Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / How to Grow Your Business with Expert Market Positioning with Debbie Allen

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How to Grow Your Business with Expert Market Positioning with Debbie Allen · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

• 0:00
  Three, two, one, zero, ignition, lift off.
• 0:09
  Ending small business failure.
• 0:11
  Welcome to the Small Biz Chat podcast with the number one small business expert, Melinda
• 0:17
  Emerson.
• 0:18
  Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
• 0:23
  you need to succeed and live the life you dream of.
• 0:26
  Now here's your host, the Small Biz Chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
• 0:36
  Podcast?
• 0:37
  Well, it's time.
• 0:38
  Every Wednesday, we offer listeners bite sized actionable tips to start and grow a successful
• 0:45
  small business.
• 0:45
  In just twenty minutes or so a week, you can get a ton of insight and resources to propel
• 0:51
  your business forward.
• 0:53
  Be sure to subscribe to the Small Business Chat podcast today.
• 0:58
  Now it's time for me to introduce my guest.
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  We're gonna be talking about market positioning, and we have one of the top experts
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  on that here with us.
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  Her name is Debbie Allen, and she is a market positioning expert with decades of business
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  experience as a business consultant.
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  Debbie works one on one and in small groups to naturally gauge where businesses are and have a
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  need for expansion, increased sales, or faster growth with her innovative expert positioning.
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  She's authored 10 best selling books, including high paid expert, success is easy, and expert
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  positioning.
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  For more information, you can go to expertmarketpositioning.com.
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  Debbie, welcome to the Small Business Chat podcast.
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  Well, thrilled to be here, Melissa.
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  I love small business.
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  That's how I started my career twenty some years ago.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  I'm just trying to help them.
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  You know?
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  Small small business is the backbone of America, so everyone needs to be paying
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  attention.
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  So tell us, Debbie, a little bit about you.
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  What inspired you to become an expert positioning, you know, an an expert in
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  positioning market positioning?
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  Well, I've always loved marketing.
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  So I built and sold multiples businesses, and one that I did for fifteen years was building
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  and selling women's clothing store.
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  So I know from brick and mortar small business.
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  And then when I want when I was finished that part of my chapter of my life, I was like, I
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  wanna help people be successful because I had mentors that took me from my first year in
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  business was a hundred thousand dollars to 2 and a half million in two years.
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  And so without their help, I could never have done it.
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  You know, I've never gone to college.
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  I've never I've never even applied for a job.
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  I've been j o b, I have to spell it.
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  I've been an entrepreneur since I was 19 years old, bought into my family business.
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  So all I think is that.
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  But I have had, like, these professors.
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  I call my professors all these people that were very successful in business that taught me how
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  to go fast.
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  And so it it just made logical sense.
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  Like, I wanna help you be successful.
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  I didn't know anything about the speaking business twenty seven years ago.
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  You know?
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  You know what it's like getting into the speaking business.
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  So I was just like I was at this big trade show, and it's like, oh, I can I can speak
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  here, and I can help them?
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  And that's really how I launched my speaking business, got into retail, and then did
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  keynotes, and then, did a three year world tour, and then had to reinvent myself
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  completely when I came back from that tour.
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  And I'm like, I'm not just a marketing expert anymore.
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  I'm not just a speaker.
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  I'm an expert who happens to speak and be a consultant.
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  So what is that word?
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  You know, that title.
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  And that's always the hardest thing for people to kinda where to position themselves even at
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  their title.
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  And I went, I'm really I'm sharing my life's work, and my life's work is a highly paid
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  expert.
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  I've been highly paid to share my knowledge, and then I transfer that onto other people,
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  find out what their brilliance is, what they're absolutely great at, and how they you know, who
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  their ideal target market is, and then go out and position them to get those clients and get
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  a lot of money, you know, make a lot of money because of how you positioned yourself.
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  Sure.
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  Sure.
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  So, tell me, how do you define expert positioning, and why is it so critical?
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  As simple as I could say, it'd be, like, the best of the best.
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  Like, if you owned a retail store, you'd be the best retail store that specialized in whatever
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  that was.
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  Right?
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  Or if you were a speaker, you specialized in this topic.
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  If you're a coach, you specialize in this topic.
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  So you have to pick a lane, and then you be the best in that lane.
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  So you have had a lot of experience in what you're sharing more than way more than the
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  average person.
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  So when you step up to that expert world, everything changes around you because once
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  you've stepped into that world, it becomes bigger than you.
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  Like, you can't it's like you can't stop because you're you're there to help so many
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  people as that level.
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  And and I think of there's a mindset about that because expert's a big word.
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  You have to be ready to step into that.
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  And I think a lot of people think, oh, I could just call myself an expert and then kinda wing
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  it till I figure it out, and that's not the case.
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  You have to come in with a a body of knowledge, really know your brilliance, and be able to not
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  only have that brilliance, but be able to transfer that onto other people, and that's a
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  skill as well.
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  Well, you know, it's interesting.
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  I think that the pandemic invented all of these experts.
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  Right?
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  You know?
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  Yes.
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  Yes.
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  They're all out on Instagram screaming that they are experts anyway.
