The Life-Friendly Business Podcast

In this final episode for our Visibility Series I emphasize the importance of visibility for a successful business. I discuss different ways to increase visibility and the mindset challenges that may arise. I also talk about streamlining tasks to create more time for focusing on the bigger picture.

Do reach out and let me know what you've enjoyed during this special Visibility Series! Find me on social @lifefriendlybiz or visit the website at www.lifefriendlybusiness.com

In this episode, we explore the world of self-publishing and its benefits for businesses and brands. We're joined by Linda Liebrand, a Book Marketing Specialist, who provides insights on why self-publishing is a great idea and shares tips for designing a compelling book cover. Linda also walks us through the process of self-publishing using Amazon KDP. Whether you're a business owner, existing or aspiring author, this interview is packed with informative and inspiring advice for your self-publishing journey.

Today I'm speaking to Jo Swann of Chocolate PR who helps mission led entrepreneurs to get their message heard via the power of the press. We discuss the benefits of PR, why you need to story tell rather than sell and how to overcome imposter syndrome. Jo also outlines two approaches: responding to media inquiries and taking stories directly to journalists, and what you need to have in place to get started.

Connect with Jo at www.chocolatepr.co.uk or check out her podcast PR Powerhouse.

Chapters

0:00:00 Setting up the business and helping people

0:03:23 Empowering entrepreneurs through the power of the press

0:08:55 Creating a Persona for Effective PR Visibility

0:10:35 Foundational Work before Approaching Journalists

0:11:46 Proactive PR Approach and Engaging with Journalists

0:14:23 Benefits of PR: Building Confidence and Opening Doors

0:18:10 The Long Game of PR and Building Expertise

0:26:26 The Importance of Consistency and Persistence in Marketing

0:28:07 The Need for an Ongoing Funnel and Consistent Marketing Efforts

------------------

💥 I help women adopt a life-friendly approach to growing their business through my membership, mastermind and podcast

A brand is not about a logo, a brand is all about the relationship and the connections you make with people. Today Jill Pryor, Brand & Graphic Designer, shares her tips for using visual design to draw your ideal customers closer, how to create a consistent look and feel across your platforms and why your brand visuals and words are like a marriage.

Jill also shares her personal journey of running her business whilst dealing with the loss of a parent, the menopause and her daughter's mental health battle.

Using YouTube is a powerful way to build credibility and reach new audiences and to see this in action I've invited Louise Brogan, international speaker, writer, host of the LinkedIn with Louise Podcast and YouTube channel, back on to the podcast to share her experience of building her channel to over 6,500 subscribers, and where this fits in her business model.

We discuss building authority, a fear of success, whether you should give your best content away for free, and how to avoid the top mistakes that people make with YouTube.

Running an event is an amazing way to get yourself and your business in front of new audiences. Today I'm speaking to Natalie Pithers, Founder of the Curious Descendants Club and Genealogy Stories, about the inspiring event she created about The History of Ukraine, which not only raised £56k for charity, but also led to her dream job. We also discuss the challenges of running a business as a single mother of 3, avoiding burnout and utilizing FOMO!

Are you discounting TikTok because you don't think it's the right demographic for you or your audience? Think again. Today I'm speaking to Michelle Haslam, TikTokPreneur, who shares her story of growing her account to over 77k followers and how she has made money through utilising the platform. Michelle offers some surprising insights on how best to grow your following and how to avoid the most common mistakes people make.

Does the idea of a networking event fill you with dread? Or maybe you feel like it never yields the results it should? We all know that getting ourselves out there in person is a great way to tell more people what we do, but are we approaching it with the right mindset?

Today, as part of The Visibility Series, I'm speaking to Joanne Dewberry - Networking Ninja, Sage Business Expert & Multi-Award Winning Blogger.

Joanne shares her tips for successful networking and how to avoid the top 3 mistakes people make.

You can connect with Joanne at https://joannedewberry.co.uk/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

💥 I help women adopt a life-friendly approach to growing their business through my membership, mastermind and podcast

How do you get visible when you really don't feel like doing it? If you're feeling massive resistance to putting yourself out there, it could be that you need to find your own way of doing it, and that's exactly what Laura Robinson has managed to do.

Listen for the top 3 mistakes people make when trying to get visible, and how to avoid them.

