Episode 231: Getting Over The Fear of Hiring – with April Beach and Theresa Loe

    Theresa Loe SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

    This episode is for those in Phase 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 of the Lifestyle Entrepreneur Roadmap™ Not sure what Phase your business is in?

     

    Episode Bonuses:

    Join us live in Clubhouse and bring Theresa your questions! 
    June 16, 2021 12:00 ET
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    Who This Episode is Great For:

    This is a great show for entrepreneurs and who are ready to grow to the next level.

    Summary:

    You know you need help. You’ve been doing most of the work in your business and it’s time to move your valuable time to the CEO role. To do so, you need a team, or at least one person to begin your delegation process. But you haven’t moved to take action for a variety of reasons but they primarily all come down to mindset. And, you’re probably thinking one of these thoughts: 
     
    “I can’t afford to hire help.”
    “I’m uncertain of which role to hire first” 
    “I don’t have systems in place yet to delegate to someone else”
     
    If you’re thinking one of these things, you’re not alone. You should already know these are very common issues for many leaders… or we would not dedicate a whole show to discuss it. You’re in good company, but let’s get you into the right company with next level leaders who know how to manage their high-value time, delegate tasks to others, and give you the steps to find the right people to bring on board. 
     
    In this show, Theresa Loe, founder of streamlinedandscaled.com, talks you through proven solutions to overcome hiring hurdles so we can take your business from 6 to 7 figures. 

    At the end of this episode you will:

    1. Know the most important mind shift you must make – and by doing so, everything falls into place
    2. Know how to hire the right person, not just any person with a skills

    Resources Mentioned:

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     


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    Full Show Transcript:

    You’re listening to the Sweetlife entrepreneur podcast, simplified strategies to grow your service business and launch a life you love faster with business mental and entrepreneur activator, a probate Friends. Thanks for tuning. In this episode, you are listening to this sweet life entrepreneur and business podcast. As my friend, Alexa, so beautifully introduced in our intro for this show. I’m April beach,

    the host here on the sweet life podcast. And thank you so much for being listeners big announcement. I can’t believe I’ve been forgetting to tell you guys this for the last, actually couple of weeks on the show, I was just named one of the top 50 moms in podcasting. And I just want to say, thank you so much to all of you guys,

    because you are the ones that made that happen. So many of you voted so many of you voted for me and voted for this show. And I just wanted to say, thank you so much. I appreciate you guys so very much for being honored out of all the moms to be in the top 50 in podcasting, you know, this isn’t a moms podcast,

    but having somebody recognize that it is hard to be a mom and run the businesses that we do and produce a show, especially for so many years consistently. I just want to share that with you guys and share with you. It’s all because of you. And I just thank you so very much. So just had to take a moment to appreciate all of the listeners here on the show.

    This is episode number 231, as I said, and today’s guest is somebody who’s going to really help you get over the issues that may be in your way from scaling and growing your business to the next level. Today, we are talking about getting over your fear of hiring people. So first of all, let’s talk about why the heck this is a fear.

    What is the deal? What is the matter with us? Here’s the issue as an entrepreneur, we have amazing ideas in our mind. And I’m saying, we, because this is definitely me. You guys, I have struggled with management over the years. It’s not my strength. I have had to work very hard to learn, to become a better leader and manager and delegator.

    And so we have all these ideas in our head and we think it’s so much easier. It’s so much faster if we just do it ourselves, but I’m going to tell you that. And I learned this the hard way your business is not going to get to the next level until you know how to create systems delegate. And most importantly, find the right people find the right people.

    You know, you need help. You have probably been doing most of the work in your business, and it’s definitely time to move your value time. Your dollar, your time is high is worth higher dollar, and we need to move you to that CEO role and to do so. You need a team or at least one person to begin your delegation process.

    But if you haven’t moved yourself out of a mindset blockages to the place of taking action for a variety of different reasons and you know, that it’s time to do so then this particular episode is definitely one that you want to hang out and listen to. You might be saying things to yourself, like I can’t afford to hire help, or I’m uncertain of exactly who to hire and what role they should fill,

    or you might be thinking, wow, I don’t even know how to help them onboard. I don’t have any systems in place. This is not just a beginner, entrepreneurial problem friends. We have so many clients that we can’t scale you guys into higher level online services until your delegation is in place until it’s not going to be a bottleneck. When we bring more clients into your business with higher level amazing programs and offers,

    this is a problem that my multiple six figure clients face as well. It definitely something, as I said, that I have struggled with over the years and I’ve had to force myself to work through and you’ll hear a little bit of kind of some of my struggles and some of the things I do behind the scenes when we talk about this episode. So if you’re thinking about these things,

    you are not alone. That is why we are recording a podcast this week about it. So let me go ahead and introduce you to our guest expert today. Her name is Theresa LOE and Theresa is a leadership and business coach for overworked entrepreneurs. She helps them streamline their operations to build self-managed teams so they can finally get their time back in scale with ease Theresa guides,

    people through that sticky transition from wearing all the hats. Raise your hand if that’s where you are right now, to just wearing the most important, how to evolve the CEO in the visionary hat. Nobody else can wear that hat, but we can help you get some of the tasks off your plate with other perfect people. And Theresa specializes in cultivating small,

    but mighty teams for online course, creators, coaches and other creatives. She’s amazing. And we’re going to be diving into all of this today here on the show. In addition, as you know, now, Theresa is going to be live with us on Wednesday, June the 16th, taking your team building questions in clubhouse. So join us under our club for this podcast.

    It’s called sweet life entrepreneurs, of course, and join us at 12 o’clock Eastern time on June the 16th, 2021. If you’re listening to this show live this week, and we’re going to roll up our sleeves with you. And so what we’re talking about here on the show, then we take it on to clubhouse and we workshop it with you. That’s what we do here on the podcast to really make sure that you are getting implementation for the business strategies here on the show that you know,

    you can’t take to the bank. So without further ado, let’s go ahead and dive into today’s episode with Theresa Lowe.<inaudible> Hi everybody. And welcome to episode number 231. My friend Theresa LOE is with us today. And you guys are in for a huge tree, especially if you are to the point where, you know, you’re ready to grow, but you felt like you have this bottleneck.

    And the bottleneck is, is that, you know, you can’t do everything. You know, you need to hire help, but there are some fears around that and I can personally attest to these feelings. So I’m so excited that Theresa LOE is here today to help you streamline and scale your business by growing your team by overcoming these fears, Theresa, welcome to the show.

    Will you please share everybody your background and a bit about you and how this became your area of expertise? Absolutely. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. So what I do is I help people, entrepreneurs who are overworked, they’re stressed, they’re stretched to the limits. I help them streamline the back end of their business so that they can get their time back.

    But also I help them build self-managed teams. And it doesn’t matter if you are just starting out or you are multi-six multi seven multi-age you always want to have your team be self-managed so that you’re not doing all the managing and you can, instead of wearing all the hats, you’re just wearing the most important hat, which is the CEO hat. And so I work with people at different levels because the sooner you can start this the better.

    And the way I got into this was I was a co-executive TV producer for nine years for the top organic gardening show on PBS. And as the co-executive TV producer, it’s what we would call in the digital industry and integrator or a chief operational officer. So I was second in command and I had to run multiple episodes at the same time. So it was a very project management heavy,

    but at the same time, I had to have teams filming around the country and they all had to be completely self-managed. They had to understand what their jobs were. They had to be able to get all the episodes out the door, which is like little mini launches in our world of digital marketing. And so when I started my own business, six years ago,

    it took off really rapidly because I started getting a team right away. And as I started coaching other people in the industry, I realized that team was one of the things that was holding people back, though. We all start out with our laptop and a dream, and we start out doing all the things and wearing all the hats. Well, the sooner you can bring in a supportive team and not just anyone but a self-managed team,

    and you can have everything streamlined and clean on the backend that allows you to scale. So I help businesses scale with ease by streamlining and having self-managed team. Wow. And you’re right. I mean, I can imagine just the thought when you said that of all these little mini launches just gave me like a little like, oh my gosh, that sounds,

    that sounds terrible. To me, 96, We did 26 episodes a season. So it was A lot. Oh my goodness. So you’re constantly living in this mode of like getting this produced, making sure our systems are streamlined and that people are doing what they’re supposed to be doing at each phase along the way. And I can only imagine how many different moving parts that that would take.

    Yes. So you and your history, your experience, your expertise coming into online business totally makes sense. Why you can see things that most online entrepreneurs can’t in a way that it can make it completely easier. And I imagine really simplified compared to your project plans that you were managing and what you were doing. So one of the things that oftentimes we run into with new businesses is the fact that they either don’t know when it’s time to hire,

    or they think that it might not be time to hire, but they’re really dealing with some mindset issues around hiring. And we talked about this a little bit behind the scenes and how I personally struggled with this for a very long time. But talk to us about what are some of these mental blocks? What is the mindset of an entrepreneur who’s ready to scale?

    Absolutely. And before I even dive into that, sometimes like what you said, how do people know that they’re ready? So let me just address that. You know, that it’s time to get help when you are stretched too thin, you’re overworking, or you’re sacrificing yourself for the business. You’re sacrificing your time, your health, your marriage time with your family,

    your weekends, your evenings. We all have these ups and downs in our business where it might grow. And we have little moments of that. But when it goes on for long periods of time, that’s when you absolutely need to get more support and structure in your business because you didn’t start the business to be working 18 hour days. That was not your goal or your dream.

    And yet we can get stuck there because we don’t know how to fix this. And one of the things like you said, it’s a mindset issue. And I should also probably say right off the bat, that it doesn’t matter what level we’re going to be talking about, what the different things are that you can do in your business to get help. But it doesn’t matter if you’re just starting out,

    there are different ways to hire. So you can hire someone overseas. If you are really strapped on money, you can hire a virtual assistant that’s part time. It can be a working mom who maybe used to work in corporate and has incredible skills, but when her kids are in school or go back to school and aren’t, she’s no longer homeschooling, then she was going to be looking for something that she can do in those other hours.

    And so you can bring in someone part-time, but it can also mean when you are a multi-six multi seven multi-asset that you’re bringing in a full-time employee. So what we’re going to talk about here happens at all levels. So the first thing that happens with most people is they get stuck in a solo preneur mindset, and it doesn’t matter how much money you’re bringing in.

    You can get stuck thinking too small. And so what I mean by that is that they’ll say to themselves, when my business gets to the next level, then I will bring in the next help that I need in my business. And then my business will allow me to be a higher level CEO. And what I want you to do is flip the script on that.

    The truth is that you’re never going to feel ready to take it to the next level that doesn’t just magically happen when you wake up. So you have to start thinking differently. You have to step into your future self and start making strategic decisions. And so the truth is that when you start acting and making decisions as a CEO, then that means you would realize that you need to bring in help.

    And that is actually what gets your business to the next level. So rather than just waiting for the next level to happen and then bringing in help, you need to bring in help to get to the next level. Can you Say that again? Yeah. Say that again. This is really please, as you’re listening to this, you guys are, you know,

    hit, rewind on this or just hit pause Theresa. I want you to say that again in the reason why this hits home for me and I, I just appreciate it so much learning from you on the show as our listeners are learning right now is because I literally have on a whiteboard. I have my very own little whiteboard of what I’m eating each day and today’s intentions and kind of little notes to myself.

    But on that whiteboard, just like two weeks ago, I put on there for my things I need to do each day was millionaire mindset. And I realized this. So I have built a 7, 6, 7 figure business in the past. But this company that we’re working with right now, the Sweetlife company is on our way to seven figures consistently. And I realized that this was,

    I was not having that mindset. You guys, this is so important. And since I wrote this on the board, like Theresa is saying, and I’ll go and look at what I’m eating every day. And my goals, my workout plans, it’s all right there. That’s what I wrote. And I think that people think, oh, well, that’s just like a weird note thing,

    a weird mindset thing, but it has shifted my activity significantly in my business over the last couple of weeks. So can you say that again? So people hear that. Absolutely. So what we’re talking about here is the be, do have model. And that means that you need to be the CEO of your future and do activities that they would be doing in order to have what your goals are,

    your business that you want. Right? So people go, okay, well, how do I do that? Here’s a real, simple thing. Every single morning. When you’re looking at your list, I want you to ask yourself your, to do list. I’m talking about when you’re looking at your to-do list, I want you to ask yourself, what does my business need from me today?

    Who do I need to be today? And which activities on this long list are going to get me to the next level that I’m trying to get to, rather than working in those smaller activities, those things that you could actually hire out for it makes you realize that you’re spending a lot of time in the mundane and not in the 20% that moves your business forward.

    In fact, you’re so busy. You have like a 1% little sliver that you’re trying to fit. All those CEO activities in and the rest of your day is taken up with other things. So that’s why I started with this one. You want to be the CEO of your future. And so everything that you do needs to be aligned with that so that you can reach your goal.

    Yes, Yes, yes. And you should see my notes behind the scenes. You guys like a million million Teresa low notes already from this episode. And I think that, you know, people look to strategies, they look to benchmarks to accomplish. They look to be able to check off this list when in fact doing exactly, as you say is going to then reverse engineer what those activities are each day.

    And it’s just such a powerful thing. So I just wanted to pause there for a second. It’s a good one. Okay. Like this is not like, woo you guys. This is like, this is a set solid strategy. That is very important. And I can personally attest to it. So what’s next after we do that. So another belief that can hold people back,

    because we want to hit people from all different angles. Maybe that was it. Maybe they were waiting because they’re waiting for their business. A lot of times we’ll say, and this is probably the most common one. They’ll say I can’t afford to hire anyone. Right. It doesn’t matter what level you’re at. You might say, I can’t afford to hire the next person or a high level person.

    And so the analogy I like to give here is if I were to come to you April and I were to say, I’m going to open a hotel and I just want to tell you all about it. And you’re like, cool. Tell me all about the hotel. And I said, well, I am going to be the person who checks people in at the front desk.

    And then I’m going to help everyone carry their luggage up to their room. I’m going to be the maid. I’m going to do the cleaning. And then when they come back down, I’m going to be at the restaurant and I’m going to take their order. And I’m going to cook the food and deliver the food and then run back out to the front desk for the next person.

    You would think I was a nut. And you’d say, you can’t do all those things well, and you can’t grow. And yet that’s what we do in our businesses, because we started with just us. And we were doing all the things and we kept getting spread thinner and thinner and thinner. So when you’re saying, I can’t afford to hire a team,

    what you’re really saying is that you aren’t putting yourself first and you don’t want to grow. And what I want you to do is realize that there are different ways to hire at different levels. So if you are just starting out, you can hire someone part-time. If you already have a business, then you can hire someone who is virtual, but maybe works more hours.

    And if you’re at a higher level, you can bring in someone as an employee. But the truth is that you can always hire. It’s a matter of finding the right person for the right seat to do the right things so that you’re not wasting your time or your money. And we’re going to talk more about that as we go through the other ones.

    Great. Thank you for that. And that’s a great analogy. So after this is established, right, we’ve established that you absolutely cannot grow without help. And this is very important. And certainly there are, some of you are listening who want to be solopreneurs. And this episode probably is not for you when you are ready to grow this, isn’t it.

    These are important strategies. So what comes next, Theresa, after we have gotten over these mindset hurdles that we’ve discussed so far, Right? So then the another thing that can hold you back is that you’ll say, well, good. People are hard to find. So let’s talk about that piece right there. Because if you are holding yourself back, because you think you can’t like,

    okay, maybe I understand that I will never feel ready. Maybe I understand that I need to hire, but I don’t even know where to start in hiring. And what I want people to understand is that there are good people out there. The trick is that you have to hire the right person by looking at character over resume. So a lot of people teach how to go out and hire,

    and they’ll tell you to put a post out a job listing, and then you bring in the person and you’re just looking at their resume to see if they have experienced. And I actually teach hiring in a very different way. I want people to be really, really clear on the type of person that they want to bring in. And I’m talking about character,

    what type of person do they need to be? Because even if you only have a team of one other person besides you, you’re building something here. So you want to start doing that right out of the gate. And as you get bigger, you want everyone on your team to have a certain character level. So when I’m hiring, I’m looking at character because the truth is that if I can get someone who’s a go getter,

    a problem solver, they’re excited about my work. They’re excited about my mission. I can teach them anything. They don’t even have to have the experience on their resume. So when you are going through the hiring process, be looking for the type of person who can grow with you and can learn, even if they don’t have experience, if you just feel right about them,

    because they’re like pumped and excited, then you were hiring more to character than to resume. Hmm. That’s such a good point. And that is, that’s how I hire is with, with an established skillset. But one of the greatest things that I, if I can just share for those of you guys who are listening, one of the greatest things that I have,

    I decided to do about 10 years ago, when hiring was, I decided to hire people that wanted to see their future in my business as well, could see their own, what, anything they’d life they wanted to build the time they wanted to be working, the kind of work that they were fired up. And although it might not have been the actual activity that they wanted yet,

    what was really helpful and how we’ve grown. Our teams is listening to them, trying to figure out what they want to do. What are their big, huge moonshots? What are their dreams and how can they accomplish those dreams underneath our brand. And I think that that’s why we have had a team who’s worked with us for so long is because of that now definitely skill set as well.

    But then I will also pay to have the right people trained in this skill set. So I’ll pay to have the right people in my team learn a skillset that I want them to have, even if they were just totally clueless, because it’s more about the person Kelly Buckner who’s our director of operations is that she is like my dream COO. And I just don’t know where I’d be without her,

    but the things she’s doing, don’t always align with her biggest dream, but she knows her biggest dream is within the future of our company. And so just wanting to kind of add that in there, as it is an example, for those of you guys who are listening. Yeah. Having lifelong learners is one of our core values. So we do the same thing.

