The Self-Employed Life

People change fast. So, marketing has to, also. As we take this time to evaluate what's working in our businesses and what's not we should also be taking a moment to truly understand what works now that might be different from what was working previously.Whether it's natural shifts in customer-centric marketing, or the shift to digital business due to the pandemic, things are always changing. So as things like live videos emerge as the new top marketing trend, it is important to always question: is what you're doing actually working? Before jumping in to go with the flow, think about what your customer wants. How do they want to be seen? How can they see themselves best in your messaging? To break this down further I've brought on Founder of Think Media Consulting, Shahla Hebets. Shahla has over two decades of experience developing digital marketing strategies for Fortune 500 companies to small businesses. Shahla's company Think Media Consulting focuses on helping wellness and lifestyle brands grow. She is the author of the book What's Working Now? YOU-Centric Marketing. Learn what's working NOW and how to shift to YOU-centric marketing by downloading this episode now. THE CALMNESS OF MIND WARRIOR "Sometimes as marketers we get too focused on the tactic." - Shahla Hebets Highlights - Marketing became harder when digital platforms exploded. Making people feel seen is better than serving them. People change fast. We have to shift our approach to keep up with them. Websites have to be updated every couple of years. Content has to be created broad enough so that it's aligned with your product, but not selling it. Content Creation should create an emotional affinity for the brand. We've lost loyalty from consumers because of gated content. Platform switching is a growing complicated challenge for marketers. Don't build your business on "rented land." Facebook is rented land. Guest Contact - Shahla's Website Shahla's Book- What's Working Now: YOU-centric Marketing Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share! Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why you're not converting traffic and leads to clients and attracting your most profitable customers. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. If I have suggestions for you to improve your brand message (I almost always do), we'll set up a complimentary 30-minute call to discuss. A select number of websites are also chosen for my LINGO Review Video Series. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO! Music by Jawn

In today's fast and ever-changing world, ten, five, even one-year plans may completely ineffective. Remember when we all made plans for how 2020 was going to be the year for clear vision and making big leaps forward? How did that work out? Find out how to create in the moment, follow what's unfolding and build your greatest success. You'll also hear how you are uniquely qualified for this. The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Services and Support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share! Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO! Music by Jawn

Regardless of what stage of business you are in, it is important to understand how you are positioned if something unplanned were to happen. A crisis- such as pandemic- forces business to roll out their contingency plans, pivot their trajectories, and make some really hard decisions. Times like this can make any business, big or small, feel like a startup navigating a vast ocean. The Titanic was "The Unsinkable Ship." And like the Titanic, many startups are driven by their ego, rushing to market and set sail before they are ready. But you don't have to be a startup to fail. And you certainly don't have to fail just because we're in a global crisis. Startup or not, it's all about preparation. To unpack the lessons we Warriors can learn from the Titanic, I've brought on two award-winning business school professors and the authors of The The Titanic Effect: Successfully Navigating the Uncertainties that Sink Most Startups Dr. Kim Saxton has over thirty years of marketing and market-research experience, working with large corporations, startups, and medium-sized businesses. Currently, she is a clinical professor of marketing at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. Kim's research on market segmentation, branding, promotional strategies, venture success, and venture ecosystems has been published in numerous international academic journals. Dr. Todd Saxton is an associate professor and Indiana Venture Faculty Fellow at the IU Kelley School of Business and an award-winning professor of strategy and entrepreneurship. Todd has advised, helped launch, and invested in hundreds of startups spanning life sciences, software, sports, consumer products, and services. He has published numerous book chapters and articles on corporate and startup strategies for success. To learn how to be prepare your business so that it doesn't sink, download this episode now. THE FUN-WINNING WARRIOR "Navigating uncertainty is the essential task of the entrepreneur." - Kim and Todd Saxton Highlights - Many startups are ego-driven and rush to market, thinking that they can't go wrong. Startups often don't have a contingency plan. It's not a single problem that sank the Titanic. It was a combination of many mistakes. Having a unique product is great, but it is much better to be in a well-known category and be uniquely positioned. We are all startups. Use this time to find your tribe. "Navigating uncertainty is the essential task of the entrepreneur." Environment, ecosystems, and culture affect how startups succeed. Guest Contact - Kim and Todd's Website Kim and Todd's Twitter Kim and Todd's Book: The Titanic Effect Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share! Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why you're not converting traffic and leads to clients and attracting your most profitable customers. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. If I have suggestions for you to improve your brand message (I almost always do), we'll set up a complimentary 30-minute call to discuss. A select number of websites are also chosen for my LINGO Review Video Series. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO! Music by Jawn