When I speak to my clients about putting themselves out there and getting visible, there is a huge gap between what they KNOW they could be doing, and what they actually DO. Today I share the 3 keys to getting visible in a consistent and sustainable way.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

💥 I help women build life-friendly businesses on their own terms through my membership, mastermind and podcast.

I'm back for Season 4! Before we dive in to our special Visibility Series for this season, I wanted to give a little update on my quest to simplify my business that I touched on in Episode 50, and I had lots of people reach out to say the topic really resonated with them. So this is what's happened in the last 4 months...

💥 I help women build life-friendly businesses on their own terms through my membership, mastermind and podcast.

Simplify, simplify, simplify. If you're feeling overwhelmed, overstretched and pulled in different directions, it could be that you're simply trying to do too many things. And when our focus is split, we're not able to give our full attention to the things that matter.

'Simplify' is going to be my word for this year and so in this final episode of Season 3 I share behind the scenes of my business and the realisations I have had.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

💥 I help women build life-friendly businesses on their own terms through my membership, mastermind and podcast.

I discuss why Community and Connection are the two things that drive my business and how that creates a ripple effect for the women I work with.

Are you creating community around your brand? Listen now for why you should.

------------------------------------

💥 I help women build life-friendly businesses on their own terms through my membership, mastermind and podcast.

I'm speaking with Darya Simanovich, CEO & Founder of Chelsea Creperie, Chelsea Swim Spa, and the social enterprise Buy One Give One. After arriving in the UK with £200 in her pocket, no English and no connections, she has grown an impressive portfolio of businesses. 

We discuss the importance of building a team of people around you, how she has funded her businesses and why she recommends lean startups.

Connect with Darya on Instagram @daryasimanovich

-----------

💥 I help women build life-friendly businesses on their own terms through my membership, mastermind and podcast.

If you're feeling a bit flat, a bit 'meh' and a bit uninspired right now, this episode is for you. I share 5 questions to help you reignite your business mojo and get you back on track!

------------------------------------------

💥 I help women build life-friendly businesses on their own terms through my membership, mastermind and podcast.

We are busting a myth today. The myth that if you work part time, it means half the pay. I'm speaking with Ali Geake, Donor Communications Consultant, who shares her journey of building her business around her life-friendly boundaries, and how she has tripled her income on part time hours.

Connect with Ali at www.aligeake.com

www.linkedin.com/in/aligeake

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

💥 I help women build life-friendly businesses on their own terms through my membership, mastermind and podcast.

If you want a life-friendly business this year you need to be super intentional with your time and energy. Do you need to learn how to say no to things which are pulling you away from what really matters? Let's discuss!

---------------------------------------

💥 I help women build life-friendly businesses on their own terms through my membership, mastermind and podcast.

After 14 years in business I share the 5 hard truths I wish someone had told me when I started. Listen now for my insights!

---------------------------------

💥 I help women build life-friendly businesses on their own terms through my membership, mastermind and podcast.

In this interview with Marion Ellis from Love Surveying we discuss how she navigated change and now helps others do the same.

We talk about being a woman in a male dominated industry, going through the menopause and juggling business and family.

At Love Surveying Marion provides the support, coaching, and networking surveyors and property professionals need to confidently handle career challenges and navigate the business journey that’s right for them.

Founder of The Surveyor Hub podcast and community Marion also supports surveyors in business through her coaching and mentoring programmes.

Connect with her at www.lovesurveying.com

-----------------------------------

💥 I help women build life-friendly businesses on their own terms through my membership, mastermind and podcast.

Are you making judgements and decisions in your business from a place of fear? If you do, you're really not alone. Today we're discussing how this fear could be holding you back, and I share an old fear inventory from the past which stopped me in my tracks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

💥 I help women build life-friendly businesses on their own terms through my membership, mastermind and podcast.

In the last episode of Season 2 we discuss something which maybe isn't talked about enough.... feeling like you want to give up and close your business. This is something so many of us go through and it's important to be honest with how you're feeling and get support.

Season 3 will return in a few months time so in the meantime do keep in touch with me via my email list. 

This week we're discussing the power of the hive mind, and the surprising benefits of immersing yourself in a mastermind. 

The term 'Mastermind' was coined by Napoleon Hill in his book 'Think and Grow Rich". The mastermind concept allows you to leverage the different skills and talents of two or more people to produce a better result. In fact, many businesses, small and large, have thrived by being part of one. 