    I have had different members go through courses so that they could get up to speed and it’s a game changer and they feel even more committed to you because now you are helping them grow as a person. So we’re all about growth and stepping into a bigger you. And sometimes someone on my team will find a course and they’re like, I really think this would be helpful.

    I would love to take it. And I’m all for it. I will pay for them to take that class. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And, and I think that what we’re talking about is the future of culture of small and micro sized businesses. And it really is true that so many people look for the skillset we’re in clubhouse rooms.

    You and I both are in clubhouse rooms all the time where people are talking about how do I hire and how do I do this? And how do I do that? And they’re getting great advice. Like, we’ll go to this and search for this skillset, but I love a warhead, the conversation we’re having here too, because you can have a person who’s really great at something,

    but doesn’t fit into the culture in the future. And, and I think the hardest thing, and I’ll just share kind of this fear since we’re talking about the fears of hiring, one of the hardest things that I had to deal with before I really started hiring for the right person, rather than the skillset was hiring somebody, training them, investing that time.

    And then they leave and being so fearful of so much time lost. And I know this isn’t just a, an April problem or a Teresa problem. These are problems that corporations deal with, you know, at this replacement costs in this replacement time. But I just, I remember feeling so fearful of going, gosh, I’m going to invest in this person and they’re just going to ditch me,

    You know? Yeah. And will, that can happen. And so one of the things that I work with people when I’m, I’m helping them streamline their business, there’s really three pillars we go through. And it’s the structure, the support piece, which is what we’re talking about here. But what you’re talking about is the scalability piece and that is having contingency plans.

    So that’s really having the structure behind the scenes so that if someone steps out, someone else can step in and having systems and processes. So that, that happens. But absolutely, we are also investing part of our heart when we bring someone in because we’re small businesses. So it’s a very small but mighty team. And there’s a lot of heart that goes into bringing someone in.

    But here’s the way I like to look at it. When someone is leaving for me, it’s happening for me rather than to me. And I want them to grow and go find a better fit because something that was not a good fit for them. And if it’s not a good fit for them, they’re not going to thrive. Just like if we take a flower and put it in the desert,

    that flower might be beautiful somewhere else, but in the desert, it’s going to wither and die. Right? And so if we have someone on our team who really is not aligned with staying with the team, it’s better that they go sooner rather than later. So sometimes we’ll have signs. And that’s some of the things that I coach people through. There’ll be little signs that we missed or along the way that we weren’t really paying attention to.

    But when someone is going to leave, I’ve had people leave to go on and start their own business. And I actually give them some of my coaching programs because I want them to do well because we’ve built a relationship. But if someone is stepping out, it’s actually happening for you because there’s going to be someone else that can step in that will take you even further than that person ever could.

    What a great set mind you have to read it. Yeah. Mindset is like everything. Yes. Thank you for sharing that. That is an amazing different viewpoint on that. Thank you for sharing that. I think that’s so incredibly powerful. So let’s get back to some of these fears that our listeners might be feeling. Some of these, almost like we could have named this like that,

    the four, the five lies you’re telling yourself, but you really need to be hiring by now. You know, what are some of the, what are some of these other thought processes that people need to overcome to really get into this let’s scale? This business let’s hire I’m ready for the next level. Absolutely. So one of the other roadblocks and this actually tends to happen with people who have,

    are already a little bit more further along is that they worry that they have to manage the team, or they are currently managing the team. And that’s why I specialize in self managed teams. If you are managing the team, as the CEO, something is wrong, you should never be managing the team. You want to be bringing in people who are in the right seats,

    doing the right things. And they are self-managed. So the way that you can tell if you are in the management, rather than the CEO role is if you are helicoptering them, right. We know we all know what a helicopter parent is. There’s also a helicopter CEO and it’s where you’re hovering. Like, are they doing it? Are they doing it?

    Are they doing it right? And some of that can be your systems that you have set up. Like maybe, maybe you don’t have touch points where you can kind of keep your finger on the pulse without being in the weeds. That’s something that I help people set up so that they don’t have to be in the weeds to know what’s going on. But sometimes it’s really a matter of learning to let go and let go in the right way.

    So what I want you to realize is that what we want to do, what we want to be stepping into is mentoring our team, not managing the team. This means having real clear expectations and results that we’re looking for. So they have a very clear lighthouse and we can have like, you know, 30, 60, 90 day check-ins and be able to say, okay,

    you know, we’ve got a little off track here, but as long as they know what lighthouse is, we shouldn’t have to helicopter them. They should be able to figure out how to get there. Does that make sense? Absolutely. Helicopter CEO. I’m definitely, I’m definitely writing that down. It’s so it absolutely makes sense. It was a great analogy.

    Yeah. And this is a random question. Just putting you on the spot here for our listeners. Is there a favorite team software for communication that you have that you like to recommend to your clients? Absolutely. So most of the industry uses a sauna and a sauna is great. I have used a sauna, but for project management, I really like monday.com.

    That’s actually my favorite. And the reason is because not everybody adapts well to a sauna and monday.com is much more visual. And I find for entrepreneurs, they’re very creative and they tend to have a lot of creative people on their teams and the team. If you have never used any project management software, and you currently have a team, it’s a much easier transition onto Monday than it is to a sauna.

    Now that said a sauna is great. I’m not saying a is bad. If you’re already using a sauna, don’t switch. If you love it. And it works for you. Great. But if you’ve never used project management software or you’re intimidated, or your team is Monday works really well. It also is very intuitive. And so it makes it easy for the team to,

    to adapt to that. If that makes sense. It does make sense. Thank you for sharing that. Our listeners always want to know everybody’s software stack of what we’re using. And I know a lot of our listeners use Trello air table is where we manage our, our podcast production. But back in the day, we used to use Smartsheet and Gantt charts and all these things that were just not user-friendly at all.

    And they were so detailed that we would send it to people and they would just be like deer in the headlights. And they’re just done. What is this? W w what is this? And so I absolutely loved Monday. We’ve had a guest recently who is talking about, is it like click up? I mean, whatever works for you guys. And I think that is the thing here,

    but I’d love, you’re an expert in this. And so I love hearing of what, what you recommend and what works for you. So thank you for sharing that. And any, yeah, go ahead. I was just Going to say what’s most important is that, is that you use it. So if you try something and it doesn’t work, try something else because everyone’s brains work differently.

    So it’s okay. If something else works for you, right. Perfect. Yes. The great advice. And then any final thoughts to, you know, this hesitation to hiring that you want to leave with our listeners, any like actionable steps. You’re saying, okay, listen, you’re listening to this episode because you know, you need to be hiring,

    but there’s a wall. There is a mindset shift that needs to happen, but there are actually things that you, as a leader are putting in your own way. And those are the things we talked about today. Like, I can’t afford to hire a team or what if they leave, or, you know, how do I actually go through the process delegation?

    And you shared some really important thoughts that people are already having. I know our listeners are hearing being like, oh yeah, that’s me. I’m thinking this in this process, what do they do now from this episode, from listening to the show, what are some actual actionable items right now where they can leave in that they can start fixing this problem today.

    Right? Well, if we circle all the way back to stepping into being a CEO and thinking like your future CEO self, what I want you to do is start doing a time audit. Now, when I say time, audit people’s eyes glaze over and they go, oh, that sounds so corporate. And I have to write down all the things I did all day,

    but here’s what I want you to realize. You may think, you know what you’re doing every day, but you’re probably doing some things you shouldn’t be doing, and you don’t even realize it. And you keep thinking, oh, I’ll just do it real quick myself. And it ends up taking an hour, or I can just whip this together. And you end up your whole day is totally shifted because you got down a rabbit hole in Canva or something.

    So what I want you to do is to do a time audit on yourself so that you can see, where am I currently spending my time and then put on your CEO hat and take a hard look at that. Are those the things that I should be doing? Which of these things do I know I just shouldn’t be doing, or I’m not very good at them?

    Which of these things could I hand off to a current team member or do I need to bring in a team member? So really doing a time audit should be your very first step. And then absolutely every single morning looking at that to do list, do I really have to do these things, which of these things are going to move the needle the most in my business,

    which of these things are the moneymakers, which of these things are driving me to my goals and make sure that you’re working on the right things, because we can very easily get busy, busy, busy doing the wrong things, and nothing can slow down your growth faster than doing that. Great. Teresa you’re you are so wise, thank you so much for your leadership in this.

    And you coach entrepreneurs who are in six figures, seven figures to eight figures, and you have a couple of different programs. So if you guys are listening here, you know, this isn’t a podcast where we sell you anything. We don’t even accept advertisers on this show. The deal is, is we want you to have the next steps to take action.

    So Theresa, can you tell people how they can connect with you and based on where they are, what phase they’re in, what do you have available to get them to that next level with their teams? Absolutely. So where people can connect with me is streamlined and scaled.com, all one word. And on the website, I have information, lots of free resources.

    What I have in the way of programs is if you are just hiring your very first team member, or if you have just hired poorly and you need help hiring the next team member, I have a program called team up like a boss. It’s a very low, very inexpensive program that has all my templates and processes my whole methodology for hiring to character first.

    Okay. Then the second program that I have is a group coaching program, multi multi figure, and multi seven. And that’s where we streamlined the backend of your business and get your team to be self-managed and make your set you up to be scalable so that you can scale with ease and have your time back. And that is streamlined and scaled. And then I do consulting for multi eight figure businesses who already have major teams and headaches going on,

    and they need someone to come in and check out where are the issues? And I do that as well. Theresa, thank you so much. So based on where you guys are, there is a program, there is a solution start like Theresa said with going through your activities today, really focusing on the things that only you, and you can only,

    you can do, maybe like me write on your whiteboard or a sticky note or on your mirror and lipstick or whatever it is that you need to be honing in on the millionaire activities in your business. And that is, it starts, it sounds very basic, but this is truly, I can personally attest to this. This is truly where it all starts rolling from there.

    And we do have a very special tree for you guys, as you know, that we promote and share in network with you and help you link arms with you and coach you in clubhouse now. So if you’re an active subscriber to this show, that means it drops on Monday. This particular episode is dropping on Monday, June 14th and Theresa and I are going to be live answering your questions workshopping with you,

    taking your specific team, building questions, helping you strategize through the struggles or your concerns or your fears or your issues of growing your team on Wednesday, June 16th at 12 o’clock Eastern time. It’s totally free for you to be in there. If you’re really ready to take your business to the next level, it starts by taking action. And that starts by joining us at 12 o’clock on June 16th in our clubhouse room about this topic and to find the clubhouse room,

    you can very simply follow our club, join our club, even all you Android users now, by going to sweet life, community.com, again, that Sweetlife community.com. You can talk to Teresa, she’s there for you, and we’re, we’re all here to support you and all of the show notes of course, to reach Teresa beyond. What we talked about here will be in the show notes for this episode.

    This is episode number 231. Thank you so much Theresa for your time and your wisdom and your expertise and pouring into us on today’s show. We really appreciate You. Thank you so much for having me. It was fun. It was fun. Thanks.

    Episode 230: Simplified Systems To Scale – with April Beach and Brittany Keeling

    Brittany Keeling SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

    This episode is for those in Phase 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 of the Lifestyle Entrepreneur Roadmap™ Not sure what Phase your business is in?

     

    Episode Bonuses:

    Join us live on Clubhouse to get your questions answered. 
    June 2, 2021 12:00 ET

    Who This Episode is Great For:

    This is a great show for entrepreneurs and companies who are ready to scale and grow, but lacking systems to make it happen. 

    Summary:

    It’s time to scale your business, and you know that systems and SOPs need to be in place. But, if you’re like me, the thought of sitting down and documenting your tasks sounds as fun as having teeth pulled. Thankfully Brittany Keeling, our guest expert, is sharing practical ways and clear, simple systems you can follow to start scaling now. 
     
    In this show we’ll also cover the difference between a platform, a system and automation. These common terms are misunderstood but important to understand. Stick with us and join us live on Clubhouse to meet with Brittany personally and get your questions answered after listening to this show. 

    At the end of this episode you will:

    1. Brittany’s 5 Steps To Scale
    2. How to create SOPs without crying 
    3. The importance of choosing the right platform to make your business easier to manage

    Resources Mentioned:

     
    ClickUp (Brittany’s Affiliate Link)
     


    SweetLife Podcast™ Love:

    Are you subscribed? If not, there’s a chance you could be missing out on some bonuses and extra show tools.  Click here to be sure you’re in the loop.  Do you love the show? If so, I’d love it if you left me a review on iTunes. This helps others find the show and get business help. I also call out reviews live on the show to share your business with the world. Simply click here and select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Thank you so much ❤︎

    Need faster business growth?

    Schedule a complimentary business triage call here.


    Full Show Transcript:

    You’re listening to the Sweetlife entrepreneur podcast, simplified strategies to grow your service business and launch a life you love faster with business mental and entrepreneur activator, a probate. We are so excited to dive in depth. So number 230 here on the Sweetlife entrepreneur podcast, and today’s guest is simplifying your systems and helping you put standard operating procedures in place so that you can scale your business.

    And this is why this is incredibly important. We have so many companies that come to us and they want to launch courses and masterminds and memberships, and they want their suite of offers created. But oftentimes when we do a really good job launching scalable online programs, there are some systems that are missing in the backend. And when these systems in the backend are missing,

    then what happens is a bottleneck. And you actually can’t even absorb all of the money and the clients and the hard work that you’ve gone into in order to actually launch and reap the benefits of the hard work. And so today on episode number 230, we’re diving in with Brittany Keeling, she’s the CEO of be elevated a business operations and launch expert. And she’s going to take you through the processes of how to really simplify your systems.

    Now you’re going to laugh. I am being really transparent about how I hate creating SOP on this. So if you’re like me, you’re going to be able to relate real well to what Brittany’s saying. And we’re going to give you some amazing strategies to get through that today on this episode. So this is a great show for those of you guys who are in phases two through four of my Sweetlife business roadmap,

    that’s the startup to scale up system that we’ve created. And in order to figure out what phase of business you’re in simply go to sweet life co.com board slash quiz, and you can take a very short self-assessment. So this episode, this business training that we’re talking about is specifically for those of you guys in phases, two, three or four of that business system.

    What you can expect at the end of this is to first of all, know the most common standard rating standard operating procedures that should be in place for your business. You’re also going to get tips on software that can simplify your processes. And you’re going to know how to use the way that you work as a leader, as an entrepreneur, in order to put it into systems in a way that is actually going to happen for your business.

    So I’m so excited to dive into all this. And of course, Brittany will be with us live on clubhouse, the Wednesday that this show drops. So if you are not a member or following the Sweetlife entrepreneurs club on clubhouse, please make sure you search us on clubhouse life. One word, just like this podcast. And you’re going to get access to that room where Brittany is going to be able to take your questions.

    She’s amazing. And I’m guessing you’re going to want to have somebody like Brittany workshop with you, and that’s what the clubhouse is for. So let’s go ahead and dive into today’s show. All of the show knows everything we’re talking about can be found by visiting our website@sweetlifeco.com forward slash two three zero. Oh, wait. I lied about that. All of the show notes can be found by visiting sweet life coat.com

    and then you got to click on podcast, but then it is episode two, three, zero. All right, you guys, I can’t wait to dive in with you. Let’s do it. All right. You guys welcome to episode number 230 here at this sweet life entrepreneur business podcast. I am joined by Brittany Keeling and yes, you’re probably getting entired me saying this.

    I met Brittany on clubhouse, like all of our guests, like lately, all my new clubhouse friends and she is amazing. I was in a clubhouse room with Brittany and she said three words that I was like, oh my gosh, I need this woman to come and talk to us and really simplify and clarify these three terms. And you’re going to find out what they are here and just a little bit on the show,

    but, you know, Brittany is a scaling with systems expert. And so that’s what we’re all about here on the show, giving you tools and strategies to move forward and scale your business. And so here we are, Brittany, thank you so much for joining us. Tell everybody a little bit about yourself and how you became such a systems ninja. Yeah,

    I’m so excited to be here. So I have a really sort of unconventional background. A lot of people get into this space from, you know, they were in the corporate world and they decided to go off on their own. And I actually started my first business straight out of high school. So I was a serial entrepreneur for a few years, with a few various different businesses.

    They were actually all online businesses as well. So been in the space a while and towards the end of 2018, I was feeling really burnt out with what I was doing. I wanted to change it. I just didn’t know what to do. And so I started asking people who knew me like, Hey, what do you think of when you think about me?

    What am I good at? What are my strengths? Literally, everybody came back and was like, oh, you’re type a you’re detail oriented. You’re great at like being productive and helping people reach their goals. And I was like, okay, I can do something with this. So heading into 2019, I started trying to like make that shift. But right at that same time,

    my dad who was a business owner actually passed away unexpectedly. And so I took over his company the day after he died. So yeah, I put my business hold and took over his company. I was 21 and it was a mess. He did not have. I mean, obviously I was grieving, but also he didn’t have anything documented. He did not have,

    you know, a second in command. It was basically two months of me being on the phone all day, every day with clients saying, sorry, he’s not here anymore, but we’re still business as usual. It was very weird. But another thing that we ran into a lot was like the questions being asked and us not having answers. And that didn’t feel good for anyone.

    Of course, we didn’t want to say, sorry, we don’t know the answer to that. But at the same time, my dad kept so much in his head, in his head and all over his desk. I mean, papers everywhere. So it was just really hard to try to run once he was gone. And thankfully we did end up selling that business four months later.

    And at that time I had planned a move across the country for like a month later. And I was like, oh, I have now no income and no clients and no business, I should do something. So I relaunched my business and I went like full force headfirst into the deep end as an online business manager. And so at that time, this was like August of 2019.