There's a lot to consider as states and towns start to reopen businesses after having been locked down for two months. Of course, you need to follow your state and local regulations. But as always, I'm more interested in the human side of doing business than regulations. In this episode, I share an email I received, my response and some ideas to reopen your business in the most considerate way possible. The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Services and Support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share! Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO! Music by Jawn

We are in the midst of one of the most challenging times in world history. But if we've learned anything from history, we've learned that a crisis has always proven to be a great time for innovation. During difficult times people's needs shift, which opens up all kinds of new opportunities for innovators to solve new problems. We often think that coming up with an innovation is simply coming up with a new idea. The reality is that innovation is not only an idea, but one that solves a problem and creates real value. The bigger challenge, however, is convincing people to embrace something new and different from what they know. And when people's sense of normalcy has been challenged, they are often more willing to embrace new ideas. To dive deeper into the innovator mindset, I've brought on author and Innovator-in-Residence at Marquette University, Chuck Swoboda. Chuck is the President of Cape Point Advisors and retired Chairman and CEO of Cree, Inc., which led the LED lighting revolution. He has over 30 years of experience in the technology business, and is an author, speaker and host of the "Innovators on Tap" podcast. His new book is The Innovator's Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible. Find out how to challenge and ignite your own innovator spirit, download this episode now. "When someone tells you you can't do something, they are actually telling you exactly what you should do." - Chuck Swoboda Highlights - Innovation doesn't have to be tech driven. It can show up in many different ways. This moment will have us look at whatever it is we've wanted to do and force us to do it. Innovation is messy. The innovator's mindset is the ability to take a new idea and use it to solve a problem. An innovation can be an old idea that has been reapplied in a new way. Expertise gets in the way of innovation. Ignorance brings the most success. Determination is a key mindset for innovators. People can't ask you for something they don't know they want. It is the innovator's job to connect the dots for them. Think about how you would solve the question: how many barbers are there in New York City? Guest Contact - Chuck's Website Chuck's Twitter Chuck's Book Chuck's Instagram Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share! Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why you're not converting traffic and leads to clients and attracting your most profitable customers. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. If I have suggestions for you to improve your brand message (I almost always do), we'll set up a complimentary 30-minute call to discuss. A select number of websites are also chosen for my LINGO Review Video Series. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO! Music by Jawn

With practically the whole world going virtual overnight, it brings up a lot of questions. For me, one of the big questions is "can it be personal?" To me, it is emphatically a YES and maybe even more so than in person. I offer a few reasons and examples of why. In the end, it's just another form of communication and offers expanded opportunities if we embrace it. The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Services and Support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share! Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO! Music by Jawn

I'm very excited to bring you a special and extremely important episode today. Many small business owners are going through a very difficult time. We are worried about our own lives as well as those we serve. We Creative Warriors have heart, perseverance, and most importantly, grit. Additionally, the powerful financial influence we have on the economy is undeniable. So, now is the time for our voices to be heard. Having been self-employed for practically my whole life, it is extremely important to me that I do whatever I possibly can to keep the small business community strong and thriving. With these uncertain times, it is important we take the action needed to explore what can be done for our future- both as individual small business owners and as a powerful community. Often we Warriors hesitate to ask for help. Now is not the time. There are resources to guide us and give us what we need to explore our futures. We have to know- and demand- that we are taken care of, because we are an integral piece of the fabric of our country. I'm very excited for our guest today. Today I have brought the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Association for the Self-Employed, Mr. Keith Hall. Mr. Hall previously served as its Chief Operating Officer and National Tax Adviser and has provided consulting and tax services to small business owners for over 30 years. Download this episode now to learn how you can advocate for yourself and your fellow small business owners. "Self-employed people are not alone. There are resources." - Keith Hall Highlights - 1 out of 3 people is self-employed. As a small business owner you're not considered an employee of your own business. If you have a small business you qualify for a PPP loan. End of story. There are millions of people in line for funds and the bucket will always be refilled if there are people who need it. You can apply for a PPP loan online or you can find a local bank where you have a contact and ask them if they are an SBA lender. They can do the loan on their own and it will get the ball rolling faster. 1 in 5 of people retiring in the next ten years are going to have more debt than savings on the day they retire. NASE provides: education, encouragement, and a voice for legislation. We need to make our voice heard. Find some time to email your congressperson. Guest Contact - NASE's Website Apply for a PPP online Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share! Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why you're not converting traffic and leads to clients and attracting your most profitable customers. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. If I have suggestions for you to improve your brand message (I almost always do), we'll set up a complimentary 30-minute call to discuss. A select number of websites are also chosen for my LINGO Review Video Series. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO! Music by Jawn