In today's episode I share my opinion on why masterminding is invaluable for a small business owner.

Are you frustrated with slow growth in your business? Do you feel like you are missing crucial pieces of the puzzle? Are you investing in one course after another looking for the answer?

This episode is for you. Here's maybe why you haven't made the progress you're looking for.

Today we're talking with Animal Communicator & Healer, Susannah Rafelle of Self Selection For Animals. Susannah has been able to talk to animals all her life and she uses this gift to help people to have happier and healthier animals and a peaceful family life. She has built her business around her gift, and we discuss the challenges of charging what you're worth, and learning to be business savvy.

Should you spend money on business support if you're not even making enough money to pay yourself? How can you justify paying out for something if there's not a tangible financial return?

Erin shares her own experience of investing over the last 13 years, explains the difference between a mentor, coach & consultant and offers you these questions to consider every time you think about investing:

1. Will this give me the confidence to market myself more easily, and therefore make more sales?
2. Will this teach me valuable skills to grow my business, which would take me years to learn on my own?
3. Will having this support make running my own business more enjoyable and less stressful?
4. Will doing this reduce my self doubt, overwhelm and procrastination?
5. Have I been meaning to make a change or develop something for aaaaaages and it’s just not happening when I try to do it alone?
6. Will I be able to recoup the money I’m investing with the sales I make as a result? (for example, within the next year?)

Faye Strange helps brands achieve more quality traffic, sign-ups and sales by having an organic presence on Pinterest. Pinterest isn't just another social media platform, it’s a powerful visual search engine and more and more people are turning to it as a positive online space that inspires them.

In this episode Faye shares her top tips for using Pinterest as a small business, busts some myths and also shares her own journey of navigating the world of self-employment and motherhood.

Do you have someone you can confide in without being judged?

Today I'm speaking with Sarah Hickling, a Career Coach helping organisations get the best performance from their workforce, as well as helping individuals take steps to be in the career they want. She does this by providing a safe space for them to speak openly and be heard.

Sarah from Your Time Coaching shares her own journey from retail to small business owner plus we discuss how to keep your work/life in balance.

Today I'm speaking to Margaret Shenken, a Litigator turned Fitness Franchise owner turned Habit and Mindset Coach.

This conversation is one about finding your passion, evolving your business and not being afraid to niche down.

We also talk about our changing identities as mothers and business owners, how she measures her success and how she's adapting to her kids leaving the nest.

Listen now and feel inspired to keep evolving!

Do you find selling what you do THE most challenging part of running your own business? You're not alone. A lack of confidence, knowledge and experience in this area can make it feel incredibly daunting.

I've never had any formal sales training, so like many of you, it's been baptism by fire and I've had to make mistakes and learn on the job.

But often it's not just about lacking strategy or skill, it's about how we FEEL about ourselves or our product or service that stops us from being able to sell effectively.

In this episode I share my own journey of becoming more comfortable with selling and the mindset shifts that have helped me to get there, so hopefully they can help you too!

Evolve to the next stage in your business, income and life and unlock that sense of fulfillment and success you yearn for.  Next round of our Group Mastermind starts January 2022, get in now before the price rise.

To have an 'impact' is to have 'a marked effect or influence' on something, and I'm betting this is something we all want, whether it's on our businesses, our bottom line, our lives or even on the world!

I honestly believe that in order to do this, we must start from within, but there are also some fundamental steps you need to take to make sure that you are being as effective as possible in what you do.

It all starts with creating time to reassess, reflect and plan, and giving yourself CEO time to work on the bigger picture. This is exactly what we do in the IMPACT online workshops that I host 3 times a year, coming together in a Zoom room with other awesome women in business creating life-friendly businesses just like you.

There are many ways that you can make an impact, and in this episode I guide you through 3 steps you can take in order to make the impact you desire.

In this episode I speak to Keri Squibb, Founder of The Dog and I and The Soap Coach. A previous Police Constable, Keri started her first business at 44 in her search to follow her passion and create a more flexible lifestyle.

The Dog and I are plant based, luxury dog grooming and skincare products with the emphasis particularly on soap for dogs. As interest in her soap grew she started a second business, The Soap Coach, teaching all things soap making for dogs and humans alike. Teaching pushed her outside of her comfort zone at first, but two years on and the business is thriving, despite nearly folding during the Pandemic.