    And I just dove in, I invested in a mentor and I was like, you know, I’m just going to help other entrepreneurs create something that actually can outlive them. For me. It grew really quickly. I’ll give you the cliff notes version here, but essentially I created a bit of a monster that was doing for me the opposite of what I was trying to do for others.

    And so I ended up restructuring a bit around this, actually around the same time, last year. So around like August, September of 2020, and now we work with clients in either one day or one week and we have a few signature offers, but we really essentially help them either get their systems in check, do like an overhaul, get them things simplified,

    make it make sense for the long haul for them. Or we help them have a large-scale launch of a digital product or service in a short timeframe. We do like a seven day package for lunches or a one day for one week package for systems, depending on how robust it is. And clearly to have that done. We have to have a lot of really clear systems internally as well.

    Yes you do. Oh my gosh. So first of all, congratulations on all your success. It’s so hard when you know you’re doing something well and all of a sudden it’s running your life. I love how you have modeled. We talk a lot about life, first business modeling here on this show, and I love how you’ve modeled your offer to actually deliver that time in life that you want.

    Secondly, I’m so sorry about your dad. I lost my dad a couple of years ago and that is it just really hard still sometimes today I’ll like forget, and I’ll go to pick up a phone and call him and it’s just this weird thing or I’ll think, oh, I can’t wait to tell dad or whatever. And so I totally get that.

    And I’m so sorry about that. Your dad also was a total entrepreneur like that entrepreneur brain, like the notes everywhere, papers everywhere. I’m literally not going to turn the camera. You guys, before this, behind the scenes, you were typing something out to think like that’s way out. I need to write in order to think and process in. But because of that,

    then I have a million pieces of paper. And so your dad sounded like amazing man and very typical classic entrepreneur. And then the last thing, you know, I love how you have always been an entrepreneur out of high school. Like we have very similar stories. I absolutely love that. And so I’m just so glad that you were here on the show.

    Now what you’re talking about from a business sense, first of all, it’s no surprise that you are so successful because what you need are what people need are the tactical things that you actually deliver. It’s the not sexy part that everybody desperately wants and needs. They’re the systems and that like the SOP and the client pipelines and the launch plans and the content plans and all those things.

    So I’m so excited to talk about what we’re going to dive in today. And I know our listeners will be like, okay, bro, gen up so we can hear her talk. So, so like, so this is very exciting. And so I’m really, really excited about what you’re going to download for us today. So one of the things that we find as a company is a lot of companies come to us and they’re like,

    oh, we’re so excited to scale with courses and offers. And all these things help us design them, but it’s like, let’s stop because they don’t have their systems and processes in place. Yet. I was actually in a clubhouse room last week when I was saying that to somebody and the woman ended up DME me on Instagram saying, so you said I shouldn’t do this yet until I have systems in place.

    What are the exact systems? People don’t know, like you were saying before we started recording what they don’t know. So can we first for our listeners who might not be familiar with that, we first talk about what systems should you actually have in place before you start really scaling your business. Yeah, 100%. And I love that we’re talking about this because every business I’ve ever worked with that has overlooked these steps in the beginning has had to spend more time and more money and more energy backtracking to redo the things that were not done properly.

    So my hope is that if you’re listening to this, you will not get in that position. It is never too late to start creating systems. And just like April said, it is not at face value, super sexy to talk about, but it is super sexy when you get weeks of your life back. So, yeah. So I have sort of a top five systems that I like to focus in on whenever talking about like getting started with systems,

    mind you, there are a million systems in the world and I totally understand that, like can be really overwhelming. So I always just suggest starting with these five. And if I feel like too much, start with one, like just do one at a time because it’s going to be better than nothing. Okay. So let me make sure you guys heard this before.

    She says this. When you walk away from this show commit to start with one, if this is an area you need to grow. So sometimes when we hear all five, it is overwhelming, but Brittany is going to download you on what they are. So I’m really excited about this. Okay. What are they? Yeah. So quick overview of the five systems I like to hone in on are a task management and project management system.

    So this is where you can keep all of your ideas. So instead of having 12,000 places to look for things, it’s all in one place, an SOP standard operating procedure creation system. So you may or may not have heard of SOP before. And if you have heard of them, it may be in a corporate setting or it may just be like,

    sure, I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know what to do with it. How do I create them? Having SOP are important, but you need actually know how to create them. So having a system for creating new SOP is on an ongoing basis is going to be huge. The third system is a content planning and repurposing system. Let’s be real,

    pretty much all of us are marketing through social media. So we probably need to have a system there so that we’re not having to spend hours every single day typing up a last-minute caption just to get it off the door. Right then the fourth is a client management system. This one is huge, huge, huge, I’m such a huge fan of white glove experience and really kind of going above and beyond with the client experience because we want everyone in our sphere to feel really valued and a huge way you can do that is with your client management system.

    And then the fifth and final is email marketing. And if you’re like, well, maybe I don’t have a list. This is fifth for a reason. It is very important of course, but you don’t have to start with this one if it’s not the easiest one for you to dive into, but we can keep it super simple. Maybe you have an automated welcome sequence or some sort of automated email marketing in place.

    But even if you just have some sort of system for showing up regularly in your email marketing, like a task for yourself to write a new email once a month and send that out, it’s so much better than nothing, and you’re still going, nurturing your audience chat. Okay. So let me state those again for our listeners. And then we’re going to move on.

    We’re going to dive into a couple of those today. So the five systems you recommend people have in place to start our task management, SLPs and a process for actually creating SOP and an SOP. If you’re listening in stands for standard operating procedures for any of you guys that didn’t know that number three is a system for content planning. Number four is the system for client management and number five,

    it’s a system for email marketing. Is that right? That’s right. Okay. Let’s kind of pivot in. Let’s just focus in actually on those first two things tax management and SOP is here on this podcast. So when we’re talking about task management, there are so many things that businesses are doing on a regular basis. And oftentimes companies that are looking to scale,

    you have just very few people doing all the things, talk to us about how you recommend and how you really kind of lasso all of these things that are happening in order to get them into one place. Yeah. So I think the biggest thing is like, you know, there are first of all, so many ideas in our brain at any given time.

    And even if we just think about the ideas alone, not even the to-dos, it’s like you could have a million dollar idea, but if you write it on a sticky note and forget it exists, there goes your million dollars. Right? So I’m a huge advocate for getting things in one place. So initially, I mean, I would start with hunting down all the things you have all over the place.

    If you’ve got just tasks and ideas and to do’s everywhere, get them all streamlined in one place from there, you can probably then start diving into breaking things into categories. And again, this can be really overwhelming. And like a lot of times people are like, well, I just have one big list. What do you mean I need categories, but we can structure things very strategically when we are intentional about it.

    So if you zoom out of the day-to-day of your business and actually look at everything from a bird’s eye view and look at all of the tasks on your list, look at everything that’s popping up. Do you want assessment of what do I, and if I have team members, my team do on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, so on and so forth basis.

    And what maybe aren’t we doing that needs to be done more regularly and even seeing like what tasks have popped up that are not recurring tasks, but you’re noticing them coming up more and more often that can really help guide you and figuring out what the departments of your business really are. So being able to identify it, doesn’t have to be like 18 departments.

    You don’t have to have a whole marketing team to have a department for that. When I say departments, I’m really, especially for small business owners, mostly honing in on the fact that like, there really are still segments of our business, where if we were to scale to a much larger level, we’d likely be outsourcing those two different team members. Yeah.

    And that’s usually where most of our listeners are. They’re like really ready to the point they want to scale. They have all these things that are happening. And many of them have even really started building their teams. But yet they’re not exactly sure. Also with that being said, many of our listeners are to this point where they also have a, just a ton of,

    VA’s doing a couple little things for them at once. So as they’re listening to this, I’m guessing you’re the expert here in this process. You also really recommend that even all these little pieces, even if it’s somebody who’s only working a couple hours a month doing a task for you that you develop SOP for that as well. Correct. 100% a gauge that I like to use is like,

    okay, if you were to take on 10 clients tomorrow, would you be ready? Yeah. My business mentor talking more says that all the time. He’s like, you know, it doesn’t matter if we get you all these clients in here, he’s like, you know, it can be like, it’s like a fire hose. If you do not have these systems in place,

    like don’t go out and grow. Right. Oh, that’s so good. That is such a great analogy. Oh my gosh. So you’re just going to lose them. All right. And that’s why when companies come to us and they’re like, we want to develop our signature offer. We want our signature courses or masterminds. We’re like, okay, are you going to be able to handle it?

    Because if you can’t then literally everything. That’s like an overflow out of the top and you know, let’s make sure your stuff is in place. And so I love this conversation we’re having. So in the process and behind the scenes, you were sharing how you guys go about doing this. You have a software that you love, and I’m just going to say out loud,

    you know, Kelly Buckner, our director of operations for our company is going to geek out when she hears this episode. Because I think that what you’re talking about is like right along the lines of something that she would love to look into more. So talk to us about how you go about this process for people. And, and also, I mean, they are in a million different places.

    All these things are in a million different places. Let’s talk about simplifying software for a minute. Yeah, absolutely. So a lot of entrepreneurs are, and you know, we’re in 18 different softwares when in reality there’s probably one or two that could replace the bulk of them. And I think, you know, at the end of the day, maybe you’re going to pay more for one software,

    but then you’re going to be able to let go of three others. And it’s so worth it. Now, if you’re using six softwares and it’s like, you know, you don’t have any problems and it’s working well for you and future casting. You’re not going to have any problems. Great. If it’s not working or if it is working, you don’t need to necessarily change it.

    But if you’re starting to grow and you’re ready to scale, and you’re like, you know what, being in all this software is just really not working for me. Then. I mean, something that my business does all the time is like helping businesses get streamlined into less software or at least suffer. That makes more sense for them. And so one of the things that we do is we utilize click up and this is where we use like our task management and our project management.

    But also we use this as like the one-stop for the whole business. And we do this with our own business, as well as for our client’s businesses. Because if you’re listening, I can almost guarantee if you don’t have some sort of system in place, you’ve probably got your Google docs, a hundred different docs or folders in your drive. You’ve got your handwritten notes,

    sticky notes, your whiteboard, your mirror, that you’re writing on your, your, everything, just everything notes on your phone. You’ve got your, your 18 journals on your desk. Like it’s just all over the place. And so being able to create an atmosphere where it doesn’t feel like, oh God, another place I have to look every day and instead positioning it in your mind.

    And also in the way you structure it as the only place you need to go and look at things every day, it really is a game changer because instead of waking up, you know, three hours into your slumber, remembering that you forgot to do three tasks that are like really important, and now you’re going to be panicking about it. You can have one place to put them all as soon as they pop into your head and then literally forget about it.

    Like you can just forget about it and come back to it later. Yeah. I love that. And that’s so important for entrepreneurs like me too. Not officially, but pretty officially have ADHD. And so this process of going through and understand like the tasks, changing task management, having things in one place is, is really, really, really important.

    And another thing you said just triggered something that I like to tell businesses all the time. And this is what Brittany is talking about. This is why this is important. I like to say, you know, how would you carry your business today? If you were already a millionaire, you’d already have these systems in place, and you’re never going to be there until you have these systems in place.

    This is the bottleneck. And this is so important. And you know, we’re not saying you have to use one software or another, like you can do it whatever way works for you. But the reality is, is simplified systems scale. They do simplified system scale. And so this is so incredibly important. Okay? So in this process you’re going through and people have all their ideas and they’re bringing their,

    all their ideas together, taken all their sticky notes and their pieces of paper. And they’re getting it. Like you guys use click up for this. How do you recognize, are there like certain departments of a business that are standard or typical for, you know, service-based businesses and online entrepreneurs where you tend to group together type of department. So you sort of,

    our listeners can kind of at least clarify their mind and start heading in one direction of how to organize their stuff. Yeah. Such good question. So some like standard departments that we like to utilize are like your headquarters, right? So for us, at least in here, we house various things like our capacity so that anyone on the team can come in and see what we’re working on.

    Like what big package, but also what’s coming. We have like the next several months booked out and we can all see it and be prepared. And then also if I’m on a sales call, I know what’s available and what’s not I’m meeting notes, go in there, employee onboarding various things like that. Team resources go in there. So like SOP is our brand kit,

    affiliate links, testimonials our team agreement. So we have like, all the team has come together and agree. Like this is our way of working so we can all reference that. And then another department is operations. So you’re going to have your recurring operations more than likely that may be broken down into various things like social media. So Instagram, Facebook,

    LinkedIn, so on and so forth. Maybe your email marketing can go and hear your metrics management. So if you’re needing to check on your numbers weekly, the list, of course. Yeah. Right. I mean, I’m thinking in my mind, I’m like podcast processes, like for us, you know, podcast processes, you know, PR speaking,

    client management. So as you guys are listening to Brittany talk, just think about like the grouping of repetitive tasks that you’re doing in your business and start to figure out what falls under each one. And then take an opportunity to understand that for each one of these, you need to develop these standard operating procedures, which brings me to the next question. So we hear this all the time and I’ll be really honest with you.

    Especially somebody that’s like always in all directions. I own four companies. I have three kids. I’m always on an airplane somewhere when somebody tells me and it’s okay if you have to tell me this, but let’s just keep it real here. When somebody tells me that I have to sit down and document every single thing that I’m doing in some capacity or some way for like a week straight,

    first of all, I’ve never, ever, ever done that. I can’t think of anything worse than doing that. And so what I ended up doing, and this is why, if you’ve also listened to the show before, I’m like not the best person to work for. I mean, I have an amazing team, thank God. But you know,

    it, it’s kind of hard. So it literally, I’m not kidding. You it’s taken me 25 years to get through. And so when I go down and I document like an SOP, it is usually like in a scrub, like we’re working on a project like that day. That is my work I’m going to do. But going through my everyday,

    you know, week just kind of documenting my time and managing my time and stuff. You couldn’t actually, I’m being so honest. You’re going to like school me here. Probably like you couldn’t pay me to do that for my own company. Like I am Wade. I’m like all off in a role. Is there any other way to do it? Yeah,

    totally. Okay. Good. Cause that way sucks. Right? At the end of the day, it’s like we’re busy and the thought of creating a whole system and process and documenting the SOP, Internet’s going to take me three hours longer than if I would just do it all myself and then never outsource it. Right. Right. But of course in the long run,

    we know that’s not true, but it doesn’t make it any to do in the moment. So I do have a philosophy that I like to follow a system. I like to follow with creating these because most business owners are very similar to you. Like I can’t say that I have a lot of fun sitting down and creating all of SOP for my business.

    And so if you don’t like it, then that’s yeah. Then they really are tough work. Okay. Right. And any, you don’t have to do it alone. And it’s actually to be so much easier than we think. So here’s what I like to do. And here’s what I tell people to do. Start identifying what needs to be documented.

    Right? So obviously your recurring tasks, easiest thing to start with, you know, it’s going to happen on a recurring basis. So start there. And once you’ve identified, this needs an SOP, take a loom screen recording. The next time you do the task, you can literally do the task, the exact same way you would without documenting anything,

    but screen record it and talk through what you’re doing as you’re going. And then if you have a strategic and like, well put together template for the written SOP, you can then give the loom or whatever kind of screen recording. You utilize to another team member. You can give it to somebody else and they can build out the SOP, the written version.

    They can include the video version in there. They can plug it into whatever. You know, if you’re using a task management software, get it in the right places, create templates within that. If you want, it can get really nice and crazy robust, but it doesn’t have to. And even better when you do it that way, you now have a video,

    an audio with your video and a written. And so no matter what kind of way somebody learns on your team, you’re meeting them where they’re at. Okay. Thank you. So I do that. I do LUME recordings and then you’re like Dropbox fanatics, and then I’ll put it in Dropbox. But I really thought that I was like duck taping the process together.

    And then, you know, we can get them transcribed through our Searchie and everything that we do. So thank you for saying that because I literally is like, this is just the way I work and it’s just the way it’s going to be. And this is the way I work and I just, I’m never going to change me. So I hope this works out for y’all,

    which, which it has. I mean, I have an amazing team, but in the back of my mind, I’m always like, you suck at doing this because you’re not doing it the way it’s supposed to be, but I know I would never, ever like literally over my dead body, am I going to sit down and write down my steps that I am doing?

    So, yay. I feel a little redeemed here on this show and then Kelly in the process, like she does this as well. And so like listening to the podcast, you guys all know like what we really like struggle with behind the scenes. We try to share it all with you. This is one of those things that I haven’t really liked so much.

    Okay. So in that process, you know, documenting it in whatever way that works. I also do audio recordings on my phone. So I do audio as well too. And that has seemed to work, you know, to upload them for certain files as well for my team and our team Dropbox folder, I should say, hopefully that’s acceptable, but it does work.

    Okay. So after somebody has, you know, really documented these processes, let’s go back and let’s kind of circle back and let’s talk about the importance of simplified software. Share with us more about click up, why you guys use that, why this is your chosen spot to do this in really why, of all the things out there, as, you know,

    there’s a million there’s Monday and Salesforce and all these other things, like why is this your go-to? And so our listeners is, is there processing can think, oh, well maybe I should check that out. Yeah. Great question. So let’s tie it in with SOP is right. If you create a hundred SLPs and they’re sitting in a Google drive that nobody knows exists,

    what’s the point, right? Versus if we can pull them in to a software, like click up, or if you’re using something else, you know, whatever you’re using, bring it into one place so that someone can super easily search the name of what they’re looking for, or go to the SOP folder or list and look through it, what they need to find.

