Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / Hit It and Quit It with Karla Trotman and Sandra James

Transcript

Hit It and Quit It with Karla Trotman and Sandra James · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

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  Three, two, one, zero, ignition, lift off.
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  Ending small business failure.
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  Welcome to the Small Biz Chat podcast with the number one small business expert, Melinda
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  Emerson.
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  Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
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  you need to succeed and live the life you dream of.
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  Now here's your host, the small biz chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
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  Have you subscribed to the Small Biz Chat podcast?
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  Well, it's time.
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  Every Wednesday, we offer listeners bite sized actionable tips to start and grow a successful
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  small business.
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  In just twenty minutes or so a week, you can get a ton of insight and resources to propel
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  your business forward.
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  Be sure to subscribe to the Small Biz Chat podcast today.
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  Hi, everybody.
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  Welcome back to the Small Biz Chef podcast.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson, your host, and I'm so excited to welcome back to the stage both of my
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  guests.
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  I'm going to bring Sandra James and Carla Chapman back to the stage, and we're gonna have
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  what we like to call our hit it and quit it panel.
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  Alright.
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  This is how it works.
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  I'm gonna ask both of you the exact same question.
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  You can only talk for thirty seconds and give us your answer, and you cannot, I repeat, you
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  cannot take each other's answers.
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  So if somebody swiped your answer, you gotta come up with another answer.
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  You guys got it?
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  Got it.
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  Alright.
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  Alright.
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  So the first question Carla, I'm gonna come to you first.
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  The first question is, what is your favorite podcast?
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  What is your favorite podcast?
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  Did you like those?
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  Oh, gosh.
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  People are gonna judge me.
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  It's a podcast called Ratchet and Respectable with Demetria l Lucas.
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  And I like it because she is like my sister in my head, from pop culture to serious current
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  events to what's going on in the world.
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  She's traveled the world.
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  She's been, reporting in from different parts of Africa.
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  She's gone on her own, just odysseys and personal discovery.
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  And we're around the same age.
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  And I just love it because it's like, we don't always have to be so buttoned up and together
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  as business women, like we really do live life and right.
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  And I love it.
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  I really do.
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  I find it refreshing as a, as a black woman.
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  I love it.
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  I love it.
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  Sandra, what is your favorite podcast?
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  Well, it's Melinda Emerson, small biz lady, because you have such interesting people on
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  your podcast.
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  That's true.
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  You are so sweet.
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  Thank you so much.
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  You know, with a podcast that I have recently discovered that I love is this podcast called
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  Membership Geeks.
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  And it's these two guys out of London, and they are hysterical, but they keep it 100 for people
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  that are building memberships.
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  Like like, we have, we have Small Business Lady Academy.
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  So I'm always trying to learn how to be better, and they are hilarious, and they keep it 100.
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  I mean, it is two guys, and they're British, and they're just they're funny because they're
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  British, some of the stuff they say.
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  But I really enjoy them a lot.
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  So alright.
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  Second question second question.
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  What is your favorite business app?
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  Sandra, what is your favorite business app?
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  The fave am I you know, it's so funny because I own a technology company, but I'm not that
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  technical.
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  So I'm trying to think of what the best app.
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  I don't use a lot of apps.
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  But which one should you use?
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  I mean
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  don't you know what I don't use a lot?
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  Because I'm a private investigator, and I don't want anybody tracing my stuff.
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  People can track you.
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  Right?
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  I don't track
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  my stuff, so I don't use a lot
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  of And
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  so I'm like, I used to use all kinds of them.
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  And then I was like, you know, maybe that's not a good idea.
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  When I started doing when I got my PI license probably ten years ago, and I started
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  investigating other people, I was like, maybe I won't use all that.
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  Love that.
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  But, you
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  know, I do like LinkedIn.
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  LinkedIn is you know, we connected through LinkedIn.
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  Right?
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  Yeah.
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  That's how we met.
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  That's how we met.
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  So yeah.
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  No.
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  LinkedIn.
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  You can claim LinkedIn.
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  That's an app for sure.
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  Carla, what is your favorite app?
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  Actually, it's been lately ChatGPT.
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  I've been using it not just for, you know, business reasons, but I was looking at taking a
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  trip to Kenya with my friends.
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  And I wanted a very specific type of trip for us, and I put in all the details, and it would
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  have taken us forever to do the details.
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  And it's changed the way that I now, think about vacation, the way that I think about,
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  just con and concising large amounts of information to give me like, what is this
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  overview?
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  Like, here's 15 pages.
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  What does
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  it say?
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  On the points.
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  And it made me more efficient, not just at work, but in my personal life.
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  Oh, yeah.
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  Especially if you have the paid version.
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  There's some just amazing stuff this thing can do.
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  I'm I'm a big fan of, of that app as well.
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  I'm also a big user of I love Audible.
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  Like, Audible has become one of my new favorite apps.
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  Like, I listen to everything through Audible.
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  Even if I buy the book, I'll, like, listen to it through Audible too.
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  So I'm like, I I still go buy the book.
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  I don't cheat to people, but I I just like, if if I listen to it, I have to be able to write
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  in the margins for myself.
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  Yeah.
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  Alright.
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  Alright.
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  Third question.
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  Carla, I'm coming back to you first.
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  What is your favorite old school marketing tip?
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  Favorite old school marketing tip?
