's a bit challenging at the moment and we've been asked to tackle the topic of converting clients so in this week's episode we do just that. How do we make the most of every opportunity that comes our way? How can we prepare in the right way to handle enquiries, deal with the challenge of potentially fewer sales and stay sane while we're at it? We hope you find this both practical and encouraging and if you are finding business a little tough at the moment, hang in there, you've got this!Fi mentions her brilliant media kit masterclass and is offering listeners a discount till the end of September, so do listen out at the end for details of how to get hold of that offer. If there's anything you like us to cover in future episodes do drop us a line we'd love to hear from you. Thanks for listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back lovely listeners. After last week's more personal episode, we are back to business and talking about creating positive cultures and the ripple effect possible when we show up with intention.We explore what we can do as entrepreneurs that is aligned with our passion and purpose to make a positive contribution to something beyond the financial economy.We talk about the rise in B-Corp certification and whether ESG scores are relevant for our businesses.We share some personal stories of two charities that we passionately support, and the benefits of giving more than just financial support to the things that are important to us.We really hope you find this an inspiring episode and one that will get us all thinking about the world we want to create and what part we can play in that. This absolutely isn't about creating another tick list of things to do to be compliant or leave us feeling like we're not doing enough but rather, we hope, an inspiring call to arms to anyone who can see the potential in their work to create a more positive future for our wider communities.If you'd like to know more about the work of Solidarity Sports you can find them at www.solidaritysports.org and Tommy's at www.tommys.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.