    And you can even from there, so like in click up, you can create like a template of tasks essentially. So you could also turn your SLPs into templates if it’s like things that need to be tasked out. So if you’re onboarding a new team member, for example, that can be a template. Every time you onboard a new team member, you duplicate the template,

    you assign things out and boom, like you’re good to go. Okay. So this is making my mind totally gone in a different direction, which I won’t on this show, but I also teach entrepreneurs how to license and scale their content programs and systems. And every single one of them has a different place where they build those systems. And so what I’m hearing you say is it click up,

    could possibly be a place for those of you guys that this is really advanced scaling. But those of you guys who are listening to this show who are licensing your courses, your content, you’re creating a certification program. All of these mixed level scaling could use a software like this to really streamline the distribution of your processes and templates a hundred percent. And you can even like,

    you can like sell templates. You can share templates. I mean, you can do so much with it. And the reason that I really love click up above all the other platforms, I’ve, haven’t been in all of them, but I’ve been in many of them. And what I tend to find is kind of twofold. One click up is 10 steps ahead.

    Of many of the other platforms, other platforms are coming out with a lot of the things click up has, but they’ve had it for months. So why not choose the software that is going to be 10 steps ahead. And two, it has a very, very, very customizable interface. The aesthetic of it. You can look at it in so many ways and customize fields and can do it everything in your own brand colors.

    I mean, there’s so many ways to go about it. So I, I love it. I it’s just the, in my opinion, I clearly am a nerd about this platform, but I’m a huge fan. I’ve been in so many different ones and it just has proved to be the best and has the most robust options for what we need. Okay.

    This is, I really love this episode. Thank you so much for everything you’re pouring into us. Okay. Before we wrap this up, I do have to say, I love the aesthetic side women entrepreneurs. We really like this side. Like, I really love the fact that I can change the picture on the back of my Trello board. I mean the stupid stuff like that makes me really happy.

    So I love the fact that it does offer that option as well. And I appreciate you sharing this resource so much here. You guys, as you’re listening, we’ll make sure that we are going to share Brittany’s affiliate link to click up with you so you guys can go and play with it and try it out. There are three different words I would love for you to,

    this is the circle back from the beginning, define for us as we close up this show. And I think that the clarity and the definition of each one of these, whether whoever’s listening is new or established is going to be very, very helpful. Can you please define the difference between a platform, a system and automation for any of our listeners that aren’t crystal clear on these saints?

    Absolutely. And it’s really common to not be crystal clear on this because some of these buzz words right there, total buzzwords are used interchangeably when they shouldn’t be. And so it’s confusing for most people. And so what I have found is that if you’re not clear on what each of those are, it can be really difficult to know what you need or ask for help or find the right resources.

    So I’m really passionate about helping find clarity throughout these. So let’s start from, you know, a platform. So a platform is like a click up, right? Click up is a platform. Or of course there are other platforms like, you know, later first scheduling on Instagram or depths auto active campaign. There’s so many, right, but having a platform does not mean you have a system.

    It’s really how you utilize the platform that you can create systems within a platform being signed up on click up does not mean you have a system being signed up on any software does not necessarily mean you have a system. You can create systems within the platforms. Like we create systems all throughout clicker and they can go hand in hand, but they are different things.

    So a system is something that can actually be documented, right? A system is something we can put into an SOP that we can duplicate and do over and over again. And then an automation of course, is something that is going to be automatic. But again, it’s different. Not all of your systems are going to be automated. Some of your systems are not going to be automated and that it can still be a system.

    It doesn’t have to be automated to be a system and you can house. So an example here too, all three of these things can go hand in hand is within click up. There are automations. So you can have the platform I’m just using click up as an example here, you have to pay me to say this, but wish they were. So you could use click up as your platform.

    You could house your content creation system in here, and you can have automations in here as well to move things accordingly. So they can all go hand in hand. They are very different things though. And so I think being able to define those is really, really helpful. And being able to talk about things. Yeah, I love it. I wrote down that quote,

    having a platform does not mean you have a system. And I think that is so powerful and that’s really a great way to wrap up today’s show. Of course my like business coaching minus went crazy. Now I actually want you to reach out, to click up and have them sponsor a room on clubhouse in pay you to talk about it. Like, let’s get this right.

    So click up, we’re going to tag you in this and you need to be, listen, you need to hit Brittany up, sponsor her clubhouse rooms because it’s, it’s good for everybody. So, all right, well, I just really appreciate your expertise so much. And we are going to be live in clubhouse on June. What did we say?

    I think it was June the night at 12 o’clock Eastern time in the club that goes with this podcast. So this podcast club is called the sweet life entrepreneurs club. Search it up on clubhouse, hit me up, hit Brittany up, like send us a DM. If you want to know where the club is because Brittany sent me coming in live and we’re gonna be taking your questions from today’s show.

    And this episode is going to drop on Monday. You have two days to listen to this and come in and let Brittany roll up her sleeves with you and help you guys get your SLPs and systems in place, you know, answering platform questions, whatever it is, we are here to serve and support you. Not just listen to this show, but to implement the show and put it into action.

    So now you have a couple of, you have a resource as well, and I’m going to make sure all the things that we’re talking about here in the show notes for you guys. So what is a free resource you have for our listeners? Yes. I have a pretty doozy guide. It’s called five systems to take your business from scattered to scaling.

    And it goes a little more in depth into all five of the systems we touched on at the beginning of this episode. And then also I actually include in the guide my own SOP templates. So there you go. Yeah. I’m so glad. Oh my gosh. An SOP template. Okay. So all of the show notes are going to be found@sweetlifeco.com like on the podcast.

    And this is episode number 230, and everything’s going to be in there for you as well. But we want to see you guys in clubhouse, even you, Android users are getting invites now. So we want to see you guys in clubhouse. And if you need an invite, hit me up on Instagram. We have actually a lot of club invites they’re releasing to us.

    So we’re excited. You can RSVP for this event and we’ll get you an invite to that, Brittany, thank you so much for your time. I’d love to everything we’ve talked about and clearly appreciate you confirm me. I’m not totally crazy about the way I’m supposed to be doing things and just really appreciate all your expertise, how clearly you explained things and those you guys who are listening,

    please follow Brittany, pay her and follow and just thanking her for her expertise in Korean and tossed bang. It’s great. Thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you. Have a lot of fun.

    Episode 169: How To Launch Your Services Online: Small Business Help Part 2 – with April Beach

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

    This episode is for those in Phase 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 of the Lifestyle Entrepreneur Roadmap™ Not sure what Phase your business is in?

     

    Episode Bonuses:

    Need faster business growth? Schedule a complimentary business triage call here.

    Who This Episode is Great For:

    This episode is for small businesses that want to launch live group coaching and need help getting started. Software makes up the nuts and bolts of your online business, but it tends to overwhelm some to the point of stopping. Trust me when I say that if I can use (and now teach on) software, anyone can! The important part is making sure the software you choose works for you! This show is for business owners who are considering building a group coaching program and want to make smart choices.

    Summary:

    How to build a powerful group coaching program.  In this show, I break down how to plan your group purpose, how to choose the best software, and how to bill, onboard and pick the best platforms for success. Every business is different and this episode helps you find the right answers for your business. We also discuss the power (and joy) of hosting live group calls and what types of entrepreneurs will thrive with this business offering. 
     
    Today’s episode will help you plan your group’s purpose, schedule, taking payment, onboarding customers and deciding the best platform for your group goals. 

    Highlights:

    1. Determine what type of group you’re building
    2. Choose the online platform to build your group in
    3. Set up how people pay you.
    4. Understand why AI plays a key role in customer satisfaction. 

    Resources Mentioned:


    SweetLife Podcast™ Love:

    Are you subscribed? If not, there’s a chance you could be missing out on some bonuses and extra show tools.  Click here to be sure you’re in the loop.  Do you love the show? If so, I’d love it if you left me a review on iTunes. This helps others find the show and get business help. I also call out reviews live on the show to share your business with the world. Simply click here and select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Thank you so much ❤︎

    Need faster business growth?

    Schedule a complimentary business triage call here.


    Full Show Transcript:

