The Friday Habit

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark discuss specific ways to come up with ideas for your business throughout the year, but particularly during this time of COVID-19 quarantine. Undoubtedly, you have noticed many businesses shifting their methodology and messaging out of necessity such as coffee shops and restaurants offering convenience and grocery items for sale to customers. If you are struggling to come up with creative solutions like this for your own business, here are 3 places to start your brainstorming:Cross-pollinating from other industries – Take a step back from your industry and survey the entire market, thinking about existing ideas and concepts that you could apply to your own business in an innovative way. There are transferrable ideas all over the place if you just take the time to think through the application for your own niche.Applying imaginary limitations to your business – We are all learning to adapt our businesses to align with the societal and governmental regulations of business operations during this time of COVID-19, but you might also benefit from putting hypothetical restrictions on yourself. For instance, if you had to limit the time or resources used to complete a project, think through what adjustments to your systems or processes would need to be made? If you were to be incapacitated for a week, what would need to be in place for your team to be able to pick up your workload and seamlessly carry on with business?Use the Friday Habit program – Get the free download from our website that will walk you through how to allocate one day a week to spend on your business instead of in your business. This method of constant improvement and evaluation is a great way to continually innovate.Your action item this week is to do the cross-pollination brainstorming exercise at the link below.Links:https://knapsackcreative.com/blog/1-simple-method-to-generate-innovative-business-ideasConnect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/ 

Our topic on this episode of The Friday Habit is using podcasting to communicate, inspire, motivate, and connect. There are nearly 1 million podcasts available to listeners at this point in 2020, and you likely subscribe to or listen to at least a few episodes per month. While it might have been complex to launch a podcast back in 2005 when Ben and Mark were both starting to dabble in the platform, technological advances in the past 15 years have drastically reduced the barriers to entry and made it almost effortless for new podcasters to launch their shows.As with most things in life, it is important to start with “why”, so if you are considering starting a podcast, here are a few things to consider:Podcasts capture your audience’s attention – Podcasting as a platform has much higher completion rates than blog posts.You can create a personalized experience for your listeners – People are drawn in by the conversational format.They help you build and maintain important network connections – As a branding strategy, having a podcast can act as lead generation and increase brand awareness.Podcasting can open up a new financial avenue – If you are able to gather enough downloads per episode, you could be eligible for sponsorships and advertising deals to generate additional income.Having a podcast positions you as a thought leader in your industry – When you add value to your listeners and share your knowledge with the world through podcasting, people will view you as an industry expert.Once you are ready to get started, there are some questions you can ask yourself to determine your show topic or idea and how to make people want to listen to it. You can also download a FREE guide that walks you through all of the logistics of launching a podcast on https://www.BrandViva.comLinks to things we talked about:Podcast Hosting Platform: https://transistor.fm/Podcast Recording Platform: https://squadcast.fm/?ref=marklabriolaiiConnect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/ 

Welcome back to the continuation of Ben and Mark’s interview with Jonathan Stark on The Friday Habit podcast. Jonathan says that it is important to determine the metrics that a client is using or looking for during discussions with them about potential projects or else you will never be successful, and they will never be satisfied. Many clients say that they want to be “thought leaders”, but they are really looking for specific outcomes that they feel like would make them thought leaders, so getting to the root of what they want is the key to your success and, in turn, theirs.When it comes to working with retainers or on a subscription model, it is important to treat each of these long-term relationships uniquely, specifying the outcomes and deliverables for each client and pricing based on the overall scope of the monthly requirements. You are not doing yourself or your client any favors by promising that you will spend a certain number of hours on them every week or every month, so be sure to price based on the value to the client rather than the time it will take. Jonathan specifically talks about the advisory retainer model where clients pay you for your initial strategy as well as variations of overseeing the projects.Jonathan sets out a detailed and straightforward narrative for shifting your mindset and that of your clients from an hourly pricing model to value-based pricing in a way that reduces the risk for the client and ensures that their project will not go over budget. He recommends that freelancers offer this value-based and risk-reduced pricing model at an 85% markup from their traditional hourly rate.He also delves into the pros and cons of productized services and the question he asks himself before agreeing to work with a client. The action item he recommends after this episode is to think about your positioning and target market and to educate yourself about value-based pricing, perhaps through his free email course.Links:https://valuepricingbootcamp.com Connect with Jonathan: https://jonathanstark.com/https://www.thebusinessofauthority.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanstark https://twitter.com/jonathanstark?lang=en Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/ 

