Staying Solo
Maggie Patterson, BS-Free Business
Growing a solo service business is tough. It's even harder when you're bombarded with BS advice that steers you away from your values and why you started your business in the first place.
This is the podcast for solo creatives and consultants who want to remain as a team of one and have zero interest in the hustle and grind of typical business teachings.
Most podcasts for solopreneurs and freelancers, hosted by out-of-touch celebrity entrepreneurs who haven't offered one-to-one services in years, miss the mark on today's market realities.
Maggie Patterson, a service business owner for 20 years, understands that to stay solo, you need to know what matters to you, what works for you, and what you should completely ignore.
In each episode, she examines one piece of conventional business advice to discover how it may hurt your business or be completely wrong for you as a solo business owner.
Join Maggie for real talk to help you avoid burnout or the desire to entirely burn down your business to open a flower shop, book store, or cat cafe. (Because those cats won't pay the bills.)
(Formerly the BS-Free Service Business Show)
This is the podcast for solo creatives and consultants who want to remain as a team of one and have zero interest in the hustle and grind of typical business teachings.
Most podcasts for solopreneurs and freelancers, hosted by out-of-touch celebrity entrepreneurs who haven't offered one-to-one services in years, miss the mark on today's market realities.
Maggie Patterson, a service business owner for 20 years, understands that to stay solo, you need to know what matters to you, what works for you, and what you should completely ignore.
In each episode, she examines one piece of conventional business advice to discover how it may hurt your business or be completely wrong for you as a solo business owner.
Join Maggie for real talk to help you avoid burnout or the desire to entirely burn down your business to open a flower shop, book store, or cat cafe. (Because those cats won't pay the bills.)
(Formerly the BS-Free Service Business Show)
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 28, 2022 • 8min
*BEST OF EPISODE* Power Move - Creating Your Signature Service
**Welcome to the Best of the BS-Free Service Business Show series. This episode is a re-release that originally went live on August 6, 2018.** If you've ever thought about creating a signature service but decided not to, think again! A signature service is how you can show your expertise and it puts everyone on notice that you're a total boss who's got it going ON. In this episode, I'm sharing everything you need to know about creating a signature service and how it can transform your business. Get the inside scoop here: https://smallbusinessboss.co/creating-your-signature-service/
Feb 21, 2022 • 14min
*BEST OF EPISODE* Myths of Growing Your Services Business - The 2020 Edition
**Welcome to the Best of the BS-Free Service Business Show series. This episode is a re-release that originally went live on January 20, 2020.** You can't grow without a team. Your income will plateau. You've heard all the myths of a service business before, and in this new episode, we're taking a look at these myths and looking at how they stack up in 2020. Get the inside scoop right here: https://smallbusinessboss.co/growing-a-services-business-in-2020/
Feb 14, 2022 • 17min
*BEST OF EPISODE* What I Learned About Finding Clients in 2019
**Welcome to the Best of the BS-Free Service Business Show series. This episode is a re-release that originally went live on January 13, 2020.** As business owners, most of us are really good at setting big goals for our business. Especially revenue goals, but many times we don't think about what it's going to take to actually reach that goal. I speak from experience as someone with many an ambitious goal that wasn't met because it wasn't grounded in reality. For many people, those big goals are super motivating, but for me, they're soul-crushing when I fall short. In this episode, I wanted to share some real numbers to give you an idea of what it took to increase revenue in 2019, and more importantly, what I learned about finding clients. Get the inside scoop right here: https://smallbusinessboss.co/finding-clients-2019/
Feb 7, 2022 • 33min
Why Your Message Really Matters Now More Than Ever with Michelle Mazur
There's no shortage of messaging being thrown at us in the world of online business. We're told to live our best life. To take back our freedom. To avoid burnout. And on and on and on… The problem? These messages, while they may be things we actually need to hear, are these the messages we want trickling down to our own clients? And if we're all using the same messaging, where's the room for differentiation? In this episode, Dr. Michelle Mazur joins us to unpack exactly why your message matters, how to make a compelling argument for your work and so much more. smallbusinessboss.co/why-your-messaging-matters
Jan 31, 2022 • 5min
Taking a Break When Things Get Weird
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you took a little break in your business?No, I don't mean packing it in and fleeing for parts unknown. But what if you gave yourself permission to just stop doing a particular task for a while? What would happen if you took a step back to let yourself reset for a bit? In this episode, I'm sharing my strange start to the year, the power of taking a break, and a few things I have on my mind that may be helpful for you to consider right now. Get the inside scoop right here: smallbusinessboss.co/taking-a-break
Jan 24, 2022 • 15min
Client Experience: How to Consistently Foster Respect
Working with clients can sometimes be stressful, can't it? And when things are a little rocky, there's one specific thing that can end up making or breaking your client relationships —R-E-S-P-E-C-T. When a client doesn't 100% trust you, you can end up feeling frustrated and disrespected. You probably want to burn things down and run away from working with clients at all. But that's not the answer! In this episode, we're looking at the importance of respect to creating a trusted client experience, and how to consistently foster it. smallbusinessboss.co/respect-with-clients
Jan 17, 2022 • 20min
Building a Trusted Business: 7 Specific Ideas to Implement in 2022
When you think about building a strong relationship built for success and longevity, what do you think matters most? Whether it's business or personal, trust is going to be one of the most important building blocks you'll need. Unfortunately, the status quo of online business is all about teaching us tips, tricks, and tactics that make us THINK we're building a foundation of trust — only to find out later that foundation is actually sitting on quicksand. So how do we bake trust into everything we do? How do we ensure that the foundation of trust is built on solid ground? Here are seven specific ideas for you to build more trust in your business in 2022. Get the inside scoop right here.
Jan 10, 2022 • 15min
Building and Breaking Trust: Three Common Tactics to Watch For
Would you do business with someone you don't trust?Of course not!Problem is, we don't always know a business is trustworthy before we're in too deep. What we initially view as trust is actually superficial. It's built using toxic and twisted tactics to get us to a place where we think trust exists. And those tactics are exactly how we're taught to build an online business, which brings the question of how do we do this differently? How do we focus on building real, lasting trust with our community and clients? In this episode, we're digging into three commonly used online business practices that build, and ultimately break trust so you know exactly what to avoid. Get the inside scoop right here: smallbusinessboss.co/trust-in-business
Jan 3, 2022 • 30min
2022: The Year of the BS-Free Business
Do you ever feel a disconnect from what you see going on in the world of online business and how you're actually running your business? There's so much chatter that seems to be focused on making more (and more and more) money that sometimes we can start to feel like maybe we're not doing things right. Now, don't get me wrong — running a business can be awesome. But having to unlearn and think critically about our own roles in the online business world and the world, in general takes work. So. Where do we begin? In this episode, I'm digging into what I'll be increasingly focusing on in the year to come and giving you some concrete ideas for 2022 so you can do the same. Get the inside scoop right here: https://smallbusinessboss.co/year-of-the-bs-free-business/
Dec 21, 2021 • 30min
2022: The Year of the BS-Free Business
Do you ever feel a disconnect from what you see going on in the world of online business and how you're actually running your business? There's so much chatter that seems to be focused on making more (and more and more) money that sometimes we can start to feel like maybe we're not doing things right. Now, don't get me wrong — running a business can be awesome. But having to unlearn and think critically about our own roles in the online business world and the world, in general takes work. So. Where do we begin? In this episode, I'm digging into what I'll be increasingly focusing on in the year to come and giving you some concrete ideas for 2022 so you can do the same. www.smallbusinessboss.co/year-of-the-bs-free-business