    you’re listening to the sweet life entrepreneur podcast Simplified strategies to grow your service business and launch a life you love faster with business, mental and entrepreneur activator A probe age How you guys, um, welcome back to the show. You are listening to the sweet life entrepreneur in business podcast, and I’m a pro beach online business development expert in strategist, and I am here to help you continue to grow your current business online. Or for those of you who are interested in launching new online service is or a new online business.
    All of the show notes and the resource is that we have for you can be found by visiting Suite life podcast dot com Now on today’s show, we’re actually continuing a two part training that we started last week about how tow launch your online service is. This is something that is an amazing way to grow your business. It’s an important way to scale your business, meaning you could duplicate yourself and reach more people. Bye and launching online coaching, consulting and digital service is digital products, and we’re diving into the actual nuts and bolts of some things that you need to have in place to watch group coaching service’s and some different considerations based on the type of delivery that you may want to have.
    A CE faras sharing service is to groping people online. So this is perfect for you if you find yourself in a place where your company is ready to scale so you’ve reached capacity, meaning you can no longer see people face to face or one on one. And right now, if you’re listening to this riel time were stuck in this sad and funky Corona virus economy, so we can’t see people face to phase right now, anyway. And so it’s a great opportunity for you to continue to reach groups of people.
    Reach your audience, Reacher established customers gain more customers by launching Group Coaching Service’s. This is also perfect for you. Have you been thinking about hosting on online mastermind group? Or if you’ve been thinking about hosting instruction or some sort of training two groups of people at once, this is an ideal chauffeur you to listen to. All of the show notes will be found at Sweet Life, podcast dot com, forward slash 1 69 and for advanced business development coaching programs, courses and masterminds cruise over to sweet life co dot com,
    and there are a variety of opportunities for you to help you take your business to the next level Online over there for you. Okay, All right, let’s go ahead and dive into today’s business training. All right, As we’re talking about group coaching, it’s important to differentiate that the type of group coaching we’re discussing is different than if you were coaching a team. This is actually for those of you who are experts, mentors, leaders, skill teachers, coaches and consultants. And you want to host a group where each individual in the group has their own story,
    their own track. So it’s different than if you were coaching a team all for one purpose. To learn to do one exact thing. Group coaching is where you still have similar goals, and you have to outline the expectations for any grip you launch. But each person is creating their own reality out of the instruction that you are giving. So I just wanted to differentiate that here in the beginning, and there are generally two different types of groups that you can think about creating and you know, the sky’s the limit on this.
    But for the sake of this podcast in this training, this is the easiest way to just really move us along here and get your group coaching started faster. So the 1st 1 is instructional group in an instructional group is really where you are teaching strategies so people can take them, make them their own, apply them to their own life or their own business, and then move forward or the other type of group. Coaching can be community based, where you’re actually facilitating, Ah, place for people to work together,
    work amongst each other, really connect with each other over the similarity that they have in the topics that you are leading them with. And most group programs actually contain an aspect of both of that, whether it’s instruction the majority of the time. And then there’s a community component for an afterburn effect, or whether it is established within that particular group coaching program from the very beginning. Another thing I wanted to talk to you about is that if you are launching a course that a group of people are going to go through,
    that isn’t what we’re talking about on today’s show, but we’re really talking about live events where you’re coaching a group of people at a time. So I just wanted to clarify that before we dove into this particular episode now a couple reasons why this is amazing. First of all, one of my favorite things to Dio is to connect with people live in a group there, so much fire that goes around and passion, and people start talking and inspiring each other. It is one of the best ways to coach people,
    so I just wanted to share. Everybody’s experience is different, but it’s one of my favorite things to do is to see that happen based on the leadership that I give to a group of women entrepreneurs in. So if you are a type of business leader that your personality loves, that community loves mentoring and inspiring others. A live group program could be a really excellent business model for you know, we always want you to pick a business model where you’re happy and you thrive at what you’re doing, cause that’s gonna make you even better at what you already are in your area of expertise.
    So the first thing is to establish. What is the purpose of this group? Is this strictly for instruction? Is this a community based group?
    Am I delivering content on a certain schedule within this community? What are people going to expect out to be part of this group?
    And how should I set this group up for success again? It could be a combination of all these things.
    Or you can just host groups based on one of those aspects again, community instruction or content delivery. And so,
    after you’ve made that choice, step Number two is diving in and picking the platform. So where is this group gonna live?
    Where do you want to live there? So many options? The 1st 1 Let’s just get it out of the way.
    First is a Facebook group. You know, I hate Facebook groups, but I also have Facebook groups because they’re easy and people are there all the time.
    It’s hard to retrain an entire audience on something there, naturally doing everyday anyway. But Facebook groups have their pros and cons,
    and so that might or it might not be a good place for you to host your group, but I just wanted to mention that first,
    because it’s one of the first ones that people think of another option, which is doing a great job.
    It can be competing with Facebook, and we talked about this on the last few episodes. I’ve spoken about this platform a couple of times,
    but it’s called Mighty Networks. Mighty Networks is a super rad app. I will tell you I love being part of mighty networks.
    I’ve had my tea networks groups. It’s so nice because it gives me, like, a push notification on the sleep screen of my phone when somebody has posted to me and I can I can set up my notifications for that rather than having to go into Facebook and scroll through all my notifications that came from my sister and my cousin and my clients.
    It’s a terrible thing to do, especially for people like me that have at least 10 different squirrel moments every single day.
    It’s really hard for me to stave, bogus. And so that’s why baseball is another reason why Facebook is a terrible option for me.
    But Mighty host does a really good job of creating topics so people can communicate, and in post under them and taking people outside of really that cluster.
    You know what that happens inside Facebook? The downfall of that is there is no live streaming into my tea house.
    And that’s one of the reasons why I’m still in place because I love and you might love this, too.
    And this is thinking about how you want to connect with your group. I love being able to pick up my phone,
    click the Gold Life button and just be able to talk in there and say, Hey, how’s everybody doing today?
    That’s something that’s important for me. It’s something that my community expects and wants for me. And unfortunately,
    at the recording of this, it’s just not an option that’s available in mighty House. But I just wanted to share those two things because they’re the 1st 2 platforms that entrepreneurs usually hook on to.
    Mighty host does integrate with zoom so you can in bed video through zoom. But it still requires you to log on to a totally different platform rather than just clicking a go live button.
    And when you’re a busy woman man, every step counts, doesn’t it? All right, couple other platforms I wanted to throw out there for you.
    You’re gonna have to test which one you like. The 1st 1 we already mentioned is Zoom. I’m sure you know,
    zoom by now. There are two different types. Asim Platforms. As we mentioned on last week’s podcast,
    There’s Zoom Meeting and they’re Zoom webinar and they both have totally different functions. So it’s based on how you want those platforms to function,
    and you can use either one for group coaching. The other two are Google hangouts. I will admit I just attended my very first Google hangout last Friday,
    and I thought it would be a lot harder to get into Google hangouts. It wasn’t something that I ever felt like I wanted to even try.
    And there was a meeting that I wanted to connect with a group of really cool women here in Colorado from women who start up and they had a Google hangout and it was pretty cool.
    There were some downfalls to it that I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t see everybody like you can in a zoom platform,
    but it was easy. It was easy for me to get on there and it was clearly integrated with my Google business email,
    so that was very simple, too. So Google hangouts could be something that’s may be a first step if you want to host community in Host group Coaching service is online and then the other one is crowd cast.
    I Love crowd cast. I’ve used crowd cast numerous times. It has a great integration feature where you can see people’s live chat,
    especially when you’re on crowd cast online. Unfortunately, crowd cast has had quite a few technical problems every time I’ve tried to use it.
    But you know what, ladies? That could just be me, because I swear there’s like some magnetic field around me that if some software or tech is going to break,
    it will break at some point in time on my watch. So it definitely could just be me. I love the way the platform works.
    I love the way it’s set up in that has a green room function. And so those are just some suggestions for you.
    I know a lot of the last podcast episodes. We have talked about software, and if you’re building an online business,
    it is software software are the boards and the foundation and the nuts and bolts of your house instead of just having a storefront.
    And so that’s why this software that you choose will make or break your business. And it’s not that it’s the software itself.
    It’s how you use this software, how you needed to function, why you’ve chosen that software and frankly,
    whether or not you know how to use it in a TV for you. At the end of the day,
    we want things that are easy, because then you will perform better and everything else that you d’oh So again I will make sure all of these resources are available for you in the show notes and links to try these things in the show notes for this episode.
    So if you haven’t ever gone a rich our podcast website yet, it’s really cool. It’s like a whole business resource center.
    We rebuilt it about a year and 1/2 ago for you guys in. You go in there under the show notes for this and has all these links to everything we talked about in the show in a whole bunch of other free business training that most business coaches charge thousands of dollars for.
    It’s a huge database of free stuff in there for you guys. So just cruise over to sweet life podcast dot com,
    and you can. You can grab all that and check it out. So we talked about number one.
    She’s in the purpose of your group number two. Choosing your platform. Granted, this is not an exhaustive list of platforms.
    I’m sure there are other platforms out there. These are just the ones that we tend to talk about the most with businesses that are growing and scaling online.
    The third thing is is to create a schedule just like the parameters that we set up in last week’s show about how to set expectations to establish your one on one coaching.
    Virtually the same goes with your group, so it’s important that you have a set schedule that people like you and like me about if you’re listening to the show about you’re a planner like I am,
    I geek out on my calendar that’s one across my wall, and I won’t commit to anything unless I know that I can fit it in my calendar in.
    So if those are the type of people you’re serving, then you want to make sure that you’re prepared and you have a schedule set out now where people register for your group.
    Coaching is really what I want to kind of drill into today. So some of the platforms we talked about have that built in where you can schedule your medians in advance in Zoom,
    and you can even have multiple mediums. Another place you can do this is if you choose to host your online group coaching in Facebook in a private Facebook group.
    You can also create events within Facebook and actually scheduled the events there within Facebook itself. So I just wanted to share that with you two options.
    Make sure you have a place where people can sign up. You have a software that gives them notifications and reminders to show up.
    Because Justcause people sign up doesn’t mean people show up into the end of the day. We want people to obviously show up,
    and so that is an important aspect of whatever software you choose. Make sure that you do have the ability to have people schedule online and get reminders so they will show up for you okay.
    And before we dive into step number four a little behind the scenes here, my husband and my three boys just got back from a long word skateboard ride,
    getting some fresh air, and everybody just came barreling through the door with their shoes and the dogs and the skateboards and everything.
    Welcome to my life. I love my life. Actually, I felt so blessed. But there’s a lot of noise in the background for all these podcasts were recording right now when everybody is home together.
    So thanks so much for bearing with me through that. So step number four is How will you, Bill,
    you got to make money, right? That’s why you do what you do. Yes. You probably love what you d’oh,
    but let’s make you some money so you can keep doing it and help more people. You need to decide how you’re gonna build for your group coaching program.
    Do you want to build once and they get unlimited access to all of your events? Do you want to set them up on a subscription where they’re automatically charged every two weeks or every week or every month?
    And of course, how you lay out your program. The content of what you’re delivering is gonna dictate obviously,
    how long this is gonna go. The point I’m making is it. We have to make sure that your software is set up to support you in this.
    We want to make it easy for people to give you money. Amen. Amen. OK, so this means that whether or not you choose Facebook or you choose zoom or you choose another platform.
    You know, you have to make sure that you’ve determined how you are going to build people, how frequently and how you’re gonna take money in depending on that platform,
    they either have that built in or they don’t. Now, this is a great advantage of mighty networks,
    mighty networks. You can actually receive payment through mighty networks, and everything is all in one there. Another reason why I do love that platform again.
    Nothing’s perfect. So you can’t go live in there. But maybe there are other things you could do to improvise that sort of connection with in your group.
    So I just want you to pay attention to how you’re gonna take money, how frequently you’re gonna build in the most common payment processors are stripe Pei Pao in some people even use square or square up,
    and each of those enables you to create a type of service. Now I’m can’t verify for sure if square up frankly allows you to create subscriptions.
    It’s not a platform I’m an expert in, but I do know that they allow you to charge and build for service is,
    and we have a lot of clients that you square up for. You know, even local service is like esta Titian’s.
    You square up to take payment and my eyelash girl use the square of today payment. And so if you have a one time payment,
    that might just be the easiest thing to do to get people to onboard to your group coaching program. If you’re looking for more of a subscription billing plan,
    then stripe and paper. How are your options? And they have those sort of different payment options integrated within them in those two platforms,
    integrate with most community online platforms as well. So number four the most important thing is make sure you know how you are going to charge people and make sure it’s easy for them to pay you in the last thing I just wanted to touch on.
    Gosh, I think it’s actually been a while since I recorded a whole entire episode on email marketing. Maybe it’s time.
    Message me. Send me a d M on instagram If you want more trains on email marketing email marketing is not your regular business email,
    so it’s not my email address. Email marketing is actually a c R E M. It’s client relations management system and the type of email marketing that I want you to think about.
    Having four group coaching is automated email marketing. This means that when somebody signs up for your group coaching program,
    they get automatic e mails. It’s like using a I. This is how we’re starting to integrate heart official intelligence into our online businesses.
    So the software knows somebody signed up and the software sends them an automatic email that’s written by you super personal,
    thanking them for joining whatever program that you’re doing, letting them notable what to look forward to and it’s automatically sent to them.
    In a perfect world, we want this software to send them a couple of different emails reminding them of the upcoming meeting,
    helping them get onto your platform. Whether that is how to get onto crowd cast or how to join our Facebook group or how to post a topic and mighty host.
    Whatever it is, we want your email marketing to create a relationship with them. Anto walk them on,
    boarding into your program in little teeny baby steps so that they feel super taking care of from this second they pay.
    We want to make sure that the second somebody pays you, they don’t have what most people have is like this momentary panic of buyer remorse where you’re like Oh my gosh,
    I should I should I should have done that, you know, we want them to immediately get any mail and in a perfect world,
    really be redirected to a page. It says, Awesome. And so glad that you’re here. I can’t wait to work with you or I can’t wait to have you join our program.
    This is what you can expect. This is where to go for questions. We’re here for you. We understand what you’re looking for.
    And we have paved the way for you to have an amazing experience in my group coaching platform or program or whenever it ISS.
    That’s why we need an email marketing manager. Now the reality is, is a lot of these platforms don’t have email marketing built in.
    So if you’re choosing these platforms based on the platform itself, it’s not necessarily in all in one. So you might have to go in source an email marketing manager and make sure it connects.
    Or it’s what we call integrates with your community platform of choice. And so listen, it’s like baking a cake.
    There’s 1000 different things that you can put into your set up to make it customized for you if you have questions about this.
    First of all, everybody has questions about this. This isn’t business strategy, you guys, that this is the nuts and bolts of business.
    I am happy to answer your questions about platforms any time I do answer questions about this and how to help you pick your best platform.
    Answer questions about this all the time. Cruise over to our podcast community, our Facebook community. It’s totally free,
    and you can go in there and just plug away any questions that you have, and I’m in there frequently supporting you guys,
    So just go to a sweet life community dot com, and it’ll redirect you to our Facebook community and you can ask any questions.
    So here on the podcast, let me just give you some samples of platforms based on the ones have talked about that have the most capabilities.
    So so far, based on needing to have a platform where you could deliver content, having a schedule that you composed,
    having a way to bill and having notifications go out, then mighty hosts is the way to go. That’s the Gold Star again,
    their downfalls like I still can’t use it because I really appreciate being able to go live with my community.
    I’m willing to piecemeal other parts of software together so that I could still go live with my community, but that might not be a big thing for you,
    so I just wanted to make the easy button up here that mighty hosts and granted, you have to pay for more bells and whistles,
    but is usually the way that businesses go when they’re creating community platforms and community coaching. So far, the other one that I’ve mentioned on other shows,
    which I haven’t had a chance to test yet. But when I first checked it out a year ago and loved it,
    I ran away because I looked to the price tag. It was like $5000 I’m not gonna pay $5000 to play with something.
    But they have a sense rebuild the platform and I can’t wait to get in there. And it’s called Disciple Media.
    In So Disciple Media, I think, has everything it did the last time I checked. Everything that that we want you are gonna play will pay more for it.
    So I will also go ahead and make sure that there’s a link to the new platform built by Disciple Media.
    So you can go in there and try that as well. So let’s go ahead. Let me just do a quick recap.
    You might be able to hear my dogs barking because, seriously, every single person walks by my house and I have a little Chihuahua that never stops parking.
    And especially now that everybody is going for a walk 20 times a day in my neighborhood, that damn dog just never stops working.
    So we’re just gonna push on, aren’t we ladies. Okay, so the recap for today’s show is how to watch your online group Coaching service’s again.
    This is perfect for you guys of your established businesses, and you want to reach more people you want to sell more.
    Service is you want. Establish your expertise or if you’re a new business and you just want to head out the gates with launching group coaching.
    I know that there are quite a few new businesses that have come through our doors in the last six months that are actually launching certification programs,
    so it doesn’t even have to be an actual business. It could be more of an educational certification based program.
    Yeah, group coaching is away, right? So first of all, we talked about platforms and making sure you’re choosing the purpose of your group,
    whether it’s instructional or community or, you know, just strictly sharing content or a combination of any of those choosing your platforms.
    We talked about Facebook groups, mighty networks, crowd cast Google hangouts and zoom. Those are the top ones that people seem to be going through.
    Currently, the recording of this we could probably record this same show in six months and I might give you a different list.
    Number two or diving in the next part is creating a schedule and making sure it’s easy for people to register.
    Easy for them to know what’s coming up again. The clearer in the more, the more simple you lay out your program,
    the more money you are going to make, the more people you are going to enroll the next episode making sure it’s easy to pay you,
    making sure that the experience of going online registering and pays you d picks the experience that you want to give your customers.
    And so you want the whole entire process to aligned with your branding your experience the way you want your customers to feel when they start working with you.
    So if you are a high end brand and you are delivering high end group coaching, you’re not going to take money through Venmo,
    right? Right. So we talked about stripe and papal integration and making sure that it’s smooth sailing there to set up subscriptions,
    accounts or one time payments. We also talked about square up and how that could be an auction for some people as well.
    And then we talked about email marketing to the extent that I would love for you, just a walk away with either new knowledge if you didn’t have this,
    or just reinforce knowledge to what you already know about how important it is to utilize a I in creating automated e mails that are going out to people who have already paid you to reassure them that they’re in the right place.
    So we don’t want any buyer’s remorse who want to create raving fans that are sharing how great it is to work with you over and over again with all of their friends.
    So that is today’s show. This is episode number 169 of The Sweet Life Entrepreneur podcast. Thank you guys so much for being here.
    If you have not yet. I would love it if you’d leave us a review on iTunes. That really helps other podcast listeners find our show.
    And it’s something that we really appreciate very much from you guys. So you could just cruise overto apple and leave us a review.
    And a lot of times we actually read these reviews live online, and we feature a business which is exactly what I’m going to do right now,
    all right? And this is so sweet. I just went over to pole are featured review this week,
    and all you moms will get this. My son Sam, I saw left me. Review. It’s up Sand Beach and says,
    My mom’s podcast. Love you, Mama. Five stars. So not my future business is weak, but that melts my heart.
    I do want a big C tour to five four for your review. Thank you so much for taking the time to come on here,
    You say. That’s so good. It’s like talking to a business Vesti really relate to our style of business advice and how protective she is over her audience.
    Just pinged a few episodes and I’m hooked. Keep it going. Thank you so much for leaving that review.
    That really means a lot, but I don’t know your businesses and I want to shout out and help you get eyes on your business is well,
    so if this is your business d m me directly on Instagram, you confined me at sweet life. Underscore entrepreneur.
    That’s my instagram account, where I share a lot of business and a lot of mom with three teenage boys.
    Life in de Emmy there and let me know your business so we can go ahead and make sure that we give you a shout right back out.
    See tour to 54 All right, you guys, thank you so much for hanging out with me on today’s show.
    Next week we have Sarah tomes are Facebook and Instagram ads expert back in the house, and she’s diving through the seven steps to set up your Facebook business page or fix your broken Facebook business page to make sure you are optimizing your results in the time you put in there.
    Next week’s show, All right.
    That’s all folks!

    Episode 157: How It’s Made: Behind-the-Scenes of the SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast™ As It Turns Three Years Old – with Britany Felix and April Beach

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Highlights:
    1. What it really means for my business to bring you this show each and every week so you can evaluate if a podcast is right for your business.
    2. The good, bad, and the ugly behind every aspect of the podcast and step in the process of making it.
    3. The free gifts I have for you as a thank you for making these past three years so special for me.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    I love getting to pour into you every week and provide you with the trainings and guidance that helps you build your business and find lifestyle freedom.

    This podcast has allowed me to connect with you in a way nothing else has.

    That’s why I could think of no better way to celebrate our third birthday than by giving you a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to bring you a new episode each week.

    And, I could think of no one better to help me with this than Britany Felix.

    Britany has been a part of this journey as my editor and producer since the very first episode. This podcast literally wouldn’t have launched without her and I’m so happy I get to celebrate this birthday with her and you, my amazing listeners!

    How to Take Action:
      1. Share this episode on social media, take a screenshot, and then email it to podcast@sweetlife.co by January 19th, 2020 to get free access to my Ideal Client Avatar Masterclass.
      2. When you do step one, you’ll also be entered to win a 2-hour deep-dive business strategy training session valued at $700!
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, SweetLife Launch.

    [Tweet “I love getting to pour into you every week and provide you with the trainings and guidance that helps you build your business and find lifestyle freedom.“]

    Links Mentioned:

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #00: Lifestyle Entrepreneur Manifesto

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #87: Being Brave, Bold and Authentic to Connect with Your Tribe and Grow Your Online Business – with Amy Porterfield

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #107: Are Online Courses Really Working? What Entrepreneurs Need To Know

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #122: How To Choose An Online Business Model That’s Right For You

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #146: How to Become A Speaker and Use Stages To Grow Your Business – with Pete Vargas

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #151: How To Plan Your 2020 Lifestyle Business Calendar, To Live Your Best Year Yet – with April Beach