Our guest on this episode of The Friday Habit is Jonathan Stark, industry thought leader, CEO of Jonathan Stark Consulting, and cohost of The Business of Authority podcast. Jonathan is working to flip the script on the traditional hourly pricing model used in freelancing and consulting. He points out that when you price your services based on hours, you are creating an unnecessary limit on earning potential. Instead, he advocates for a value-based pricing model that is based on the value of your service to the client. In order for this model to work, the client must have a clear vision of what they want from you and a specific outcome in mind. Defining this scope will inform your value-based pricing for this specific project and having these outcome conversations will ensure that you are able to provide the most important service: customer satisfaction. Jonathan says that this pricing model only makes sense for longer-term projects that are 6 months or longer, and that it is best to draft a proposal that breaks down the ultimate dollar amount of value to the client into 3 tiers and then determine what you could do for those price points.When conversing with potential clients, Jonathan focuses on the questions: “Why this?”, “Why now?”, and “Why me?” If they have the answers to all of these questions and you feel like your services align with their needs, draft a proposal. Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions along the way and challenge their narratives if you want to understand better their requests or to define your boundaries.While it can be intimidating to think about value-based pricing for intangible services, Jonathan says that everything is measurable, even if the measurements are subjective like Amazon reviews. When it comes down to it, the client will tell you what they are willing to pay and why. Even so, you should be willing to walk away if it is not a good fit.Tune in next week for part 2 of our conversation!Links:“Breaking the Time Barrier” e-book: https://www.frameworkhomeownership.org/images/uploads/Breaking-the-Time-Barrier.pdf Connect with Jonathan: https://jonathanstark.com/https://www.thebusinessofauthority.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanstark https://twitter.com/jonathanstark?lang=en Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/ 

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark shine some light on the ethereal subject that is website improvements as only two people who are experienced in branding and creative website creation could do. In fact, they outline 7 ways to improve your website that will not only provide you with a clearer and more effective website but also with greater clarity on your brand as a whole.Make your text bite-sized – You shouldn’t have any big paragraphs that cause the reader to audibly grunt when they see what they are expected to read. Within 5 seconds, the reader should be able to answer basic questions about your company such as who, what, and how.Capture email addresses – Use a lead magnet like a free e-book or other exclusive content to get people’s email addresses but avoid the intrusive pop-up technique.Use real photographs – Put actual photos of your team members on the website rather than relying on the stale stock images that everyone is tired of seeing. Stocksy and Unsplash are great resources for less common stock images as well.Make your customer the hero – The customer really only cares about what your company can do for them, so craft your messaging to answer their questions rather than boring them with a play-by-play of your career up to this point.Add clear calls to action – Let your customers know what they can expect to happen next in their process with you. Don’t just have them click a button to “learn more”, but rather “schedule a call” or “request a demo”.Test it on potential customers – Watch someone interact with your site, either in person or by using a service like Hotjar.Make updates often – Knapsack Creative recommends that you update your website weekly or monthly to keep clients coming back to see what is new.Your action item after this episode is to review your website and implement some or all of these changes, then show your site to someone and ask for feedback.Links:“The Smart Agency” podcast: https://jasonswenk.com/smart-agency-master-class/ Stocksy: https://www.stocksy.com/Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/ Hotjar: https://www.hotjar.com/ Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/ 