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  Really, it's just about, the word-of-mouth marketing.
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  I remember when I had my first business, my dad said people underestimate marketing.
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  They said they think they'd be like, alright.
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  I'm here.
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  Open the door.
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  We're open.
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  Come on in.
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  We underestimate the amount of marketing, but I find that there's more relationships.
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  It's less transactional when it's word-of-mouth, and people give you they just
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  had really good service, or they had they really enjoyed your product or really enjoyed
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  doing business with you, and they are willing to spend their time and energy speaking about
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  you.
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  That it's been it's always like a tried and true.
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  I don't think you'll ever, get rid of it because, I mean, we still use it for reviews.
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  That's word-of-mouth.
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  100%.
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  One hundred %.
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  Sandra, what about you?
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  What is your favorite old school marketing tip?
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  I think that it's still face to face, you know, for the the the best success that we have is
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  is, like, meeting people and making friends.
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  You know?
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  It's relation it is relationship, which is similar to what Carla's saying.
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  I'm not supposed to use her answer, but it's really
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  a different answer.
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  But really yeah.
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  But really, you know, I was just having this conversation with someone on my team.
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  I said, you know, if you spend this much time with someone and it didn't close, it's because
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  you didn't have the report.
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  You know?
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  Did you know anything about them?
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  Did you ask them any questions?
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  Did you connect with them?
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  If
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  you connect with somebody, that's where and you find out who they are, then that's where the
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  magic happens.
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  And, you know, it lasts for a long time, You know?
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  Yeah.
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  It it it it's like, knowing, trust.
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  Oh, it's always about like, knowing, trust at the end of the day.
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  Mhmm.
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  My favorite old school tip is pick up the phone.
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  Like, pick up the phone.
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  Magic happens over the phone.
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  Stop sending emails.
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  Pick up the phone, please.
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  Especially once you have some rapport, pick up the phone.
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  Last question, ladies.
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  And this one this time, Sandra, I'm coming to you first.
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  What is the best business book you've ever read?
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  It's such a simple book.
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  It's called Who Moved My Cheese?
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  Have you ever heard
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  of it?
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  Oh, absolutely.
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  Who Moved My Cheese?
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  It's such an easy book.
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  But, you know, somebody asked me, how do you pivot when things happen?
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  And I said, you know, first, sometimes I first stomp my feet and cry and say, move my cheese,
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  and then I move and do something different.
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  Yeah.
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  I can You know?
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  First change, life changes, things happen in the economy that are outside our control.
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  Yeah.
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  But I like that book.
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  It's such an easy read, but it had a huge impact for me.
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  No.
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  That would that's a old that's a classic, but that's a oldie but goodie.
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  Carla, what's your favorite business book?
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  It would be Verne Harnish's scaling up book, and, actually, the predecessor to it was the
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  Rockefeller habits.
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  Mhmm.
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  It completely changed the way I thought about my business, about strategy, planning.
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  I think we overdo it sometimes, and sometimes getting it just on one page, like, with their
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  one page strategic plan really helps to get it out of your head and and makes it simple.
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  Yeah.
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  No.
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  I I I'm a big, big fan of that book too.
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  Verne Harnish is is is a legend in our business, so 100%, I I cosign that.
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  My favorite book is actually 10 x is easier than two x by Dan Sullivan, which has become my
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  favorite book that I've read in the last two years.
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  I haven't read anything that shocked my world like that.
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  But I've even listening to that book.
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  They've got some extra interviews between Dan, because Dan's, like, 70 now.
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  So we had a young guy, like, help him write it.
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  So, like, they do interviews with each other in the audible version.
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  Like, it's really a good book.
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  So, I highly recommend it.
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  Alright.
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  Listen.
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  Thank you so much, ladies, for being here with me on the Small Biz Chat podcast.
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  You guys are amazing.
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  Thank you so much to Carla Trotman.
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  Please don't forget to go grab her book, Dark, dirty, and dangerous.
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  Go get it on Amazon right now.
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  It's a best seller.
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  You need it too.
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  And please go and check out Sandra James's book.
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  She's got a book called Don't Tell Me I Can't.
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  Okay?
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  Go go get that book too.
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  I love it.
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  I love it, and I appreciate you both very much.
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  And so please go and check out their websites, CarlaTrotman.com, and check out Sandra.
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  Sandra, what is your business website?
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  Privateeyesbackgroundcheckswithans.com.
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  So if you need her services, go check that out as well.
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  Now I'm Melinda Emerson, the small business lady, and I want to thank you for being with me
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  for another episode of the Small Business Chat podcast.
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  And, hey, if you are a woman business owner out there looking for support, looking for advice,
• 10:29
  tired of going it alone, you really wanna know how to make a difference in your business, I
• 10:34
  want you to consider becoming a member of the Small Biz Lady Academy.
• 10:39
  We are an exclusive women's business site.
• 10:43
  We have two pathways, how to start, ready to grow.
• 10:46
  We have everything you need.
• 10:48
  My sixteen years of knowledge, we have put into this platform, and our content is available in
• 10:55
  English and in Spanish.
• 10:57
  So if you wanna try it out, we have a thirty day free trial.
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  Just head over to smallbusinessladyacademy.com.
• 11:04
  Get signed up today because I wanna help you live your best life through your business.
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  Alright.
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  I will leave you all with this.
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  You never lose in business.
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  Either you win or you learn.
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  God bless everybody.
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  Thanks for listening to the Small Biz Chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
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  Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, and join us next Wednesday for
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  more fantastic information and interviews.
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  You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
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  website, succeedasyourownboss.com.
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  Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.