With all that's going on in the world, it's never been more important that the distinction be clear between being a small business and being self-employed. This is why I'm so excited that the next episode on Creative Warriors is with Keith Hall, President and CEO of the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE). In this episode, I share some preliminary thoughts about the conversation. If you're self-employed, this is the beginning of change for you. The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Services and Support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share! Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO! Music by Jawn

We Warriors often try to fix everything that's going awry in our business all at once. But we often don't notice that there's one specific thing that we keep banging our heads up against. Most of the time there is one particular core issue that needs to be fixed before anything else can and should be addressed. And everyone knows, I love a good system. So, rather than bouncing around trying to fix things based on emotions, what we need is a reliable system to help us figure out what it is that truly needs to be fixed next in our business. Entrepreneurs might fear the term "going under" but sometimes all that is is taking a deep dive into your business' pyramid of needs and tightening up those base levels before resurfacing at the top. To help identify our most vital needs I've brought back my good friend and one of my favorite authors, Mike Michalowicz. Mike is the author of Profit First, Clockwork, Surge, The Pumpkin Plan, and his newest release Fix This Next. By his 35th birthday, Mike had founded and sold two companies - one to private equity and another to a Fortune 500. Today he is running his third multi-million dollar venture, Profit First Professionals. Mike is a former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal and the former business makeover specialist on MSNBC. Over the years, Mike has traveled the globe speaking with thousands of entrepreneurs, and is here today to share the best of what he has learned. To figure what you need to fix next, download this episode now. THE JOKING WARRIOR "The biggest problem entrepreneurs have is that they don't know what their biggest problem is." - Mike Michalowicz Highlights - If we want to lead, we have to differentiate. In times of crisis, many entrepreneurs fall into a "survival trap." The Business Hierarchy of Needs are: Sales, Profit, Order, Impact, Legacy. We are not biologically wired into our business but we act like we are. In times of crisis it is imperative to look forward rather than backwards. Lifestyle Congruence: figure out the lifestyle of the shareholders and then figure out what the sales need to be to fit that lifestyle. It's not the age of the business; it's the stage of the business. Entrepre-jones' lifestyle is when you think you have to be performing at the level of everybody else all the time. We often overlook the exact thing we keep banging our heads up against. Guest Contact - Mike's Website Mike's Free Evaluation Mike's Twitter Mike's Instagram Mike's Facebook Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share! Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why you're not converting traffic and leads to clients and attracting your most profitable customers. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. If I have suggestions for you to improve your brand message (I almost always do), we'll set up a complimentary 30-minute call to discuss. A select number of websites are also chosen for my LINGO Review Video Series. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO! Music by Jawn

This pandemic is like computer ram running in the background. Always there, spinning, exhausting. I don't want to make any assumptions that you feel that way, but if you're like me, you do. And I've heard that from many others. I personally have content fatigue. Tired of creating it and tired of receiving it. So we decided to offer you something very different. I asked my friend, Brant Menswar and his band Big Kettle Drum to perform three of their most uplifting songs. If you need to be held up a little right now, these songs are sure to do it! Enjoy! The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Brant and Big Kettle Drum - Brant's Website Big Kettle Drum Website Brant's Book- Black Sheep Contact Jeffrey - Website Services and Support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share! Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO! Music by Jawn