The Get Paid Podcast: The Stark Reality of Entrepreneurship and Being Your Own Boss

This week, Val and I talk about one-on-one work, and how this type of work can be very lucrative in the service providing industry. Many people don’t like one-on-one work – with very valid reasons. This working model can often make you feel drained – both emotionally and physically. So how do you do one-on-one work without leading to burnout? What ways can you make it work for you while improving your bottom line? How do you determine when to say “no” to a client? Should you raise your rates – and how? When should you ask your clients for feedback? We will discuss all of this and more in the show and hopefully give you a better perspective on how we handle this type of working model in our own businesses.

Today, Val and I talk about systems and processes for your business. What are systems and processes? Why are systems important? How can they help you manage your business more effectively? What type of systems are available? Which systems do we use for our businesses? Val and I talk about a wide variety of systems, processes, and tools that we use throughout our businesses, as well as others that many entrepreneurs find useful. We answer all of the questions that you are dying to know about systems and processes, including the ones mentioned above. We share with you which system tools we use in our own business, and why we prefer these tools over others.

Welcome to Season 2 of the Get Paid Podcast! For the next 10 episodes, I’ll be joined by my lovely co-host, Val Geisler, so we can dive deeper into some of the topics that my guests and I touched on in Season 1. In this episode, Val and I discuss the myth (or is it a myth) of the 6-figure business, and what it actually takes to get there. In this episode you’ll hear: The importance of knowing your target audience. Why understanding the basics of owning an online business is important to your success. How being an entrepreneur can help you find and hone your innate talent and how fear can affect the success of your business. Why having a solid business foundation is essential to creating successful Facebook ad campaigns. Lessons we have learned from other successful entrepreneurs that have helped our own What strategies we have used and found success from in the early years of our businesses. Why becoming an expert in a specific niche is more lucrative and sustainable than diversifying your business. How “serving yourself” can help you better serve your clients. Why sharing your expert tips with others, for free, can lead to better conversion rates. Why it’s important to let your personality shine through the online content you create.

I've always wondered how "lifestyle" bloggers made their living. Don't brands just give away free stuff in exchange for reviews?    Jessie Artigue of Style and Pepper says those days are long over, but that doesn't mean that you can't build fruitful relationships with brands who want to work with bloggers to get the word out about their products. In this episode Jessie explains her business model of underwritten content, why she's always on the lookout for ways to diversify her revenue streams, and why she felt a strong moral responsibility to stop teaching other bloggers about her money-making methodology.

Life coaches abound, but how many do you know who spend several thousand dollars on their education and training? Or who have a weekly paid column in one of the most prestigious newspapers in the country? Meghan Leahy is a parenting coach (and total spitfire - there are no dull moments during this episode). She’s at a totally relatable stage in her business where everything isn’t perfect, but despite hiccups, Meghan sticks to her guns and her theories to help struggling parents finally get some sanity.

This online business world is full of coaches and consultants whose expenses are limited to team members, software and maybe some extra coaching. But what do you do if the thing you want to sell requires a mold that costs $10,000 just to get started? Lots of industrial designers will turn to Kickstarter when they want to validate a product idea before investing tons of money in making it. The Glif, created by Tom and Dan from Studio Neat, was among the earliest campaigns to really blow up in the physical product space, and since then they’ve continued to use the crowd-funding platform to launch new products.

In all the feedback I’ve gotten about the Get paid Podcast, the most common request was to hear from business owners who are outside of the B2B, teaching-people-to-build-businesses arena. So when I was introduced to Kim Greco and heard about her business, I JUMPED at the chance to interview her. Kim is the owner of Paws and Possibilities, a dog-training business that’s expanded into multiple locations (and states!) and is starting to introduce less traditional revenue streams in order to continue its massive growth. Kim was so much fun to talk to, both about business and animal training, and her advice on hiring should NOT be missed. In this episode you’ll hear: -- Kim’s long and surprising history of training animals, and how she transitioned from working with some more exotic species to training dogs. -- How Kim figured out her own secret to “having it all.” -- The key questions she uses when interviewing potential dog trainers (which made me REALLY uncomfortable). -- The one thing that allowed Kim to transition away from building a business that was based entirely around herself and her years of experience. -- The details of Paws and Possibilities’ first online course, how it’s priced, and why Kim is shying away from a membership model. -- Why she’s not all that interested in licensing her very unique dog training methodology. -- The progression of Kim’s revenue numbers since before she brought on help until the present.

If you haven't heard of the "Being Boss" podcast then you've been living under a rock because this show has exploded over the last 9 months.   My guests today are Kathleen Shannon and Emily Thompson the hosts of "Being Boss". Both Kathleen and Emily run their own separate businesses but an online friendship turned into a collaboration and then into a joint podcast called "Being Boss". Their show has been generating revenue since the very early episodes and I am excited to bring their story to you in this episode.   In This Episode You'll Hear: All about the inception of being boss. The struggles of trying to produce more than one episode per week. The breakdown of who does what to get the show created. Why they are not planning on taking a break anytime soon.  How they took their podcast from 0 to 7000 downloads per episode in just 9 months.

Having trouble keeping track of your business finances? Make sure you know exactly how to use your revenue projections in order to stimulate business growth rather than set you up for failure.   Mark was mentioned a few episodes ago when I interviewed Rachel Cook because he is the CFO that she mentioned as a part of her team. That is what Mark does for a living; he will be your CFO and help you manage the money.   In this episode you’ll hear:   -- Exactly how Mark helps his clients manage their money, and make  smarter spending decisions. -- Why you should never use projections to make big spending decisions and what you should use them for instead. -- Why he is virtually “unfireable” and what exactly that means. -- Why his previous business, a membership site, shriveled up and died (and what you can do to avoid it). -- Why Mark is not a big fan of high end mastermind programs.

Thinking about hiring a developer to build an app for your business? Make sure you know exactly what you DON’T need before you start shelling out piles of money.   Ernesto Tagwerker is the owner of OmbuLabs, a software boutique that uses the Lean Startup methodology to create web apps for their clients. Just because you have an idea for an app doesn’t mean that’s where you should start. Listen to Ernesto share the biggest things people get wrong when they hire a development team and why you should apply some Lean Startup practices to your business even if it has nothing to do with software. In this episode you’ll hear: -- Why OmbuLabs probably won’t build your website. -- The difference between a web app, a website, a desktop app, and a mobile app. -- All about MVPs, and why they’re a must-have in your project (whether or not you’re building software). -- Why you need to “get out of the building” more. -- One of Ernesto’s biggest challenges in closing clients. -- How he combats burnout in himself and his team. -- Why Ernesto went from bootstrapping his business to looking for funding, and back to bootstrapping over the course of 3 years. -- Why OmbuLabs charges by the hour and not on a per-project basis. -- The unique challenges in hiring software developers.