    April Beach on Instagram

    SweetLife Entrepreneurs Community on Facebook

    SweetLife Entrepreneurs Behind the Scenes on YouTube

    Airtable

    GarageBand

    Skype

    SquadCast

    Audacity

    Libsyn 

    you. You’re listening to the sweet life entrepreneur podcast simplified strategies to grow your service business and launch a life you love faster with business, mental and entrepreneur activator a probe Age. Wow. Wow. Wow. Okay, welcome to this show. It is episode number 157. Do you know what that means? I honestly didn’t even sink into me and tell the end of November when I was planning our podcast episodes. It is our third podcast birthday. We have been podcasting. You and I have been together.
    We’ve been delivering episodes to you every single week for three complete years. Like we don’t turn three until that year’s completed. Wow, I just can’t even believe that we’re here. To be really honest, this podcast has been such a blessing because it’s given me an opportunity to connect with you on a much deeper level than we can do through any social media. Even through writing a book, I’ve written two books. Nothing I’ve done in the past. His enabled us to break down the barriers between technology like podcasting does.
    And I am so grateful for you. Literally. I have some big gifts I’m giving you guys big gifts this week for our podcast birthday. It’s gonna be a celebration that want our week long. And I’m so stoked about that before we dive into this, it’s gonna be a little bit of a different episode today. A cool one. I hope you love it. That plan, because it’s a little bit longer than our normal episodes. So just a heads up about that. But it’s gonna give you some awesome insight,
    especially if you’re wondering what podcasting is like, what it’s like behind the scenes, how I plan these episodes, how it affects my life and my kids and my money and my travel in my sanity and my sleep and my systems and everything. We’re talking about everything behind the scenes here, but before we get started, I just want it. Bless you. Bless you. Bless you. This podcast would not keep going without you without you subscribing without you sharing this show with your friends without you sending me direct messages on Instagram saying,
    Hey, April what you said resonated with me. Those things hit home to me and want to get those comments from you buys when I when I see you sharing it or when I get an email that says, Hey, April, thank you so much for giving this training the way that you did and not charging for it. When I get those messages from you guys, it really keeps me going. That feedback is is so important, because this show really is a love offering and a labor of love for you.
    You know, before we started this show, I really felt strongly that any woman that wants to launch a business and grow a business deserved really trustworthy in free, proven, actionable business trainings. And that’s why I created the show in the first place is to make sure that there is good, safe, solid, trusted business coaching for any woman that chooses to watch and grow her business and design her life through entrepreneurship. And if you don’t know me yet, or maybe not that well, maybe your new listener.
    Thank you so much for tuning, and I’ve been coaching women tow, watch and grow their business for 23 years, and I’m an online business pioneer. I launch my first online courses back in 2008. Well, we were like duct taping stuff together and my core purpose is to teach women how to design their life through entrepreneurship. So this show really is an extension of my why. And it’s just all about you. So thank you so much for tune into it. And so I want to pour into you guys today immediately here on the show right away and bless you and give you gifts for our birthday.
    So let’s start out with that. And then we’re gonna dive into today’s episode, and then we’re going to give more gifts away at the end of today’s episode. So the very first thing is, I want to give you guys. If you are listening right now, during the time that we’re recording this show, so during our birthday week only, which means you’re a subscriber, you’re getting this podcast real time. So it’s January 13th 2020 through January 1920 20. So within this week, if you were in between January 13th and January 1920 20 you get Theresa.
    I talk about on today’s show. The first thing is anybody listening? I’m giving you completely free access to my ideal client Avatar. Master class. This is an amazing class and It comes with a huge workbook where you’re gonna be able to hone in and find your ideal clients. And what’s even cooler about this is when you’re done with this class, you’re gonna walk away with the copy written for your website Marketing copy Already planned out. It is a killer class and I’m giving you totally free access to it as our birthday present.
    How does that sound? So here are the rules. Every single person listening this week who follows these rules is going to get free access to this master class. The rules are number one share. This podcast episode even shared on linked in you can share it on Instagram. You can share it on Facebook. So I want you to share this podcast episode wherever you want to share. You can share in your instagram stories. And when you share it right, a little message or something about why you like this show.
    So people understand why the heck you’re sharing it. And you can also tag us If you’re on instagram at Sweet Life entrepreneur or at April Beach, you could find me that way as well. We’d appreciate you sharing it purposefully not just sharing whatever works for you and then take a screenshot of where you shared it. An email, your screen shot. Two podcast at sweet life co dot com. Okay, so again, sure. The episode Take a screenshot email the screen shot The podcast at sweet life coat dot com has to be This week has to be between January 13th January 19th and we’re gonna send you completely free access to my icy A My ideal client avatar Master class,
    which is like the gold standard Master class. If you are in a place where you are having trouble finding your clients or communicating with them or you don’t know what you’re niches, this is all for you. And then on top of that, one person is going to win a two hour deep dive business strategy training with me, and that is a $700 value. Okay, so share the episode, and then one person who does that and gets access yes to the master class is also going to get a two hour,
    totally free deep dive business strategy and planning session with me. So I hope that gets you totally excited, and I want you to listen to the whole inter show but positive show right now, and you can share it and send your screen shot and make sure that you get access and that you are intertwined The strategy session. Okay, so this show, like I said, it’s a little bit different. There is no one better that I could think about celebrating our third birthday with us, then Britney Felix.
    Britney Felix is our podcast producer, and I found Britney and you’ll hear a little bit about this story. I found Britney because, frankly, I had thought that I could produce his podcast myself. I was like a card. Could this be got into a very quickly and realize that? Yeah. No, that’s just not gonna happen. And so I immediately found Britney, and I will tell you this show would not have launched without Britney. Britney Felix is a podcast editor and consultant who founded podcasting for coaches,
    where she specializes in helping female coaches and consultants either launch a podcast for their business or improve their existing podcast so that they can develop relationships with their ideal clients, build brand awareness, generate new leads and making valuable networking connections she’s awesome. And so she is going to interview me on this week’s show, and we’re gonna share a lot of behind the scenes. You guys, we talk about what it really means to produce a podcast week in and week out. For those of you guys that are thinking about hot casting,
    I know a lot of people start podcasting and then drop out, which is not great for your brand. And so this show is gonna help you determine Maybe if podcasting can be part of your future can help you connect with your audience more. But then we’re also sharing the good the bad. Am the super duper ugly? You guys were gonna know how I cut corners behind the scenes when I choose guests and why I choose guests and why I choose certain guests over other guests. We’re totally getting into it,
    and we’re sharing the complete production. So I’m sure you exactly step by step how we produce this show, what I do in what order what we upload to wear and how the show is completely produced from the audio Thio, the research behind each one of the show’s toe actually marketing the show as well. So sit back. Grab a glass of wine. Celebrate with me. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate you guys so much. This is sweet life Entrepreneur Podcast Episode number 157 and all the show notes can be found by visiting suite life podcast dot com forward slash 157 All right,
    you guys, this is a really special episode. And that is because we have reached our third podcast birthday. The Sweet Life Entrepreneur. A podcast is turning three this week. Maybe it was last week, someplace in the middle of this weekend, next week, and and that we’re just so grateful to you. This is a celebration episode, and I have Britney Felix on the show, and we’re gonna do something a little bit different today. First of all, as I introduced before, Britney is a reason why this podcast launched you guys.
    It definitely could not have gotten off the ground or continued to be produced. Especially which is the high quality and attention to detail that Britney and her team bring Thio Not only my podcast, to be honest, but like so many women’s podcasts, she’s just an icon in this space. And I’m so grateful to have her as part of our smart, hard 10 team bringing this show. And so we’re inducing a little bit different. We’re actually like flipping the interview. And Britney is gonna interview me on today’s show regarding how we go through and produce the sweet life entrepreneur podcast and also talk a little bit about behind the scenes of what it takes to bring this podcast to you guys for 157 episodes three years in a row.
    So thanks so much for being on the show. Britney and everything. You D’oh! Give everybody an intro. Dios. They don’t know you yet. Yeah, Thank you so much, April. I always love being on the show because you just shower me with compliments. And of course, that feels amazing. But I am thrilled to still be working with you three years later. This is kind of surreal to me. You are actually my very first launch client. So you’re the first person who’s client are who show I helped officially,
    like, launch into the world. So I consider the show a little bit of my baby as well and I really look forward to the information that you provide as a listener. Even so, even if I weren’t getting paid for it, I would still wanna listen to the show. Because I love the rial take and the raw information that you provide to people you don’t hold back. You’re no holds barred, and I just I love that there’s not enough of that in the world right now. Thank you so much.
    Thank you. All right, so this is gonna be a cool thing. Britney knows how hard it is for me. Toe. Create content and bring this episode to you guys. Sometimes it’s beautiful. Sometimes it’s really, really difficult. Usually that all spins around what’s happening in my life with my kids. Is most of you guys know been faithful listeners for three years, and so we’re gonna flip this a little bit and give Britney and opportunity thio kind of walk me through the steps as I share them with you on how we bring this podcast of life.
    So the first area we’re gonna dive into is actually the podcast planning process. And as we get into more of the production, then Britney is really gonna be able to share even more behind the scenes of what it takes to bring this show to you. So, Britney, you know, you see this planning process that I put together, You know what would be the questions that other podcasters or people considering podcasting might ask about the planning process. So one thing I would say is I see the end result of the planning.
    Basically, I see it when it comes on our spreadsheet. For those that aren’t aware of April’s process, we use a system called Air Table. It’s an online spreadsheet. Platform is completely free, and it just helps us kind of keep everything organized. So I see the topics that are going to be coming up. But I have no idea what goes into deciding what you’re gonna talk about and when. So what’s that process like for you? How do you determine what topics are gonna be discussed in what episode and how does that intermingle with what’s happening in your overall business in life?
    Great. Okay, so I have a four step planning process for this show. The first thing I do is I usually look at what’s happening with my business.
    So what programs do I have that air coming open? What sales do we have? You know, that might be happening in the Desert times throughout the year.
    What events, whether it’s a retreat or one of the mastermind events that we have happening. And then what’s also happening with my affiliate partners?
    Because I do have some other businesses away affiliate with that we support. So the very first thing I dio is I look at my whole entire 12 month calendar now as a reference point for you guys.
    If you haven’t laid out your 2020 calendar yet, gold back and listen to episode number 1 51 and actually give you the steps toe,
    lay out your whole 12 month calendar. And so I do that. And I’m pretty faithful about doing that because the purpose of what we’re doing here is to make sure that in a perfect world,
    it’s not always perfect. But in a perfect world, what I’m talking about on the show aligns with what’s happening in my business.
    Maybe, um, I’m opening a new program or it’s a new training course or it’s a new event,
    and so I want to make sure I’m talking about on the show what’s happening with what we’re offering and the extra help we’re giving entrepreneurs.
    And then the second thing that I do, which I don’t know if this is like what everybody else does.
    This is just my life, because everything I do is I actually look at what’s happening in my own life with my kids.
    You know, where am I gonna be? What is the season of that life? So, for example,
    my oldest son is graduating from high school this May. So the podcast episodes that I’ve artist sketch to talk about or what happens to you and your business when you know you’re not totally empty nest.
    But when your kids are starting to move on to what they want to do and you have a more of an opportunity to design a different version of your life,
    then you have for the last 18 years. And so that’s kind of how I am lined the episodes with what’s happening in my life.
    Also seasons, right? So is it summertime? You know, our people trying to plan a vacation in other happenings that are going on is far as trends in the year,
    for example, and this is just hypothetical. I don’t have this plant, but it would be like how to do a big you know,
    Mother’s Day sale. If that Mother’s Day is in May, then that would be a show that that I would plan to do and released in April.
    So I really kind of take a look at what’s happening in my life and what’s happening with what we’re offering and what’s happening within the sales of the year as well.
    And then I look at the needs of you, buys the listeners, and this is really what it comes down to.
    I can lay it all out here on the counter, and I think it’s a great idea. But what really is like the final check is what you buys need.
    And so we look at things very carefully. You’ve been listening to this show for a while. You know,
    we specialize in service based business development, whether it’s online or offline. Still, So what’s happening in the industry?
    What’s happening with online business? What’s happening with courses? Many of you might have heard the episode that I did last year and I’ll look up the episode and put it in the reference for you of the show notes.
    But it was like our online courses really working, and that was a really important episode to have because so many people have launched online courses.
    But at that time when we recorded it, the data was not great about how many people were actually buying and finishing them until that was an important show to host.
    So it’s kind of an example of what I look at what’s happening in the industry and in what you guys need,
    what problems need to be solved, what bottlenecks you guys were facing, what fears or different issues could be coming up.
    And I listened very carefully, toe obviously my clients to the women in my mastermind programs, to the women,
    my Facebook community and I pay really close attention to those of you who connect with me and share your problems and your issues.
    And I develop shows to solve those issues. And the final question I really ask is, what is the injuries?
    Olt of a show And I do that actually, even before I start recording the show. So you know What’s the Andrews?
    Well, what’s the final need? What’s the final goal or knowledge? Or a problem that’s solved at the end of recording a specific show?
    And then the last step I do as faras the planning process is I determine whether or not that particular episode is gonna be a solo at this old or whether or not it should be a guest that I should bring on the show.
    And I think, Britney, you think we’re probably about 50 50 solo and guest episodes. I don’t know what it works out to at the end of the year,
    because I know you kind of go through phases, which might be something else to talk about where you have mostly solo episodes for a month or two,
    and then maybe you have mostly interviews for a month or two, and I think that’s a deliberate choice as well.
    Yeah, yeah, I can definitely speak to that, and we’ll talk more about, like the recording schedule and the actual production process.
    But I d’oh, so I host a lot more solo episodes, usually before I’m about to open a registration for one of my master minds or registration to work with me in some capacity.
    I do that because it helps my audience connect with me more. And it helps me to really clearly communicate and help my audience and my clients to identify is is something they actually need help with before the opportunity arises as to whether or not they want to invest in themselves to get the solution to that.
    And so I feels, hear me doing a lot more solo episodes before my sweet life launch programs or before one of my master minded programs opens.
    But I look for a lot of guest episodes during the times where I know that I am almost totally out of office,
    and I think that’s what breaks easily, too. So it’s kind of brings us to our recording in production phase.
    So I am mainly out of office from June through August. This particular year. You guys, I don’t know how I’m gonna do it yet.
    Connect with me on Facebook or Instagram and and send me some encouraging mama entrepreneur vibes because and when I’m looking at my calendar,
    I’m pretty much traveling from May all the way through the end of August in although that you know, that’s a laptop life.
    That’s what we all want. It’s really difficult to maintain the podcast during those times, and so I have to be a super awesome planner to make sure that I have guests lined up and we’ve already pre recorded.
    So this kind of how this works for me, I usually have a week blocked off on my calendar.
    That is all podcast production week, whatever that week is. I do a very good job of not scheduling when I want private client meetings not filling out my calendar with anything else in that week,
    and it changes. It’s not always like the first or the third week of the month. It does change,
    but its planned well in advance in that week is just too match, recording with guests and producing podcast episodes,
    researching my own episodes and outlining my own podcast radiance that I host. So I do that one week a month,
    but I don’t record in June, July and August, so that means that I have to start batch ng really early,
    and this is for any of you have applied to be a guest on my show. Just know that so I’m already recording.
    You know, those summer show’s starting in the month of February were batch ing those. So I do have guests more often during the summertime when I’m not really there,
    and it just helps me to be able to serve our listeners more because I am that put in time,
    usually only working like a 15 hour work week and traveling around with my kids. I love that you do patching,
    and that is what I recommend any of my clients. D’oh! Because it really does help you get into this frame of mind where you can just knock all of these things out.
    And how great is it to know that you have your content for Well, you know, like three months plan now?
    And it’s not something you have to worry about when you travel, because I can personally attest to this.
    I actually, whenever I travel, I find it so difficult that I put my podcast on hiatus every time,
    every time, meaning whatever I travel for, like a month or two at a time, because I do that.
    So I think that it’s great that you planned this out ahead of time and it’s absolutely critical that is planned out ahead of time.
    There’s no way that you can start doing this even a month before you want to take off and travel like this or enter an extremely busy season where,
    you know, you’re just not gonna be able to put the time and effort into it, right? And I love Okay,
    So you guys that don’t know Britney yet you should definitely connect with her. She travels everywhere, and I think that’s why Britney and I work together so well together because she’ll send me a message or email usually is earlier she can and saying,
    OK, hey, I’m gonna be in Scotland for a month or whatever, you know. And so we worked together where she’s,
    you know, she might come to me and say, OK, April, I know your batch recording just wanted to let you know I’m gonna be out for this period of time,
    too. So let’s try to get in all your batch recording ahead of time so that so it works for both of our travel schedules,
    and I think that’s one of the reasons why she and I worked so well together. Very grateful for that because our lives are travel,
    lives are very, very similar. And, you know, I think that one of the things I do have to say that’s important about pre recording and connecting with the right audience is even though I’m traveling in June,
    July and August, I’m still working with clients. I’m still running my master minds and still coaching entrepreneurs.
    I’m still hosting my programs, and so all of my energy during that time is actually poured into direct work with the clients it that are in our community.
    And so it’s incredibly important to me to make sure that I have guests on the show that can keep pouring in at the level that I want for our listeners who aren’t yet in our community.
    And so I really try to seek out those gas that are experts in their space in order to deliver deliver shows that are timely for that time of year.
    So when I say I travel in most of you know this, it doesn’t mean I’m not working at all.
    It just means I don’t have extra time to be thinking about making sure we’re putting out great content on this podcast because that would be very,
    very difficult. I’ve never recorded a podcast away from home. I know many people do where they can,
    like recorded podcast in the hotel. It just doesn’t work for my creative mind. Like I need to be in my space,
    my creative space not staring at some, you know, hotel wallpaper in order to be inspired to create a show for you guys.
    And so I record everything here. I do not record on the go. I think that’s important to mention.
    Yeah, it is. Because you definitely can do this on the go. I mean, I know people who travel full time,
    as I’m sure you d’oh! And they still record content. So it is possible. But I agree.
    I do prefer to record a home. I have bought travel microphones. Ah, few different ones. And I take them with me planning to record,
    you know, maybe like a solo episode. And it never happens because it’s just I’m not in the frame of mind like you are.
    Yeah, and I think that that’s just knowing who you are. So if you’re thinking about starting a podcast and you’re wondering how you could do it or you can do it from.
    I think knowing how you best create content is a really important question to ask yourself before you decide that.
    Hey, I can record, you know, from the car. Or, you know, I could record anywhere.
    And so I think that’s just important thing. To know yourself well and to kind of get into that healthy ecosystem that inspires you to create really awesome stuff.
    And and this just happens to me, my home office space, you know, which obviously comes with its drawbacks because,
    for example, like when the kids were on vacation, a lot of shows, they’re like the dogs were barking and somebody is like,
    coming at last, have, like, 10 boys stop in through the garage and drop their skateboards everywhere.
    And and that’s just the way it is. And that’s actually in nature of this show, and so it doesn’t bother me,
    but that might not be a great thing for somebody else, depending on where you guys choose to record,
    right. So before we moved to the next phase in the process, I am curious when you do these batch recordings and you do emus faras a few months in advance.
    Are you ever concerned? Because I know this is something I hear pretty often about this information not being relevant anymore or about the links not even being good.
    A lot of people don’t think about that. You know a program no longer being available. Does that ever occur when you’re kind of planning out this process to think about that?
    Yes, 100%. And so the guests that I curate for the show. So if we backtrack a little bit,
    the first thing I want to clarify is that after I’ve determined the right episodes that you guys need to solve the problems that you’re currently facing in your business or the trends within the online business space,
    I then go to our guest application list, and I then look for guests that can solve those problems for you.
    So that’s my process of doing it. I’m very particular about who we curate and how we bring guests to you guys to pour into you.
    And if there is not a guest on my application list that I will go find one. We’ve had quite a few guests and show where I’ve hunted down and said,
    Hey, listen, my people need what you have to teach and I will go after them and I will personally find them until with that being said,
    when I talk about batch ing ahead of time. So with guests, I always make sure that anything they’re sharing it has to have longevity.
    If they’re launching a program or something that is timely in the show has to be produced and released on a certain amount of time in order to support them.
    That’s something that’s planned well in advance. So that’s something that’ll do with our affiliate partners. And we’ve done that in the past with,
    like, Pete Vargas was on the show because we supported his stage to scale method. But we had those plants planned well in advance,
    so I usually don’t bring guests on the show for the purpose of selling their programs. It’s usually for the purpose of pouring into our listeners to give them a skill set that they would normally pay thousands of dollars to learn.
    And then I love to honor our guests, however, though, that if we can figure out how to then give our our listeners the extra bump with having an opportunity to join their program.
    Then that’s planned really well in advance. And then for my own, you know, lengths and making sure everything is in a way that is always timely and always up to date for you guys.
    All of our things that we deliver to you are planned out for the whole entire year and very well in advance.
    And so I already know exactly what we’re delivering and when we’re delivering it and in what capacity and the links for those things.
    And I actually create them at the time that we produce the show. Okay? And I do actually want to go back really quickly to the planning session.
    We walked through your four step process there, but what does it look like when you actually sit down to record?
    Do you scripted out? Do you have a bullet list? You just kind of let it flow. What does that process look like for you?
    I love that question. Okay, so I outlined all of the business trainings, and then I research and make sure that I have all the most up to date data and then I’m delivering the best training that I can.
    And so it’s. It’s a lot of old school writing at first, and after three years of podcasting,