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  But the rest of us, the real ones, we're out here on LinkedIn with a body of work for
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  somebody to go look up.
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  But, anyway, so let's talk about the first steps that someone should take to help them
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  identify their area, their, you know, their zone of genius or their their area of
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  expertise.
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  Well, I'm gonna give you a good example of, you know, just even a couple of calls this morning
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  that I had with people that heard me on a webinar and then set up a call with me.
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  So one guy, he's from he's from South Africa, and he's like, I'm really stuck.
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  I almost feel like I have imposter syndrome.
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  And I was like, okay.
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  When somebody says that to me, I'm like, okay.
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  You gotta clear up this mindset because if you don't believe in your what you're doing, you're
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  definitely gotta clear that up before you move to the next level.
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  That's stopping you.
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  It's putting all the barriers.
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  And from that, it wasn't even him.
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  I said, there's no reason for you to feel that way.
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  The reason you're getting a block in income and opportunity is because of your marketing.
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  Because I read, you know, what he had.
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  He he had this eighteen years experience in the hospitality industry, and he's going, I don't
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  know who to market to.
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  I'm like, you know the hospitality industry.
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  You know it in and out.
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  You know their problems, and you are their solution.
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  Like, that is so easy to understand in the way I looked at it.
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  But he was frustrated because he had really poor marketing.
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  He's not an expert.
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  Just because you're an expert in something doesn't mean you're good at marketing and
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  sales.
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  And as you know, Mala, is that everybody needs marketing and sales and and and business, but,
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  you know, I just help them pull that piece out.
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  They bring their brilliance, and then we team up and say, how do we put that together in a
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  word and a messaging that everybody can your ideal client can figure that out, and their
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  ideal client is somebody that can pay them.
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  Right.
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  It might be the passion.
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  You know?
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  You might be following the passion in a nonprofit, and there's no money there.
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  So Right.
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  They have both things.
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  Yeah.
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  You know, your ideal client is definitely someone who can pay you.
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  Now what role does content creation you think help define people as experts?
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  I mean, it's really everything.
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  Because when you, you know, you should be able to introduce yourself with your business name
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  and what you do in a matter of seconds.
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  Like, your business name, your unique selling proposition, which is, like, five to 15 words
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  that gives the outcome of the delivery.
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  Like, what is the ROI?
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  What is the return on investment that you can deliver, and how long does that take?
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  Right?
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  It's like, say what that is, and then then in your messaging, of course, who your ideal
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  target market is, and then your case studies that have proven that as well, and then your
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  system process or formula to help people get there.
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  That's really the true expert.
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  But if you anybody in any world, whether they're helping other people and coaching them,
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  they can also be an expert at, you know, the best pizza place, the best clothing store, the
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  best everything.
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  You kinda have to really own something.
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  Like, what can you really own that's yours that nobody can take from you?
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  You'll have these impostors that are trying to take it.
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  And when you're good, people try and grab your stuff.
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  But when you're the best and you're known as the best and you own that, they're never gonna
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  take that.
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  And and then if everybody's taking it, you know, like online, a lot of people are grabbing
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  people's ideas.
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  Okay.
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  It's time to reinvent.
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  You know, I have reinvented so many times in my business because people think, oh, okay.
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  You're they're grabbing my ideas.
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  I'm already 10 steps ahead of them because I see another vision of what needs to be
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  happening.
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  And you can do that in any business if you're an expert in what you've been doing.
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  You can see the steps.
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  Like, I I sold my clothing stores because I saw that, you know, small boutiques were gonna be
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  in trouble.
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  There was becoming the Jurassic Park of our retail future.
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  I saw that coming.
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  I was in the heyday of that.
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  I knew when to sell.
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  I knew when to go into the next opportunities.
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  I think that's a true entrepreneur.
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  So a true entrepreneur, small business owner that thinks like an entrepreneur that can
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  really own their brilliance, and then people know them for that.
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  And they're they become, like, one of nobody.
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  Like, you know, it's like, I don't care if it's the best cinnamon rolls.
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  Like, there's a place down the street that's got the best cinnamon rolls ever, and my
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  husband keeps coming home with all these different cinnamon rolls from everybody that
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  makes cinnamon rolls.
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  There's the best.
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  No.
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  It's the place down the street.
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  I don't know why you're getting cinnamon rolls anywhere else.
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  If I'm gonna put those calories in, it's gonna be the best, and they've got it honed in.
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  So it you know, it's the same with anything you do.
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  Sure.
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  I know a lot of times when people walk up to me or people, you know, book time on my calendar,
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  They're like, I wanna be a speaker.
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  I wanna be an author.
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  You know?
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  And and and I wanna know what advice do you give people that are just trying to start out,
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  that are just trying to build up their build up their ability to charge people to speak.
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  What advice would you give?
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  I think you're probably hearing that, Melinda, because they wanna be you.
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  Because they wanna be you.
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  Because you make it look easy.
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  But look at all the years and experience you've had.
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  Right?
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  You don't you don't just switch the you know, they don't see how you had to climb your way up
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  there and work really hard to get there.
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  Now success looks easy.
