Strategy Hour | Online Marketing for Business Growth

What if I told you that getting lucky on LinkedIn isn’t about luck at all, but rather about a strategy that’s amplified by your authenticity? Today, I’m joined by the founder of Liam’s Brand Stand, Liam Darmody, to discuss how he grew a thriving consultancy and a LinkedIn following of over 45,000 people by simply showing up as himself!  Connect with Abagail⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠All the Links!⁠⁠⁠ In this conversation, we break down his philosophy of ‘manifesting serendipity’, how to turn your LinkedIn profile into a lead-generating landing page, how to build an audience, and how to use tools to scale your presence without losing your personality.  If you’ve been wondering how to market yourself without losing yourself or how to make LinkedIn work for you, then this episode is definitely for you!   Episode Highlights  What It Means to ‘Manifest Serendipity’ [0:05:03]   The Four Pillars of Leveraging LinkedIn Effectively [0:16:30]  Mastering Your Sales Strategy [0:28:48]  Building Connections Using LinkedIn Sales Navigator [0:32:21]  Special Thanks to Our Advertiser ⁠⁠FreshBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I’m going to drop some knowledge that no other marketers are dropping! You’re going to want to listen, share this episode, and pop me a DM to tell me what you think about it. I have added more than double the number of new subscribers to my list in the past three and a half months than I did all of last year!  Connect with Abagail⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠All the Links!⁠⁠⁠ Nurturing an email list takes time, and while it will absolutely get you business, cold subscribers will take time to warm up and actually start purchasing from you. But this is a long-term strategy that adds to the stability of your business. Even though attracting subscribers is the topic of discussion for today, I’m going to tell you something controversial: it’s not where I would start when opening a small business! Instead, it’s something I would continue to invest in over time, but it won’t get you that initial attraction.  Episode Highlights  Incorporating Evergreen Training and Trends [0:08:38]   Leveraging Low-Priced Digital Products and a Refresh [0:11:50]  The Power of Research and Generic Sign Ups [0:16:33]  Boosting Leads with an Activation [0:24:38]  Special Thanks to Our Advertiser ⁠⁠FreshBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get ready for the wildest ride! I am seeing massive change, growth, and opportunities for small businesses today, and incredible ways to get visible. In today’s episode, I’m going to dig into what it’s like to get paid to grow your email list and how I’ve been using this strategy for almost a decade. Get Digital Product Jumpstart Connect with Abagail⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠All the Links!⁠⁠  I’m ready to reveal what I’ve been doing and how I’ve been doing it, and give you guys the roadmap so that you can follow it step by step. It has been revolutionary to my business, and an incredible way to see consistent growth. I definitely think it’s going to solve the leads problem so many businesses encounter! Let’s dive in.  Episode Highlights  The One Thing Holding Businesses Back From Financial Freedom [0:09:11]   What To Do Instead of Having To Start All Over Again [0:13:18]  How I Went From Blissed Out to Burned Out and Back Again. [0:16:06] Why You Need to Join Digital Product Jumpstart Today [0:21:25]  Special Thanks to Our Advertiser ⁠⁠FreshBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, I want to dig into how I would start a business if there’s no existing audience — how I would get off the ground, how we would get momentum, how I would create a community of people who are actually listening to what I have to say and how I would make real tangible dollar bills as early as possible in the process. But before we get into the strategies, I just want to say that I have never met someone who actually has no audience.    ⁠⁠⁠Join The Co-op – The Membership for Online Businesses⁠⁠⁠  Connect with Abagail⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠All the Links!⁠⁠ Perhaps you’ve never started a page with this focus, or this niche, but we have connections, and it’s our job to leverage the connections that already exist. I’m here to tell you that ultimately, the number of people in your audience has little to no relationship to the actual amount of sales that you can generate. The number of followers does not matter! It’s about creating the right community that is supportive of where you’re going. So, let’s dive in.   Episode Highlights  Where to Find the 1000 People You’re Already Connected To [0:08:28] How to Use a Digital Product to Attract and Convert Strangers Into Buyers [0:14:13]  Getting In Front of the Right People to Build the Visibility You Need [0:18:18]  Why You Need to Launch and Validate Your Offer Before Building a Low-Priced Digital Product [0:23:18]  One of My All-Time Favorite Content Strategies [0:29:40]  Where to Start (And Why it Doesn’t Have to Be So Overwhelming) [0:35:29]  Special Thanks to Our Advertiser ⁠FreshBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’re not going to bring your entire wardrobe on a trip, you’re just going to bring what you need! I am leaving the country very soon and I thought I’d show you how I’m preparing my business to run without me while I’m gone. I am headed to the UK for seven days, and I am so excited because I haven’t left the USA in 13 years!  ⁠⁠⁠Join The Co-op – The Membership for Online Businesses⁠⁠⁠  Connect with Abagail⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠All the Links!⁠⁠  Last August, I joined a leadership course, and now we’re all going to the UK together. I’ve known for almost a year now that I am going to be gone for a week, and while I wanted to spend a ton of time preparing my business, I’m 10 days out and realizing that I need to get it together!  I think we all enter a time in our business where we are excited about stepping away but don’t want to drop the ball. So I’m going to share how I’m (realistically) making it happen for myself and how you can too.   Episode Highlights  “Packing Up” Before I Leave [0:06:16]  What I’m “Putting Down” [0:13:04]  Packing My “Carry Ons” [0:17:20]  Special Thanks to Our Advertiser ⁠FreshBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you evolving in your business but struggling to show up and bring your audience along for the ride? In this live coaching session, I sit down with Latoya Shanell, CEO and Principal Event Strategist of L’ Shanell + Co., to tackle the visibility challenges that come with shifting from corporate clients to serving small businesses.  ⁠⁠⁠Join The Co-op – The Membership for Online Businesses⁠⁠⁠  Connect with Abagail⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠All the Links!⁠⁠    Latoya runs an events company producing both small- and large-scale events, primarily for corporate clients. Now, she’s looking to expand her reach and work with more small businesses. In our conversation, we dig into what it really means to show up and how to bring people with you as your business evolves.  I definitely gave Latoya some tough love, but it’s a powerful reminder for anyone who feels stuck when it comes to showing up online. If you want to be more visible but don’t know where to begin, this episode is full of practical ideas to get you moving. I can’t wait to see what you do with them!  Episode Highlights  Behind the Scenes: Latoya’s National Event Marketing Company & Where She Wants to Go Next [0:01:14] Who Latoya Should Really Be Speaking To [0:11:00]  How She Can Show Up as the Expert People Need [0:18:18]  Homework for Latoya (& You!) [0:28:18]  Talking to Different Audiences About the Same Offer [0:32:10]  Building an Online Strategy That Fits In With What You’re Already Doing [0:38:41]  Why It’s Less About the Platform & All About Where You Spend Your Time [0:43:05]  How to Reach All Your Audiences [0:49:45] Special Thanks to Our Advertiser ⁠FreshBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠   Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is it that you’re ultimately trying to do? What is the legacy you’re trying to create? Considering these things is so important when building your personal brand. Today’s episode is a little bit different. We are flipping the tables as we rerun an interview I had on the Branded Impact Podcast, hosted by Jo Espejo. ⁠⁠⁠The conversation was so good, I want to have it on the Strategy Hour too! Join The Co-op – The Membership for Online Businesses⁠⁠⁠  Connect with Abagail⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠All the Links!⁠⁠  In this discussion, I explore what it means to do less than you’re capable of, how to know when to quit, the power of personal branding, and how you can build a business that works for you! I really want to hear what you think about this conversation, so please pop me a DM over on Instagram!   Episode Highlights  The Power of Branding Early [0:05:33]   What Designing Your Business Around Your Bandwidth Truly Means [0:08:51]  Doing Less Than You’re Capable Of [0:17:07]  How to Know When to Quit [0:24:07]  Pivoting Privately Versus Rebranding Publicly [0:31:42] Special Thanks to Our Advertiser FreshBooks⁠⁠⁠ Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am posting for 100 days in a row on social media, and I am putting out content that is meant to help people grow their visibility, their followers, their email subscribers, or their buyers. I specifically wanted to put this out into the world so that I could also grow my own list, with the goal of adding 10,000 subscribers in 100 days. Now, this episode is the full behind-the-scenes, why I decided to do it, how it’s different from my 100-Day LinkedIn experiment, and why I’m scared out of my mind. But I’m confident this is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. Leads on Autopilot: How to Get Your First (or Next) 1,000 Subscribers Connect with Abagail⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠All the Links!⁠⁠  Episode Highlights Why I’m Really Doing This: The Ad That Started It All [0:01:35] The Intimidation Factor: Showing Up, Being Seen, and Respecting the Life that You Want [0:04:22] What Made Me Choose the Topic and Why It’s Going to Help You [0:12:35] The Not-So-Secret Formula I Landed On for My 100-Day Series [0:24:38]  How I’m Creating Accountability (And How You’re a Part of That!) [0:28:11]  Why I’m Not Just Trying to Grow 50000 Subscribers [0:30:56] Our Advertiser FreshBooks⁠⁠⁠ – Get 50% Off for 6 Months   Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m sure you’ve heard “go big or go home” before. But what if the real flex was going small and staying home on purpose? I used to chase more because I thought that more was always better, and it almost completely broke me. Today, I’m going to help you reframe success and show you why dreaming smaller might actually lead to more money, more impact, and a life you can’t wait to wake up to! ⁠⁠⁠Join The Co-op – The Membership for Online Businesses⁠⁠⁠  Connect with Abagail⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠All the Links!⁠⁠  Ever since I started my business, there has been a cultural obsession with hustling. I want you to ask yourself if always pursuing more is doing more harm than good. You are so capable of crushing so many dreams and doing more than a lot of people could ever even dream of. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. If you keep giving so much of yourself away, you will have nothing left. Let’s dive in!   Episode Highlights The Dangers of Hustle Culture. [0:05:12]   Why Small Doesn’t Equal Insignificant. [0:09:33]  You Are Not the Product! [0:15:21]  Redefining YOUR American Dream. [0:19:23]  Our Advertiser FreshBooks⁠⁠⁠ – Get 50% Off for 6 Months Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to write a book! It feels weird to say out loud, but I know that by sharing this with you, I will also hold myself accountable and publish this thing. I’ve had a few books stewing around in my brain for a few years now. But, after taking a swing at a partnered brand deal a few years ago and deciding it wasn’t the right fit for my first book, I’ve been a bit deflated. But people like Justin Moore, who wrote Sponsor Magnet, and Jay Clouse, whom I hosted for a super inspiring conversation and is in the throes of writing his own conversation, have helped me to reconsider. Let’s get into it!  ⁠⁠⁠Join The Co-op – The Membership for Online Businesses⁠⁠⁠  Connect with Abagail⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠All the Links!⁠⁠ Episode Highlights Why I’m Choosing Traditional Publishing (Even Though I Could Self-Publish Tomorrow) [0:09:04]   What I’ve Learned From Years of Online Business [0:18:20]  The One Thing All My Favorite Books Have in Common [0:28:49]  What’s Next for Me on My Book-Writing Journey [0:34:50]  Why a Proposal is so Much More Than a Description of Your Book [0:34:50]  Our Advertiser FreshBooks⁠⁠⁠ – Get 50% Off for 6 Months Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, rate, and review The Strategy Hour Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. For show notes, go to thestrategyhour.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices