In episode four, we tackle the dreaded “elevator pitch”.  We’ve all been in a situation while networking when someone asks you what you do and you either spout off some generic answer or you’re just too long-winded for it to be effective.  We talk with Pam about how to overcome the hurdles of talking about her services, which deal with the taboo topic of money. Whether your service is hard to talk about with strangers, or you haven’t mastered your one minute pitch, this episode is a must-listen!  We touch upon many ways to connect with people, how to introduce topics, and why storytelling should always be your go-to move when getting your message out there.  

Guest Bio – [From her website] “With a background in social work, an MBA in Business Administration, a Master’s degree in Education, and training with Dave Ramsey, I’ve got the resources to prepare you to succeed financially while ensuring that you feel comfortable during this transitional process.

Host Bio –  Rhi and Pete [Rhi-Pete – now you’ll remember] are a wife and husband team who have been in business together for over a decade.  They run a creative media agency [Do Something Different Media] that provides strategy and consulting, video production, website development, photography, graphic design, and content writing for small businesses.

Episode 4 Summary

• Understanding triggers that will make you more memorable 
• Brainstorming your service differentiators
• Using terms, phrases, and examples that people will immediately understand 
• How to use testimony and transformations in networking
• Making people comfortable and confident in your service 
• Using forms to help do some self-research
• Using stories and visual descriptions to make yourself more memorable
• Developing your brand voice

The Challenge & The Next 3 Steps

Pam does a great job providing top-notch service to her clients, but she’s noticed that she has trouble describing her services in live networking situations in an effective way. 

1. Make a Typeform questionnaire to get your audience warmed up to you and your services.
   1. Get people to think about the questions that you’d ask to get to others to understand what you do. 
2. Reach out to all-star clients and ask them how they would describe you.
   1. Reach out to 5 clients and pay attention to the language that they use to describe you in their responses.
   2. Ask them things like: What is the #1 service I provided you? What was your biggest challenge and how did I help you?  What was your ah-ha moment? What prompted you to reach out and work with me?
   3. What 3 words would you use to describe me and my service?
3. Create a document with these words, phrases, and language.
   1. Use this document to create your brand voice in-person and digitally.
4. BONUS STEP! Test your new phrasing and descriptions at networking events! 

Recommended Resources 

Money Mastery With Pam

Typeform – for forms and questionnaires

The post Episode 4 – How to Effectively Pitch Your Biz When Networking appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

1. Understand that tasks take time

We’ve all made the mistake of saying “give me 10 minutes,” only to realize an hour later that you totally lost track of time.  When we used to photograph weddings, we’d have brides tell us that the church was “5 minutes away,” and on the day of the wedding, we’d be scrambling into the ceremony with seconds to spare because NOTHING takes 5 minutes. Remember that things DO take time and even writing a short email takes longer than 2 minutes, so be sure to schedule your time accordingly ; )

If you have a To-Do list sitting on your desk, do yourself a favor and write a number next to each task so you can be realistic about your day.  Resist the urge to underestimate the length of time you need. In fact, OVERestimate. No one has ever been upset that they completed something earlier than they anticipated and I assume you aren’t the first one out there who would be.

2. Be reasonable about your To-Do lists

It’s also important to break down your tasks into “accomplishable” chunks.  For example, rather than putting a giant task on our list like “edit John Smith’s video,” which could take days of work, we learned to break things down into manageable tasks that take less than 2 hours. For example, instead of:

• Edit Video A 

We’d break that major task down to:

• Load Footage (30 min)
• Organize Footage into folders (20 min)
• Make a Project file and sync footage (20 min)
• Create Markers and label favorite takes (1 hr)
• Cut the video (2 hrs)
• Edit the Audio (1 hr)
• Color the footage (2 hrs)
• Add Graphics and Text (1 hr)
• Export Draft for Review (20 min)

Not only will you be more organized about where you are in the project, you’ve now created clear start and stop points that will allow you to come back to your project, which helps you schedule realistic timeframes to get things done. 

You’ll find that once you start checking tasks off your list, you’ll be more motivated to keep going, rather than staring at the same task on your list for 3 days while you’ve been continuously working on it.  Break your TO DO list down into tasks that take 20 minutes to an hour (2 hours max) and you’ll find yourself becoming more productive and more aware of what you can handle on a normal workday, rather than totally overcommitting and coming up short and stressing out. 

Bonus Tip: Make sure to [especially if you work at a desk or workstation] get up between tasks, have a stretch, drink some water, have a snack and give yourself some credit for what you’ve just accomplished.  It’ll help keep the positive energy flowing right into your next task.

3. Control your own schedule

We used to think that we had to work around our clients’ schedules in order to be a quality and accommodating service provider.  In a lot of ways, this is true. If you are trying to win someone’s business, you want to be able to meet them where they are and work around their needs.  However, don’t let this hurt you and your business. Sometimes we feel like adjusting our schedules to help others is the only option, but the reality is, you can totally set reasonable boundaries that allow you to be more efficient without compromising your ability to accommodate the requests of your clients.

For your client, there is a very slight difference between you saying, “I’m going to be in your area on Tuesday and Friday this week, would there be a time those days that would work for you?” and saying “Whenever you are available this week, I’ll be there.”  On the flip side, there is a HUGE difference between those two scenarios for your schedule and sanity.

Do yourself a solid and resist the urge to make open-ended scheduling for your clients, partners, and colleagues.  When it’s time to schedule a meeting, always lead by providing a few options and asking if either of those options work for the person you’re meeting with.  Worst case scenario: they say those don’t work and give you some options or ask you for some more options. In both cases, YOU are in control of your schedule and still providing an awesome service.  

Bonus Tip:  We actually found that by giving the options it was actually easier to schedule with our customers and potential clients.  Giving them an open-ended option provided too many choices and proved overwhelming and easier to put off. Giving a few choices makes it an easier decision for them and a more efficient way for you to manage your days for productivity!  Win-Win!

4.  Start to automate or simplify repetitive tasks

Think about the things you do over and over again and find ways to automate them.  How could you use a software, template, process, or video to make your repetitive tasks take less time?

We work with an awesome graphic designer that sends us videos of her recorded screen while she explains her design work rather than scheduling a meeting with us to review over the phone or in-person.  This is such an efficient way to manage all of our time. We are able to move projects forward without meeting and getting distracted with side conversations, plus we can refer back to these videos at any point.

Another way we’ve improved our productivity is to create templates for emails we have to send regularly.  You may customize these messages each time depending on the details, but if there is a large chunk of what you say that is the same every time, create an email template that you can start from and save yourself a ton of time doing things over and over again.

Lastly, see what you can do to avoid wasting time on travel and unproductive meetings.  When we first started our business, we were more comfortable in person and every time we had to talk with a client or a subcontractor/team member, we’d schedule an in-person meeting.  This meant preparing for the meeting, packing up our stuff, driving to another location (dealing with traffic, etc), arriving early, conducting the meeting and then often letting things get off-topic or letting a meeting take a full hour or more even though we accomplished the goal in the first few minutes, etc.

Think about meetings you schedule that could be more productive through video, email, over the phone, or through Skype/video chat.  A meeting that could take up 2 hours of your day could be shortened to 1 hour or less if you don’t have to leave your office!

Now that we’ve shared a few ways to improve your productivity (and sanity) let’s put this stuff to good use.  Start to use these tactics in your business and let us know how they work for you! Or, if you have any other tips you’ve implemented that have worked well for you, we want to hear about them.  

Let’s get more done in less time!

The post 4 Simple Tips to Be More Productive! appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

In episode three, we talk about how to organize and strategize your service offering to enhance your client experience with Donna Briggs, the owner of Harmony Massage.  It happens all too often that we get our businesses up and running by taking the path of least resistance and that isn’t always in the best interest of your client experience.  In many industries, service providers tend to use a cookie-cutter approach to their content and marketing, and in almost every case, it isn’t what’s best for your particular business and customer experience.  In this episode, we tackle how to educate your clients so that they know what you offer, why they’d want to work with you, and what’s in it for them.

Listen on iTunes

Listen on Spotify

Guest Bio – [From her website] “Owner of Harmony Massage, Donna Briggs, is an NCBTMB Board Certified massage therapist, licensed in the state of New Hampshire. Donna graduated from the Northeast Institute of Whole Health in 2010 and has since acquired extensive experience in therapeutic massage, to include Lymphatic Drainage Massage, Sports Massage, and Cupping Therapy. Donna is also certified in Thai Bodywork and The Auth Method of Deep Tissue Massage. She is skilled at providing massage to enhance wellness, reduce stress, assist in rehabilitation efforts and deliver therapeutic touch; providing balance and harmony for each client.  In her time off, Donna enjoys kayaking, road cycling, and training in Muay Thai.”

Host Bio –  Rhi and Pete [Rhi-Pete – now you’ll remember] are a wife and husband team who have been in business together for over a decade.  They run a creative media agency [Do Something Different Media] that provides strategy and consulting, video production, website development, photography, graphic design, and content writing for small businesses.

Episode 3 Summary

• Write to your audience just as you’d talk to them 1 on 1
• Focusing on the value of the transformation/solution
• Create client confidence
• Saving time, stress and energy with forms
• Using email to create educated clients
• Blogging: Storytelling vs cookie-cutter explanations
• Share testimonials and client case studies that people can relate to
• Share tips with your digital audience – just like you would in person
• Give your audience a quick win
• Create fans of your brand
• Remember your brand voice needs to be genuinely you
• Set proper expectations with your marketing and brand

The Challenge & The Next 3 Steps

Donna does a great job providing top-notch service and being the trusted advisor for her clients, but she realizes that her current service offering is creating a roadblock that leads to client confusion — which then leads to Donna spending more time and energy explaining her different services.  In order to help her solve this roadblock, we created these next 3 steps to help her create a better client experience.

1. Audit your service descriptions and re-write them for your specific clients or customers.  Ask yourself questions like: 
   1. Who is the specific person that this service is for?
   2. What are they feeling physically and emotionally?
   3. What transformation will they go through or what solution with they find?
   4. Add photos or videos to help show what to expect.
2. Use forms and questionnaires to help save you time and energy.
3. Write blogs that describe your services 
   1. Use stories to engage the reader and speak to them like you would one on one.
   2. Make an ongoing list of topics and batch writing your blogs for each month so that you’re always playing from ahead.

Recommended Resources

Harmony Massage 

Typeform – for forms and questionnaires

The post Episode 3 – Organizing Your Services to Enhance Your Client Experience appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

The Small Business Situation

Starting a business or side hustle is always an exciting time. Something that seemed like a far off pipe dream is now falling into place, people are complimenting you on your skills and you’ve just been paid to do something that you actually like doing. You’ve blasted through the walls of your comfort zone and the new you is thriving in this creative space.  

So why am I writing about the struggle to get paid for creative work?  

When Sh** Gets Real

The initial rush of excitement and positive energy will undoubtedly wear off, often times leaving you filled with self-validating questions and self-sabotaging thoughts. Once they start to pile up you go from asking “Am I crazy for doing all of this?” to “Why do I suck so bad, I mean, look at [super awesome person], they’ve got it all, I’m no good. Why am I even doing this?”  

Rest assured, you can avoid this suck bucket of a rabbit hole by understanding a few things about how your brain works and why it’s favorite go-to are misery-producing moves.

Obstacle #1: The Cycle of Comparison

The first is getting caught up in the Cycle of Comparison. This is the most common trap that will set off the onslaught of self-deprecating drivel that your brain will feed you. It often happens quickly when you’re mindlessly scrolling through social media. You see a friend, business acquaintance, business competition or even complete strangers doing something that looks more impressive/good/exciting than what you’re currently doing and then you undoubtedly dive deeper. You go to their page, see what they’ve been up to, what kind of jobs they’ve been doing, what kind of travel they’ve done, and you compare it to everything that you’re currently doing — or not doing. Once this starts you begin to physically feel inadequate, your thoughts spiral out of control and suddenly the world feels heavier, more impossible and you reduce yourself to a worthless puddle.

You need to understand that no one is you and that you are only you. Stop comparing and know that your customer or client is going to hire you for you. If you find yourself getting caught in the social trap, you should consider a digital detox. It is so crucial to your mental health and business mindset. If necessary, schedule time in your calendar away from screens and other social media traps. Whatever it takes to get you back to YOU and minding YOUR own business. Literally!

Obstacle #2: Imposter Syndrome

No sooner have you emerged from the cycle of comparison that you come down with a case of Imposter Syndrome, especially if you’re just starting out.

Imposter syndrome is a state of mind where you feel like a total fraud. You think to yourself, “people are paying me hundreds of dollars to do this? Am I even qualified?”  You look at your body of work and tear it apart, allowing your brain’s ego to obliterate everything you’ve ever made.

A great way to avoid feeling this way is to be active in a creative or social community.  The more people that you interact with, share ideas and collaborate with, the more confidence you will build. You spend tremendously less time by yourself, convincing yourself that you’re the worst.

Obstacle #3: Money Blocks

Even when you’re working on your personal development and you’re confident in your skills, your Money Blocks will be right there to stop you dead in your tracks. A close relative of the two aforementioned symptoms, a money block is when you and your subconscious don’t believe that you can actually be wealthy.

Warning: This belief will…

• strangle your relationship with money
• make you feel awkward about money
• make you feel shy to talk about money
• leave you feeling afraid to ask for money
• make you give your client a quote and at the first sign of adversity immediately shout out, “Yeah, that’s the price, but I can do it for whatever you think” or “I can offer you a discount.”

How do you expect to be a business and make a living if you’re terrified of money?

Now, what happens when you couple your money block with imposter syndrome while constantly obsessing over your competition? Life becomes miserable, that’s what! You need to dissolve your money blocks through personal development and reading. Use daily affirmations and meditation to keep yourself grounded and balanced.

This is why getting paid to do creative work is a struggle. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. We get to use our minds and ideas to create amazing things for people. We get to make a living based on the “you know what would be cool?” question.  

Don’t Lose Your Ticket to Ride

Most people talk about business as a road or a journey. I like to picture a rollercoaster ride at an amusement park. You’re super excited to get on the ride, once seated and buckled you immediately question yourself, you get nervous, you get an immediate thrill, you get thrown around a little, but you always catch a glimpse of a great view if you remember to open your eyes.  

And it makes it all worth it because when you get off the ride all you’re going to remember was everything awesome about it.

The post Getting Paid to do Creative Work is a Real Struggle… appeared first on Learn It - Do It.

Take advantage of these Benefits to Make More Money!

We’re all so fortunate to have the internet at our disposal as a means to create income for ourselves. Whatever your skill is, there is a vast market for freelance help in today’s business sphere. We’ve found that companies are turning to freelance professionals before they look to hire full-time employees! This trend is happening because a lot of managers and team leaders don’t have the proper knowledge base or skill set to train or even manage a new hire. This knowledge gap provides the perfect opportunity for you, the freelancer, to come in and save the day.

Whether you’re just getting started or have a full portfolio, there is plenty of money to be made helping companies meet deadlines, create media, and train employees. In most cases, you’ll be able to make a steady income, even while maintaining your day job.

Check out our list of 7 benefits you should know about your freelance business in order to increase your client base and generate profits.

1. You get to work remotely or from home.

Being remote means that you don’t need to carry overhead, but you can still acquire larger clients. If you have a full-time job, you will still be able to manage your clients. Think about a typical work day at the office, how much of that time is spent getting stuff done? When you work from home as a freelancer, you only have to spend time completing your assignment. You won’t find yourself sitting there just to satisfy your hourly obligation. This means less time and more money in your pocket for the work you do!

2. You will leverage loads of valuable client experience.

As a freelancer, you get to work with tens or even hundreds of clients. You have the freedom and ability to manage multiple clients at the same time and reach people at different business levels within a variety of industries. Ultimately, this leads to work/client experience that you could never match in a job situation. Every client you work with provides a vast array of knowledge, research, and life lessons to help you grow your business and provide better service to future clients.

3. You get first-hand insight into every organization that you do work for.

Working with lots of different clients means you get an inside peek at how various organizations work behind the scenes. You can cherry-pick good ideas for your own business, from marketing, management, customer life cycle, planning, and overall business model. You also get to see what to avoid in your own business. The ability to foresee pitfalls is invaluable to a growing company and this type of education you can’t always learn from internet research.

4. You gain confidence in your work and yourself.

Like I said above, by working with a variety of clients, companies, and industries, you’ll gain knowledge and insight that will allow you to be more effective and efficient in your own business. All of this experience amounts to gaining more confidence in yourself, and your work. The more experience and confidence you have, the higher your perceived value, meaning you can charge more for the work you’re doing and make more money!

5. You get to master the interview process.

As a freelancer, you will end up having hundreds of client inquiry meetings, which are essentially job interviews. After a while, you’ll develop your method to get the sale every time, and you’ll become a professional interviewer. Think about it. Most people interview to get one job to pay them 50k a year. You’ll be interviewed multiple times with the chance to get numerous 50k contracts. The better you are at the interview/proposal meeting, the more money you will make! Find what works for you, and with lots of practice, you’ll be a champion at “interviews.”

6. You call the shots!

Being in charge might be the best feature of being a freelancer. You determine the cost and length of your contract with each client. You get to set the boundaries in your client relationships; what is and is not accepted. You can hire clients and fire them! If you are working with a client who is challenging, unappreciative, and miserable to deal with, you can choose to stop working with that client or at least choose to never work with them again. I cannot overstate this. We’ve all had bosses or co-workers that made our jobs easier or harder. As a freelancer, you decide whom you work with, for how much, and how it will all go down.

7. You get to use other professional freelancers as sub-contractors.

If you find yourself with a big fish on the end of the line and fear you can’t handle it on your own, team up with other freelancers in your sphere to get the job done. We do it all the time, and it works out very well. Working with other freelancers means you get a professional quality product/service every time. Also, let’s face it, there is plenty of work to go around, so collaborating with other freelancers means more opportunity to work together on future projects and provides the ability to build strong relationships with people just like you!

So, if you don’t have a network of other freelancers yet, it’s time to meet some. Having a roster of talent will always come in handy when those opportunities come around! [NOTE: Make sure you have a proper sub-contractor agreement in place with anyone you bring on board to help out. This contract is so you don’t get burned, which keeps these collaborations a win-win.]

By understanding these concepts, you can begin to pay attention to specific details, plan your goals and shape the path of your business to help you grow your profits. It’s time to make some serious money as a kick-butt freelancer! You can do this!

The post 7 Benefits of Being a Freelancer appeared first on Learn It - Do It.