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark talk with Dr. Sherry Walling, a clinical psychologist with a specialization in trauma and stress. She works with people in high-intensity jobs, particularly entrepreneurs, so she has been trained in the space of chaos and has the advantage of experience in knowing how to navigate uncertain times.Sherry says that during this time of coronavirus affecting countries all over the world and the subsequent impacts on the economy, many people are experiencing instability and a heavier than normal mental load. There is really nothing anyone could have done to plan or prepare for this drastic shift in lifestyle, which makes us all feel unsettled and burdened. It is very important to create as much cushion for yourself as possible: get plenty of sleep, eat well, limit alcohol and sugar intake, move your body every day, and create structures or boundaries.In fact, these drastic shifts in lifestyle and daily life may merit the need for grieving the loss of rhythms, interactions, jobs, milestones, and comfort. Grieving these things might look like this: talk about it with others (virtually), move your body, and then discuss the question “What is the next meaningful move to make?” You may also find it helpful to step back from your own needs for a minute and reach out to help others around you in any way you can. It is all about finding a counterbalance to what is going on in the world and in your own life, taking control of what you can through deep breathing, moving your body, and creatively reorganizing your mindset through mindfulness practices. As a business owner, the most practical ways to develop resilience are to be intentional with your choices, be honest about your limitations, and choose joy and creativity. Sherry’s action item after this episode is that you find a “quarantine project” that provides you with an outlet that allows you to experience stillness every day.Connect with Dr. Walling: https://www.sherrywalling.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Entrepreneurs-Guide-Keeping-Your-Together-ebook/dp/B079SNX6NBhttps://zenfounder.com/Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/ 

Ben and Mark take a step back from their planned episodes of The Friday Habit to address ways to run your business in these unusual times. Many small business owners and entrepreneurs are struggling to know the next right steps, but there is hope and there are some simple ways that you can keep things moving:Reach out to your network – Call or send messages to your clients and other people you have business relationships with to check in and see how they are doing. Encourage them during these uncertain times and offer to help in any way you can. You may also consider modifying your business offerings to provide more value to clients in this time.Take action – Identify problems that your market is facing and create solutions for them. Even consider using some of your gifts that are unrelated to your industry but that might be helpful in providing value.Be a leader and a resource – Know your market and be present, confidently leading the way and guiding others.Start using online tools to stay connected – If you aren’t already using online tools, now is a great time to start. We have linked some resources below that will help you stay connected to your business and just to other people in this time of isolation.Focus on your business – Use this “downtime” as an opportunity to do some short-term and long-term business planning, perhaps using the Business Made Simple online curriculum as a guide. Be cognizant of the content you’re putting out – Evaluate your message before publishing it to be sure it is thoughtful, relevant, sensitive, respectful, and positive. People are worn down enough just by life’s circumstances – they don’t want to receive emails that rub salt in their wounds.It’s all about relationships – Be kind to everyone you come in contact with and be intentional about checking in on people you haven’t heard from in a while. Links: “Profit First” book: https://www.amazon.com/Profit-First-Transform-Cash-Eating-Money-Making/dp/073521414X/Mike Michalowicz: https://mikemichalowicz.com/Squadcast: https://squadcast.fm/ Slack: https://slack.com/ Bonjoro: https://www.bonjoro.com/ Zoom: https://zoom.us/ Business Made Simple: https://www.businessmadesimple.com/ Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/ 