I particularly love Keri's long term business planning, which is something we as small business owners can often overlook at we rush to get started.

Keri shares her journey of building a product based business and tells us about her mission of taking soap making to a whole new level - so watch this space!

Are you pushing yourself to keep going, even when you feel exhausted, unwell and mentally overwhelmed? Why do we do this? Are we worried about looking weak? incapable? unhinged? We must stop doing this to ourselves.

It's time to put your mental health first. It's time to prioritise your own needs, so that you can be even more resilient and productive in your life and business.

I share my journey of how taking solo business retreats has transformed my year, and the signs you need to look out for to know when you need to be taking time to pause and rest.

If you're stuck in the cycle of being endlessly busy, and running around like a headless chicken, you need to listen to this.

Today I'm speaking to Viv Allen, Counsellor, Success & Business Performance Coach and Charity founder, about how going through a divorce was the catalyst for retraining and learning to work in her zone of genius.

Viv works with entrepreneurs and business owners to balance their passions and profits to avoid burnout and breakdown. She uses her True Growth Framework and 121 coaching program to help business owners get laser focused on the mindset, strategy and action they need to build a business that supports them and the lifestyle they love.

Viv shares how she went from being a Director of a multi-million pound business to being completely floored and deskilled when she became a single parent and needed to work around her two girls. It took her years to recover from her divorce and find her own path, and now she has made it her mission to help other people recover faster.

After a corporate career in buying for retail giants Superdrug and Sainsburys, Rebecca was looking for a flexible work solution that could fit around her lifestyle and three daughters. Having grown up with a successfully self-employed mother, Rebecca knew it was possible to work as well as be there for school drop off and pick-ups. Her mum was a real inspiration and Rebecca grew up knowing that she wanted one day to run her own business just like her mum did.

During the last financial year I have increased my turnover by 31%, which on its own is pretty awesome, but the real milestone has been exceeding my previous full time TV salary on just 25 hours a week (in fact whilst the kids were being home-schooled, my focussed working hours went down to about 10 hours a week)

So how did I achieve this growth during the pandemic on limited work time and when the world was in a state of flux?

In this episode I give you a peek behind the scenes of my business, the strategy behind the growth, and the mindset challenges I overcame which helped me to thrive during this unprecedented time.

Listen now.

Want some help growing and scaling your business? 

In this episode I speak to Maddy Alexander, the CEO of multi award winning money saving app My VIP Rewards, about her journey of scaling her business despite facing multiple challenges, which include recovering from post partum psychosis and being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. Not only that, but being faced with a Pandemic, Maddy undertook an epic battle to save her business.

My VIP Rewards are both a B2C and B2B organisation covering the whole of the UK , specialising in providing benefits to corporate and SME businesses to help them with their corporate social responsibility and people retention.

You'll hear how Maddy's businesses have been inspired by her own experiences of becoming a mother and how she has surged forward with grit and determination to bring them to reality.

Do you get frustrated when your nearest and dearest treat your business like a hobby? When they assume you can stop what you're doing at the drop of a hat, because you work at home, and what you're doing can't be that important, right?!

What can be especially hard is when you allow what you think other people are thinking about you, to actually effect how you see yourself.

We discuss how you can protect yourself from other people's misguided perceptions of your business, plus how to project the image of yourself that you want them to see.

Listen now and let me know on social what resonated with you @lifefriendlybiz

Further Support

Have you ever had one of those moments when it feels like now is the time to step up? That everything feels aligned and that you whole heartedly believe that you can make this work? Maybe that moment is now, or maybe you'll have that moment after listening to this episode!

It's a hugely exciting place to be, but sometimes the smallest things can knock us off track and make us question whether 'stepping up' is for us. 

In this episode I share my own journey of stepping up and taking my business to the next level. I explain the decisions I made and what almost stopped me in my tracks. 

Listen now and let me know on social @lifefriendlybiz if you're ready to step up this month! 

Further Support

When life throws a curveball at you, how do you react? In this episode we talk about taking back the power when everything feels out of your control.

I share this golden nugget of inspiration I learned at the Tony Robbins Unleash The Power Within 4 day immersive coaching event.

Knowing this one thing, will change your life.

Listen now to this bite-sized episode.