    you guys were totally gonna laugh at me. I have a five inch, three ring binder that is hand written notes for every single episode.
    It is so old school. It’s being born in 1976 and it comes naturally to me. And so I have notes,
    and I have pages and pages based on the training that I’m giving now 2020 I finally and Britney, I just sent this to you.
    With our most recent episodes, I’m finally and transferring the whole entire outline in outlining every single episode in Dropbox paper.
    So we use is for a software We use Dropbox in order to share files and produces podcast amongst our teams.
    And so I am riding out in outlining episode of Dropbox Paper, which does a couple of things. First of all,
    it’s not gonna go if my house ever burns down. Secondly, there’s a flight or something terrible. Secondly,
    yeah, I’m hoping that really helps Britney’s team to produce our show notes, and it helps my team to create the E mails in the articles and the Social media posts to produce the show because it’s directly coming from me instead of having people have to listen to the episode,
    go through the transcription and write a summary to the best they can. And so I just really started doing that.
    And I’m hoping it’s gonna be able. Thio Give our listeners even more thorough content throughout the week for every single podcast we’re producing,
    more in depth content, more steps and actions. So whether they’re listening to the show on audio or rather than reading the block post,
    which will be coming up with the block post for every single show as well, however, they like to absorb content,
    so that is my process of doing it. But it’s not just the process of recording the show. It’s for a much greater distribution process of the content to get an entire listeners hands that make sense.
    Yeah, no, definitely. And I appreciate you breaking down that process because I know for me, I’ve always been curious because I listened to the raw audio.
    I listen to it before, gets edited, and you were so well spoken, and if I didn’t know any better.
    I would think it was scripted and that you were like the greatest actress in the world because you just run through this content and they’re I mean,
    they’re almost no stumbles. Obviously, we all have our verbal ticks and things that we d’oh. But I mean,
    you just breeze through this content and I am always so impressed. Well, thank you so much. Yeah,
    I just I just want to talk our listeners through it. I think it’s important to talk to them just as if they were standing face to face with me in a live event I was hosting here in Boulder,
    Colorado, and I was teaching them the same training. So I do outline it, but nothing scripted.
    I don’t read anything. I have heard that before. I know there are some podcasters that even get like teleprompters to read through.
    I am not a great reader, you guys, I’ve never been a fast reader. It’s just not who I am.
    So if I Meridian something, it does not come out pretty out of my mouth, so that would not be a good option for me or somebody else.
    That may be great and that might be where they’re you know, they’re strength is for me. I just need to look at the outline and then I can teach the outline cause I will.
    And also, I should say this. I don’t record a podcaster. I don’t teach a podcast in an area where I am not very well qualified or an expert in right.
    I’m not just kind of like Polian podcast episodes and Training’s out of thin air and hoping to give somebody results.
    I really don’t teacher training and less. I have extensive experience in getting clients results in exactly what I’m teaching.
    I don’t have to go back through and read a word for word because I already know it. I just really need the outline to help my mind stay on task so I don’t go on too many tangents throughout the episode,
    which I still do anyway, changes their fun, though, so don’t get rid of all the tangent.
    Okay, but now that we’re in the process of talking about what it’s like when you sit down and record,
    why don’t you want the listener through what that is like recording your solo episodes and recording with your guests yet.
    So after I’ve outlined my notes with the sole episodes, I use GarageBand, Britney has All of our sounds are music,
    so she mixes it. So I just go through and I just record the hold. Everything in garage man,
    there are some times we all have to stop and delete in. Usually, I stop in the lead and start again.
    If I look at the timer on garage Band and I’ve been talking for eight minutes and I don’t think I made a point After eight minutes of talking,
    I will even look at me like, What did you just say? If in somebody’s valuable eight minutes of their time,
    it’s all totally start again. So I will say that that would be the time when I have to come back to the beginning and say,
    How can you get this message across faster without his many, you know, mumbo jumbo words? And so I’ll do that’ll take me a few times in Garage Band to go through that.
    But once I’m on a roll once, the show is usually with the intro. Once I’m on a roll.
    Michelle was started at Flo’s really Easy and Then I export and upload that MP three file to our shared Dropbox folder.
    And then I’ll shoot Britney and email and say, Okay, you know, 1 56 is in the box is really all the email says Our system is so smooth now I don’t have to send anything else to her.
    And she actually even gets probably a dropbox alert that I’ve uploaded it. So technically, I probably don’t even need to send her that particular email.
    And then when I’m recording with guests, I use Skype, which is super archaic. I will say that you guys,
    Skype is like, who uses Skype anymore? But we d’oh! And I know there are a lot of other podcasts recording platforms,
    so we get switched to. We’ve always used Skype. Our audio quality is really great on Skype, and so we continue to stay with Skye.
    But that’s certainly something that, you know, we revisit every single year. Britney and I have a conversation about that and,
    um, talk about if that makes sense, still to stay there and then with those files, I actually record video.
    So many of you guys might follow us on our YouTube channel where I share behind the scenes video of the podcast.
    Super funny. I even share like the pre recording time and all the bloopers and dogs barking and people spilling coffee and everything before we actually hit record.
    So if you’re a youtuber, you should check out the YouTube channel for the podcast and you’ll see those on there.
    But then we export split tracks and audio files and bring me Why is that? See, this is when we get into your area.
    Talk to me about recording this separate audio files on why that’s important. Yeah, so when it comes to recording multiple people,
    so even if you have a show where you don’t necessarily have a guest B of a co host. So anytime there’s more than one person and you have to use like 1/3 party recording program like Skype and the recorder that comes with it,
    squad cast is another one. Any of those programs you need to have each person on their own track because if you’re both on the same track and one of you coughs,
    for example, while the other one is talking, there’s nothing that can be done about that from an editing standpoint,
    that cough is gonna stay in there and live in that content and annoy the listener forever. But if they’re on a separate track literally,
    it’s a matter of just highlighting it. Clicking one button and that cough is gone, and no one knows that it ever happened.
    And it makes it a much, much more enjoyable experience for your listener, which should be just about your main ultimate goal.
    From this podcast. You want your listener to love your show. You never want them to be annoyed or think that it’s poor quality.
    Yeah, 100%. Thank you for taking care of all that for us. And then we. So we export this guy files same place,
    send him to drop box, and then Britney. Britney’s team produces them and and then she sends us a message back after the files have been produced and she and her team manage.
    Uploading it. Thio, do you want to share where we put our files and our distribution processes for us?
    The tech side to read me? Yeah. So what? This looks like in terms of what I do in this process,
    April sends me the files you know, she sends the email like she just mentioned, so that I know I can go and download them from Dropbox.
    I do all of my magic, the program that I used to edit. I have some other programs that are way more expensive.
    But audacity, which is a free program anyone can edit with it. There’s some basics you can learn.
    It’s one of the easiest programs to get started with, and that’s what I use for the actual content at its still as a professional.
    I have, like a $900 editing program that holds me clean it up, but I don’t do any of my contact editing in it because audacity is still better to use for that.
    So we put it all together with the music and the intros and the Outro owes. And then we have a final MP three file that we upload to April’s hosting service,
    which is listen, and that is who I recommend going with. Once we have that in there and reschedule for publication,
    it automatically pushes it out to every platform that April is on, which right now is every one of them.
    I’m pretty sure I don’t think we’ve missed one. So So we only have to put it in one place and then lips and sends it everywhere.
    So it’s not as complicated or difficult as some people think it is before they start a podcast. It’s not like you’re going and submitting this individual episode every single time toe all of these different platforms.
    Yeah, and just a little plug there. You guys, we are now on Pandora. I think we’ve been on panderer for a couple of months.
    So if you’re a Pandora listener and you have not searched podcasts, I know they’re really doing a big face lift to their home terrace.
    Sight, Please describe to us on Pandora. We would love to have more listeners over there because it’s a whole new podcasting platform That would be super cool for us.
    It is podcaster only available on Pandora’s mobile platform at the moment. Just kind of us. Enough. I gotcha.
    Okay. Cool. Thank you. Yeah. All right. So and then one of the things I wanted to mention about this,
    you know, this is when it comes to business delegation in the production, the podcast. There are some things as a business owner.
    You should totally delegate that somebody else could do for you and that somebody else should be doing for you.
    And there are some things as a business owner that make you happy. One of the things that make me happy that I could totally delegate is selecting pictures and selecting the photography for our podcast episodes.
    If you’ve ever been to sweet life podcast dot com, you’ll see there’s a lot of photography on that site because I think the photography tells a story.
    I personally choose every single picture for every single podcast episode. And if you’d haven’t noticed every single picture with maybe the exception of a couple and and it’s still in there somewhere,
    even if you can’t see it, it has water in it. And that’s just my brand. And it’s our company,
    and it’s the soul of our company is really the ocean. And so every single photograph will have some aspect of water in it someplace,
    and that just brings me joy away. And so I just wanted to share that you guys don’t. If you’re thinking about launching a podcast,
    you you don’t have to delegate everything and the things that make you happy? That’s an important part to mention.
    It just makes me happy. And so I do it. I’ve tried to delegate it before, and it made me sad.
    So I keep that in house after that. So the podcast goes to different places. What we talked about goes to Britney to produce it,
    and then the other half of it, which is the last part of producing this show, is I send it to my marketing in my content quarterback team and what that means is there so much podcast?
    There’s so much information. There are so many tips and there’s so many steps with an ever single one of the business training podcast that we now need to distribute it out and get in in the hands of everybody.
    And so that goes in their direction. And this is also an important reason why I need to match record because it makes everybody’s life better,
    makes Britney’s life better, that she has the audio files ahead of time. It also makes my marketing teams life easier because they already know that they have four weeks to create the content in the social media posts in the little video snippets and all these things that go out for every single episode well in advance.
    So when I do my job and makes it easier for everybody else to do their job, I will say that it is very hard to match record sometimes when things were going on with my life and my kids and when I’m doing a lot of traveling.
    So this fall I did not do a great job match recording. There were a couple times where I was getting Britney and episode look right on the deadline for her to be able to produce it.
    So it’s not always perfect, and I’m not always great at this. But when I am, my stress is much less in.
    Everybody’s able to do their job much better, and that brings us to that last part, which is the last part of producing the show is really the impact on you guys.
    I’m always asking myself, How can I make this show more impactful, more actionable, more usable, more simple for you to implement in your business?
    So how can I help you? Our listeners take the tree means and actually apply them to your business or help you to think or strategize or help you to turn your thoughts into reality based on each one of the episodes.
    And so a couple ways we’ve done this in the past, and we’re honestly, we’re always revisiting this to see what you guys are actually responding.
    Thio. So we’ve done live streams on Facebook. We’ve done weekly live streams on instagram. We’ve done behind the scenes videos like I mentioned in YouTube.
    We have published the full audio file in a video format to our Facebook page, and I also have hosted and still do.
    I host a monthly live question and answer business training session for those vests that are in our podcast insiders community.
    And so we try to make sure that we’re not just giving you the information, but we’re helping you implement it,
    because in the end of the day, this is for you. I heard you know all this. I’m the one teaching it.
    I’m not doing this for me to sit there and share a business training. It’s making sure that you,
    our listeners or getting the help in the support you need that honestly will have other business coaches charged thousands and thousands of dollars for in a way that you can actually them in your business right away.
    And that’s part of being a social entrepreneur. That’s part of our mission of the sweet life podcast is to give you guys trusted,
    proven business training center free and that you can take to the bank and applying your business right away. And so I Oh,
    the third part of this is just really asking ourselves, How do we help you implement it more? How do we help you actually use the content in the training that we have created?
    So before we wrap up, I have a couple of things that I am just curious about even myself,
    as someone who has seen you grow and this podcast grow over the past three years. And I’m sure your listeners a curious about this as well,
    especially if they’re considering starting their own podcast. What have been some of the biggest struggles or some of the biggest growth moments and opportunities over the past three years with this podcast,
    what have you really maybe learned the hard way and and now you know, you’re gonna take those lessons and move it forward to just make this podcast even better in 2020.
    Definitely scheduling and having to stay on top of my schedule in batch recording. That has been very difficult for me to d’oh.
    So that struggle number one, number two in the beginning. And I’m sure this before in the beginning,
    I thought that I could do everything myself, and I learned very quickly that I couldn’t produce the show without you,
    I didn’t get the first episode off the ground, so I identified very well that technology and April don’t get along that well,
    and I needed to get that off my plate. But then the third thing, I would say we’re just for me.
    Personally, I feel like I have grown as a leader in the fact that I have to be very clear about the injuries.
    Old I’m giving people from each episode. So in the beginning, and I don’t no, that I was quite is clear.
    And I still think that I have a lot of work to do to grow into this, but I’m trying to always share that in the beginning of every episode,
    you know, this is what you’re gonna learn This is the end result of hanging out with me for the next 25 minutes if you are in this place than you need this.
    So I’m trying to do a better job, actually communicating the expectations of listening to every single show and the better it outlining the show tree means I’m also trying to be a better speaker and not go on as many tensions.
    And that’s a little hard, because I I just wanna hang out with my listeners. You know, like I’m just talking just to you right now,
    and we’re just talking to one other person listening. It doesn’t matter who else is listening. We’re talking to the one person that is tuned into her computer or her phone listeningto us talk right now,
    and I really am striving to make sure it’s like we’re sitting across the kitchen table from each other. But she’s getting a kick ass business training for free,
    so I think I need to continue to work hard at being better at that, too. So you mentioned a little bit ago about outsourcing and figuring out what isn’t exactly your strong suit.
    I am curious, and I think that this is going to apply to more than just podcasting. This can work for a social media manager,
    a marketer via any of these things. We have had moments in the past to be, you know,
    completely real and honest, where because I think of a lack of communication, things just weren’t clicking between us,
    where we’ve had some tension in some moments of confusion. So what is that like? I mean, we have been working together for technically over three years at this point,
    and there have been times where you’ve had to set some boundaries. I’ve had to set some boundaries, but I love that we do it in such a respectful way.
    At least I feel so that it doesn’t really impact our working relationship. And even, you know, at this point,
    I consider you a friend. So what is that like? How do you navigate that world of outsourcing and working with in other people’s boundaries while also still making sure that you set your own?
    Mmm, That is a very hard question. And honestly, answer it. So I am not a great delegator.
    I am an entrepreneur. My who I am and my strength that completely into that entrepreneur personality and that is creating and teaching and,
    you know, mental rain. When it comes to stopping to think about what I need and then creating a system for it to delegate it,
    it’s something that I’m really, really bad out. And so when I bring somebody on board my team,
    I have Thio have a very healthy understanding that I’m bringing like you onboard this team because you know more about this than I do.
    I don’t have to know everything about everything. And so when you say this is how this has to be and as long as I understand the why behind it,
    then I submit to you in that because I’ve given you that place of authority and my company and on my like extended team because,
    you know, and I don’t in. So although it pisses me off that I don’t know everything, and sometimes it really hurts and ruffles my feathers when you’re like April,
    you have got to get this episode in right now or whatever, you know what I mean? I need that and that’s why I hired you.
    And I think that all women, as they’re growing their team. They should have a healthy level of respect for the people that they bring in their team.
    You need to take the time. If you identify like me that you’re not a great delegator. Understand that you’re not a great delegator because therefore,
    you need to be a better communicator because you understand that you understand that you might not be a great delegator,
    and there has to be this incredible level of trust and mutual respect. The other thing that I will say is that you know,
    when you’re growing your team, a lot of people start out bringing people on their team, especially women as their best friends.
    And you can’t be too nice, but they’re overly nice. Let’s have coffee. Let’s take our kids to the park or whatever,
    right? You’re hiring somebody to do a job. And so I think that friendship develops after the establishment,
    and that’s what I’ve found. Two. Because I used to do that all the time, and it was very hard to then draw find hard lines in the boundaries between Frank,
    my team. So I used to want to be in everybody’s best friend and they could come over for dinner and you know all those things in a night In the last five years,
    I haven’t grown my team that way. First, I hire somebody for their area of expertise, and then we develop mutually respectful,
    you know, boundaries in a relationship. And then the friendship grows like you went and saw Jacob dancing on the dance with me.
    I mean, the way we do stuff together, that’s a business relationship. And I will say this,
    you guys, this is why you see men do a better job growing teams and women, cause we all just want to be already is friend.
    But it comes down to the bottom line of getting a job done in finding the right person that believes in your mission that believes in what you’re doing.
    The resonates with the purpose behind what you’re producing, whatever that may be, and that they have the right area of expertise.
    If you do all those things, the friendship’s gonna come out of that. But that’s where I believe that it starts.
    Okay, so as is the case when I normally interview someone, this is going on a little bit long.
    So let’s wrap this up here and I am curious. What are your three favorite episodes from the podcasts over these last three years?
    Okay, I’m so glad you asked me that. So I have to say, in year one, my favorite episode that we did is still the podcast trailer.
    It’s episode number 00 if you guys haven’t listened to it before, I cried in that thing like I was so moved and I was so determined to get this podcast off the ground It totally start crying in it.
    And I remember reaching out to Britney and being like, I can’t do this. This can’t be the trailer.
    And you’re like, No, this is the trailer were producing this and this is in the beginning, we were producing this.
    This is what we’re putting out there because this is who you really are. April. It’s just like six minutes long.
    It’s my lifestyle entrepreneur manifesto because all of it is still so true. And it’s just everything this partner.
    So I love that one. I would say in 2018 it was pretty awesome having Amy Porter field on the show,
    and I really love that one. That’s episode number 87. If you guys haven’t heard that one yet.
    I love that one because I had known Amy for a few years before we recorded that episode, and I was able to get her on the show and talk not about online courses or marketing until was a really cool show for her to share some vulnerability.
    That show is about being brave and bold and being authentic to communicate with your TRIBE. And I loved the opportunity also for Amy,
    but then for us to see and hear her talk about things she doesn’t always talk about on her own podcast.
    And so I really liked that one. And then for 2019 this shows that I’m a business modeling geek.
    It’s definitely number 122. How to choose the best business model for your life because I think that’s way where it needs to start.
    For all of you guys, if you don’t choose the right business model the build you’re gonna be totally miserable.
    You could even make all the tea in China, and you’d still be miserable if your business model isn’t right.
    So it would be episode number 122 from this year. Awesome. Well, I know that you have some incredible listeners,
    and you have an audience that absolutely adores you. And I don’t know why they wouldn’t. So is there anybody that you want,
    Thio particularly give a shadow too? Yes, In here something. It’s so hard just to pick a couple.
    And so I’m just gonna read some reviews for those you guys that have taken a chance. I’m to leave us some reviews on iTunes,
    and I would just appreciate you guys being listeners. So much. So the domestic diva said this podcast is informational,
    interesting and educational. Thank you so much for posting this violet. And I really, really appreciate that.
    We’re going back, like, a couple of years, too. And, uh, see, Nam Lee said this is just what everybody who needs a business who’s starting a business needs step by step all the tools at your fingertips making it clear and easy.
    I absolutely love this. Jay said Creative, informative, very enlightening. You totally have to check this out.
    And then Caroline Cole said April is terrific. Tune into your strategies you can use immediately to move the needle on your life in your business.
    Well done, April. I do appreciate you guys so much. There are so many reviews on here.
    It was really hard, really hard to pick. I will say one more from Lila Davidson. She says she loves his podcast for its practical on actionable advice,
    and she finds a pro to be more personal than some personable than some other podcast does with the Miller content is probably because I tell why let all my dirty laundry behind the scenes,
    I could relate to her mom, entrepreneur and sensibility and reminders on keeping things real as we work hard and build our businesses.
    And so, Lila, thank you so much for taking the time to write that review and all the guys,
    if you haven’t reviewed us yet on Apple, we would totally love it. And thank you so much,
    Britney. We have to give, like, clap my golf club behind the scenes. You guys wouldn’t have this show without Britney.
    And so for our third podcast birthday, stay tuned here after we wrap up and we we say goodbye to Britney and I’ll be giving you a bunch of information.
    That, and gifts and cool things that you guys can take with you after today’s show. So thank you,
    Brittany. I appreciate it. Of course. Thank you. April. Thank you so much for sticking around at the end of this episode.
    I know it was longer than most far our episodes. I appreciate you so much more than me sitting here can say in this Mike.
    But when I record this show, I don’t imagine myself speaking to hundreds of thousands of people that have downloaded this show.
    I just imagine sitting here like me and you with a glass of wine woman to woman talking about business,
    talking shop and me pouring into you every time you connect with me on instagram or you share this show with your friends.
    I see that on on the other side, too. And I just fully appreciate it so much. Your support for the sweet Life entrepreneur a podcast.
    I am some massively awesome episodes plan for you guys in 2020 who? Just wait where I really get your business to the next level.
    I’m so excited to pour into you in 2020 and beyond. So as we talked about your birthday present,
    the sweet life podcast is giving you a birthday present. I’m giving you completely free access to my ideal client Avatar Master Class.
    This is an hour long training and a complete workbook to help you hone in on your ideal clients really decide on your niche and actually write the copy that could go on your website and in all of your marketing,
    so that you can make a ton of money. That’s the thing. When you get your messaging right,
    that’s when your business is just catapulted to the next level. And so I’m giving you completely free access to my eye.
    I see a master class, and one person is also going to receive a free to our deep dive business strategy session with me,
    which is $700 value. So in order to get the free master class and have an opportunity to work with me totally free in the deep of strategy session,
    here’s a recap. This is the three short steps you need to do Number one share this episode and number two take a screenshot of what you’ve done sharing this episode.
    Then number three email s your screen shot to podcast at sweet life co dot com. But the rule is you have to do that this week,
    so this is only valid. January 13th through January 1920 20. So that’s rule. So I appreciate you guys.
    Thanks for tuning in to the show. All of the show notes can be found by visiting Suite Life co dot com and again email your screen shot of your share to podcast at Sweet life co dot com.
    Thanks so much.
    No more resu