So how do you retain more of your current clients and increase their lifetime value over time? On this episode of The Friday Habit podcast, Ben and Mark provide their top 3 ways and recommend some awesome resources to help you along the way. Package or productize your service – Mike McDerment wrote the e-book “Breaking the Time Barrier” demonstrating this topic, which we highly recommend that you read. Horizontal integration such as expanding your current product offerings based on demand and needs expressed by your clients can be a gamechanger for your business.Create a subscription service – Often referred to as a retainer, a subscription service is a way ensure that your clients will stick around for a specified period of time and that you will be able to provide enough value to them that they will recognize their need for your services. One good way to communicate this value is by providing the client with a quarterly or annual report of what your company has done for them and laying out some goals for the future.Continue the relationship with content marketing – Content marketing is one of the clearest ways to provide value to clients, new or existing. Setting yourself up as a thought leader in your area of expertise and willingly sharing that knowledge will surprise and delight your clients and keep them engaged. You can do this through weekly email newsletters, hosting a podcast, creating a deliverable that your clients can refer to, or offering free services to help them conduct more effective business themselves.Your action item after this episode is to read the e-book entitled “Breaking the Time Barrier” and consider how you might implement some of the methods described there into your own business.Links:Bonjoro: https://www.bonjoro.com/BombBomb: https://bombbomb.com/c/ Taylor Landis article: https://www.outboundengine.com/blog/customer-retention-marketing-vs-customer-acquisition-marketing/“Breaking the Time Barrier” e-book: https://www.frameworkhomeownership.org/images/uploads/Breaking-the-Time-Barrier.pdfConnect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/ 

The topic of this episode of The Friday Habit is dealing with business envy. Everyone struggles with comparison and the temptation to be judgmental of yourself and others in the context of business, and when you are in the heat of the moment it can be difficult to see things from the right perspective. Even if you didn’t get that new client or promotion, you are doing better than you think you are. Here are four ways to help combat this business envy and get a better understanding of your own strengths and position in the industry:Reach out to that competitor – Send them a message or meet them for coffee to congratulate them on their recent success and start to build a relationship with them. Most likely, getting to know them and their story will help you learn a few things and will also set your mind at ease because you will see that they have had their fair share of difficulties as well.Avoid a scarcity mindset – There are more than 30 million small businesses in America, so if that is your client pool, there is plenty of business out there for you and all of your competitors. Focus on adding value to your potential clients rather than worrying that you won’t get any clients.Stay humble – Don’t base your worth on being the best. If you remain humble, you will not have as far to fall when something happens and it will be easier for you to get back up again.Focus on the long game – A majority of your business will come from the relationships you have built rather than the cold calls you make or the social media promotions you run. Be true to yourself and genuinely interested in others and you will set yourself up for a solid sales pipeline without much effort.Your action time after this episode is to think of someone you have felt jealous of and reach out to them.Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/

Whether you realize it or not, when you say “yes” to anything, you are saying “no” to everything else in that situation. On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark discuss the wrong ways that people typically say “no” and the one right way that will be in everyone’s best interest. You could think of this like a financial budget, as described by several business leaders including Michael Hyatt, where overspending in one area will make you go into debt somewhere else. In his book, “The Power of a Positive No”, William Ury spells out the 4 ways that people say “no”, three of them wrong and one of them right: Accommodation – This is refusing to say “no” even though you should. Essentially accommodation means saying “yes” to something that is not good for you or you do not have the capacity for.Attack – Sometimes people overreact and so strongly say “no” that the other person feels attacked and damage is done to the relationship. This is unnecessary and definitely the wrong way to say “no.”Avoidance – Non-answers are common: “I’ll get back to you”, “Not right now”, “I’ll let you know when I have time”, etc. But this lack of upfront honesty will just lead to frustration for both parties involved in the end due to wasted time and energy.Affirmation – Ben calls this a “criticism sandwich” where you give them good news, then bad news, then good news again, cushioning the blow and providing them with twice as much good news as bad. This could look like affirming them, rejecting your participation in the project, and then providing a referral or suggestion for how they could move forward in another way.It is critical to the functioning of your business that you learn to set boundaries and say “no” to the things that are outside of your primary focus or would distract you from your main line of work. This week’s action item is to try the affirmation technique the next time you have to say “no”.Links:“Free to Focus” by Michael Hyatt: https://freetofocus.com/“The Power of a Positive No” by William Ury: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Positive-No-Relationship-Still/dp/0553384260 Connect with us:https://www.thefridayhabit.com/thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanleyhttp://www.benjaminmanley.com/https://www.brandvivamedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/