    Episode 156: How To Create Your 2020 Strategic Plan: A Guide For Lifestyle Entrepreneurs – with April Beach

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Join Commitment Week 2o20

    Episode Highlights:
    1. What a strategic plan is and why you need one for your business.
    2. The three steps to identifying your strategic plan.
    3. The five core areas you should focus on when creating your strategic plan.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    You’ve been dreaming big and know that the next decade will define your life, you just may not know exactly how yet.

    Now is the time to claim your leadership, influence, and role in your own future – and that starts with your business.

    Based on what we’ve seen the past few years and what the trends and research tells us about the next decade, there are five core areas you should be focusing on when planning for 2020 and beyond.

    This podcast episode will help you lay out your strategic plan to kick start your best decade ever.

    How to Take Action:
      1. Join Commitment Week 2o20
      2. Take the Lifestyle Entrepreneur Roadmap Quiz to find out where you’re at in your business so you know what to focus on in 2020!
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, SweetLife Launch.

    [Tweet “You’ve been dreaming big and know that the next decade will define your life, you just may not know exactly how yet.“]

    Links Mentioned:

    Mel Robbins

    April Beach on Instagram

    Episode 155: Clear Space To Make Big Moves In 2020: Detox and Declutter Your Business – with April Beach

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Take the Lifestyle Entrepreneur Roadmap Quiz to find out where you’re at in your business so you know what to focus on in 2020!

    Join Commitment Week 2o20

    Episode Highlights:
    1. Software recommendations that will help clean things up in your business.
    2. Routines that will help you get in the flow of a clean mind and business and remove distractions.
    3. Different ways this podcast and the SweetLife Entrepreneur community can help you move into 2020 in an intentional way.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    As a mom who owns two companies and has three boys, the reality is that sometimes my life gets a little messy.

    Unfortunately, this carries over into my businesses and I just can’t do great work or produce very well when things are cluttered and disorganized.

    I know you’re planning big things for 2020 so, if you’re anything like me, let’s help declutter your business so you can focus on the things that will bring you those big results.

    Whether you’ve just gotten your first idea for a business or you’ve been in business for years, this episode is going to help you sort through the mess in your mind, clean-up your business, and start this next decade off on the right foot so it can change the course of the rest of your life.

    How to Take Action:
      1. Take the Lifestyle Entrepreneur Roadmap Quiz to find out where you’re at in your business so you know what to focus on in 2020.
      2. Join us for Commitment Week 2020.
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, SweetLife Launch.

    [Tweet “As a mom who owns two companies and has three boys, the reality is that sometimes my life gets a little messy.“]

    JOIN COMMITMENT WEEK 2020

    Links Mentioned:

    SaneBox

    Unroll.Me

    13 Outlook Productivity & Organization Tips

    3 Differences Between Goals and Intentions

    Marie Forleo

    Kookslams on Instagram

    April Beach on Instagram

    Episode 151: How To Plan Your 2020 Lifestyle Business Calendar, To Live Your Best Year Yet – with April Beach

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    FREE LIVE WORKSHOP: How to Plan Your 2020 Lifestyle Business Calendar to Live Your Best Year Yet

    Episode Highlights:
    1. The five steps to plan your entire 2020 lifestyle business calendar.
    2. Behind-the-scenes examples of how we’ve personally done this as a family for the past five years.
    3. Details of the FREE bonus you get for being a member of my community.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    This is a time of year where we’re spending a lot of time focusing on giving gifts to those around us, but I want you to use this episode as a time to focus on giving yourself a gift that will last you all throughout next year.

    Taking the five steps mentioned in this episode will help you have a business that will finally allow you to have the freedom lifestyle you’ve always wanted.

    How to Take Action:
      1. FREE LIVE WORKSHOP: How to Plan Your 2020 Lifestyle Business Calendar to Live Your Best Year Yet
      2. Begin working your way through the five steps mentioned in this episode to create your 2020 lifestyle business calendar.
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, SweetLife Launch.

    [Tweet “Taking the five steps mentioned in this episode will help you have a business that will finally allow you to have the freedom lifestyle you’ve always wanted.”]

    Links Mentioned:

    Speakers Summit Mastermind

    Taki Moore

    April Beach on Instagram

    Episode 138: How to Reset & Refocus Your Business for the Next 90 Days

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Join the Reset & Refocus Challenge to get your FREE action planner!

    Episode Highlights:
    1. Why it’s so important to Reset & Refocus right now.
    2. The five core areas to Reset & Refocus in order to maximize the next 90 days.
    3. The free tools I have available to you so that you can Reset & Refocus.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    You’ve spent the last few months traveling or transporting your kids to all their summer events and you’re needing to back into your business flow now that they’re back in school, but how? Over the past several years, I’ve developed a way to do exactly that.

    Last week was my annual Reset and Refocus Challenge that I do every August with my community. This is honestly something that I have to do every single year in order to make sure I make the most out of the next 90 days.

    In this episode, I’ll be explaining the five core areas we covered in the challenge this year so you can do one of your own.

    How to Take Action:
      1. Join the Reset & Refocus Challenge and download the FREE action planner.
      2. Watch the video for each core area of the challenge as they get delivered to your inbox over the next five days.
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.

    [Tweet “You’ve spent the last few months traveling or transporting your kids to all their summer events and you’re needing to back into your business flow now that they’re back in school, but how?”]

    Links Mentioned:

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 125: What You Absolutely Must Know About Facebook And Instagram Marketing Right Now – Part 1 – Sarah Tomes

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 126: What You Absolutely Must Know About Facebook And Instagram Marketing Right Now – Part 2 – Sarah Tomes

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 130: Instagram Marketing: How To Set Up Your Profile and Use Hashtags – with Jenn Herman

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 131: Instagram Marketing: Creating The Right Content To Grow Your Followers and Build Your Business – with Jenn Herman

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 132: Break The Fake: How To Be Authentic and Transparent On Social Media To Grow Your Business – with Brian Fanzo

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 133: The Power Of Superfans: How to Create A Community Of Superfans Who Love And Follow You Forever – with Pat Flynn

    April Beach on Instagram

    Episode 114: How To Get Press, Stand Out, And Become An Industry Influencer – with Selena Soo

    Selena Soo SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Watch Selena Soo’s FREE Publicity Training:

    From “Best-Kept Secret” to Industry Leader:
    3 Publicity Secrets to Multiply Your Revenue, Reach More People, and Change the World

    Episode Highlights:

    1. What publicity does for your business, no matter what phase you’re in.
    2. The struggles I experienced getting press during the beginning phase of my company.
    3. The importance of relationships and connecting with other people when it comes to getting publicity and growing your business.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    In order to become the go-to expert or influencer in your space, you need publicity.

    That’s where Selena Soo comes in …

    Selena is a publicity and marketing strategist for visionary entrepreneurs, experts, and authors who want to reach millions with their message.

    Selena has helped clients and students get featured in places like O, The Oprah Magazine, Forbes, and INC. and land interviews on popular podcasts and national TV.

    Selena’s signature approach comes down to building powerful and long-lasting relationships with influencers in the media in a thoughtful, authentic way.

    Many of Selena’s clients have become industry leaders with seven-figure businesses, raving fans, and hundreds of thousands of followers.

    How to Take Action:
      1. Watch Selena Soo’s FREE 3-part video series, How to Crack the “Publicity Code” and Reach Millions
      2. Share this episode with someone who would benefit from having publicity for their business as well. Bonus points if you tag me and Selena on Instagram when you share it!
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.

    [Tweet “In order to become the go-to expert or influencer in your space, you need publicity.”]

    Links Mentioned:


    Selena Soo’s Website

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #00: Lifestyle Entrepreneur Manifesto

    Episode 113: 4 Key Areas To Create Space In Your Life, So You Can Grow Your Business – with Corie Clark

    Corie Clark SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Download Corie Clark’s strategy sheet, 5 tips to SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE starting today

    Episode Highlights:
    1. How to create margin in four different areas of your life; your health, home, finances, and time.
    2. Five different ways to simplify your life.
    3. The connection between mental, physical, and spiritual health and the success of your business.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    If you want to start or grow a business, you need to make room in your life for entrepreneurship.

    That’s where this week’s guest comes in …

    Corie Clark is a business educator, creator of the Purposeful Planner, author of The Simplicity Project, and host of the Purpose with Corie Clark podcast.

    Corie loves not only helping others find their purpose but equipping them to live it out and turn it into a profitable business.

    Today, Corie and I will be discussing all about how you can create the margins and space in your life so you can grow your business.

    How to Take Action:
      1. Download Corie Clark’s strategy sheet, 5 tips to SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE starting today
      2. Do an evaluation of the four key areas discussed in this episode to see where you can begin to create margins in them.
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.

    [Tweet “If you want to start or grow a business, you need to make room in your life for entrepreneurship.”]

    Links Mentioned:

    Corie Clark’s Website

    Corie Clark’s Shop

    Corie Clark’s Book | The Simplicity Project

    Corie Clark’s Podcast | Purpose with Corie Clark

    Corie Clark on Instagram

    John J. Ratey’s Book | Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode 02: Don’t Make Perfect the Enemy

    April Beach on Instagram

    April Beach on YouTube

    Episode 111: Simple Steps To Create The Systems You Need For Profit And Productivity – with Kate Erickson

    Kate Erickson SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Take a listen to Kate’s entire podcast season on creating systems for your business.

    Episode Highlights:
    1. Five simple, yet effective steps to create systems that build efficiency and profitability in your business.
    2. The three options you have for making the completion of a task more efficient.
    3. The importance of actually outlining the process for completing tasks.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    Kate Erickson is a creator, engager, and implementer at Entrepreneurs On Fire, which is an award-winning podcast where John Lee Dumas interviews inspiring entrepreneurs every Monday and drops value bombs every Thursday. She is also the host of the podcast, Kate’s Take, and co-author of The Podcast Journal.

    Kate is passionate about helping entrepreneurs create freedom in their business and life through developing systems and processes that can help their business scale and grow.

    I’ve personally been learning from Kate for years and one of the things I love about her is her ability to break things down in a way that’s easy to understand and implement.

    If you’ve been trying to build a business but you don’t have the systems in place to gain traction, Kate’s simple strategies are sure to help.

    How to Take Action:
      1. Take a listen to Kate’s entire podcast season on creating systems for your business.
      2. Complete the five steps Kate listed in this episode and let me know on Instagram how they’ve helped you become more efficient and profitable.
      3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.

    [Tweet “If you’ve been trying to build a business but you don’t have the systems in place to gain traction, Kate’s simple strategies are sure to help.“]

    Links Mentioned:

    Entrepreneurs on Fire and Kate’s Take Podcasts

    The Podcast Journal

    Episode 110: Stop Second-Guessing and Start Profiting: How To Own Your Productivity – with Amber De La Garza

    Amber De La Garza SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Get Amber De La Garza’s FREE High-Value Activity Identifier

    Episode Highlights:
    1. A discussion of how the way you’re supposed to be productive might not work for you and why that’s okay.
    2. How to use what does work for you already when it comes to your productivity.
    3. The four productivity buckets you must fill in order to be profitable.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    You can’t expect to be profitable in your business if you’re not productive first.

    Amber De La Garza is The Productivity Specialist. She’s a sought-after coach, trainer, speaker, writer, and host of the Productivity Straight Talk podcast.

    Amber helps driven entrepreneurs execute actionable solutions to maximize your profit, reduce your stress, and make time for what matters most.

    In my conversation with Amber today, she’s breaking down the four “buckets” you need to fill in order to be productive and profitable.

    How to Take Action:
        1. Get Amber De La Garza’s FREE High-Value Activity Identifier.
        2. Take the SweetLife Entrepreneur Self-Assesment to see what phase of business you’re currently in.
        3. Join me in my business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.

    [Tweet “You can’t expect to be profitable in your business if you’re not productive first.“]

    Links Mentioned:

    Amber De La Garza’s Website

    Amber De La Garza’s Podcast | Productivity Straight Talk

    The SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast | Episode #02: Don’t Make Perfect the Enemy

    Episode 108: Stop Consuming, Start Creating, and Mother Like a Boss – with Kendra Hennessy

    Kendra Hennessy SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Join me in my brand new business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.

    Episode Highlights:
    1. The importance of setting boundaries for consumption time and creation time.
    2. The biggest problems that result from not setting proper boundaries.
    3. Kendra tips for setting boundaries in your work and life and how for sticking to them.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    Kendra Hennessy is a mother of two, a home management expert, the Founder of Mother Like a Boss, and the Host of the Mother Like a Boss podcast.

    Kendra’s mission is to redefine homemaking in the 21st century and make the difficult and tedious parts of running a home smoother through systems, routines, and mindset shifts.

    In this episode, Kendra and I take a deep dive into the importance of having boundaries both at home and in your business. This is especially important when it comes to being specific about when you’re going to consume information and when you’re actually going to create things for your business because, as Kendra says …

    “If you’re in consumption mode, you can’t be in creative mode.”

    How to Take Action:
      1. Join me in my brand new business mentorship and mastermind, The Committed.
      2. Follow both @sweetlife_entrepreneur and @motherlikeaboss on Instagram to check out our live later this week!
      3. Say no to at least one thing this week.

    [Tweet “If you’re in consumption mode, you can’t be in creative mode.“]

    Links Mentioned:

    Kendra Hennessy’s Website

    Kendra Hennessy’s Mother Like a Boss Podcast

    Kendra Hennessy’s Blog

    Kendra Hennessy’s Courses

    Kendra Hennessy’s Free Vault

    Kendra Hennessy’s Community

    Episode 107: Are Online Courses Really Working? What Entrepreneurs Need To Know

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

     

    Subscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | SpotifyAndroid Devices | iHeart Radio | TuneIn | Stitcher | Facebook Messenger
    Episode Tools:

    Download the Guide to Disrupt Your Course and Help Your Students Succeed!

    Episode Highlights:
    1. The % of people who actually complete online courses.
    2. Do you have or are you launching online courses? What you need to do.
    3. Questions to ask yourself when deciding if an online course will help you grow your business.
    4. Why I’ve completely turned my 2019 business model upside down, because of this shift in online courses.
    Why This Episode Is Awesome:

    Listen, I love online courses as much as the next gal. I honestly, I’m sure I love them even more because online courses are how I’ve built my business and lifestyle for 11 years.

    I’ve been creating and selling online courses since 2008 and it’s what I teach my clients to do, but …

    The online course world is changing and, if you don’t change your approach, you’re going to be left behind.

    Whether you’ve already created a course, you’re in the process of creating of creating one now, or you’re planning to create on in the future, you’re going to need the information in this episode.

    How to Take Action:
      1. Download my Guide:  Disrupt Your Course and Help Your Students Succeed!
      2.  Join a free webinar I am teaching to help you get the results you want.

    [Tweet “The online course world is changing and, if you don’t change your approach, you’re going to be left behind.“]

    Links Mentioned:

    Free Webinar: The Status Of Online Courses and What You Need To Know

    Why No One Finishes An Online Course—And Why It Doesn’t Matter by Tyler Basu

    MOOC Completion Rates: The Data by Katy Jordan