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  You know, the thing is you have to do the due diligence, and you have to admit, these are my
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  weak areas.
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  I'm not good at marketing.
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  I'm not good at sales.
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  I'm not good at whatever that is, and I'm too close to my own business to see where my blocks
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  are.
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  And I need help.
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  That's the number one thing.
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  I've worked with so many coaches and mentors over the years.
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  I've done the personal develop development along with the business development, and that's
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  why I can be, you know, kind of the visionary consultant that I am.
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  But it took me years to get there.
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  Right?
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  So the first step is that foundation that we talked about, is building that foundation.
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  What is your niche?
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  What is your brilliance?
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  What is that area that you can help people with?
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  And then how are you going to own that space?
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  That's always the most important.
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  Because if you don't get the foundation right to begin with, it doesn't matter what other
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  words are on your website or what your programs are.
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  Once you nail it from the beginning and you pick that lane and you stay in that lane, it's
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  almost like a niche within a niche that you're really good at.
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  An example of that too is, like, I have other things that I teach besides expert positioning,
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  but that's always the first foundation for everybody because the majority of small
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  businesses are stuck not making the kind of money they wanna make because they created a
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  job for themselves.
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  They're working too hard.
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  They wouldn't even work for somebody else getting paid what they pay themselves, and they
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  and they wouldn't work that many hours working for somebody else.
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  So they've created a job.
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  And so I think one of the first things too, if you're if you're have a business or you have a
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  small business, you're not making the kind of money you want.
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  You need to look at your business completely differently.
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  What things am I doing that aren't making me money?
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  And focus on being the leader of your business, the expert of your business, and run it from
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  that leadership perspective.
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  Well, I know one of the things that I had to realize when I first became a speaker, and I
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  became a speaker back in 02/2007.
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  So let's let's get in our time machine and go back, you
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  know Right.
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  We're about there.
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  Yeah.
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  You know, sixteen years or so.
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  But one of the things I think people have to make a distinction of is there's a difference
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  between being a speaker and understanding the speaking business.
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  And I think that for me, I knew business.
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  I didn't know the speaking business.
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  And one of the first things that I had to learn was how to sell from the platform, which was
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  something I knew how to speak.
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  I could tell great stories.
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  I can make people laugh, but I didn't know how to sell.
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  I didn't know how to get a line in the back of the room.
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  And so that was something that I had to invest in with coaching, and I, you know, became a
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  member of the National Speakers Association, the whole bit.
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  And I think that those are things that people don't understand.
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  They think standing up in front of people and getting applause is is the game.
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  And if you they're thinking that way, it's very self focused versus what are you doing for the
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  outcome.
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  And the thing about the speaking business, I love NSA.
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  I've been a member twenty seven years myself.
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  And but the thing is, it's not a sustainable business as a one income stream.
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  It's a one trick pony.
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  And that's why I treat teach people to position themselves as an expert and then create
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  multiple income streams around that.
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  So where what other income streams could you create around, you know, the work that you're
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  doing?
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  Because, you know, when the speaking industry dries up, and it's happened a couple times when
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  we both been in business, the financial crisis took a huge hit, and it was a good five years
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  to turn that around.
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  That's when I did the international tour.
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  I went, hey.
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  There's no business here.
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  I was at the highest paid speaking fee I was ever at, and then it just crashed and burned.
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  And then the the, you know, pandemic hit, and then people went online.
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  And then now online is getting overly saturated.
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  We're hungry for live events.
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  But the thing about again, you what you you really hit on there, the business of speaking
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  is looking at it like, how can I use the skill of speaking to make a lot of money in a lot of
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  different ways?
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  Could be an online course, could be, you know, one on one consulting with people.
• 14:07
  What depending what your business is.
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  Right?
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  But other ways because I had to crash and burn myself and go through the pain before I
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  realized this is what I need to teach other people.
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  Because the kind of clients I'm getting as speakers now are the speakers that are very
• 14:21
  successful.
• 14:22
  They're already making a half million dollars a year, and they're road warriors and road
• 14:26
  warriors, and they come to me and say, Deb, I can't be a road warrior.
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  I can't be a one trick pony anymore.
• 14:32
  I need to find other ways to make money with the skill of speaking.
• 14:36
  Yeah.
• 14:37
  And I'm the opposite from a lot of people because when I first started speaking, I was a
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  single parent of a a young child.
• 14:43
  So I couldn't be on the road forty, fifty, sixty days a year.
• 14:48
  So I learned how to make as much money from my living room as I possibly could.
• 14:53
  I became the best webinar presenter you could ever find back in the day before online was the
• 14:59
  thing, and that really propelled me even with a lot of corporate brands.
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  So, you know, speaking was never the largest part of my business.
• 15:07
  I do it, but when people see me live, it's a treat because I don't do it a lot.
• 15:13
  Mhmm.
• 15:13
  You know?
• 15:14
  So and that and that can can boost your value in the marketplace as well.
• 15:20
  That's that's the key to the speaking business, what you just said.
• 15:22
  You're absolutely brilliant.
• 15:23
  You started with the right way to do it.
• 15:25
  People think they wanna get on the keynote stage.
• 15:27
  I've been on some of the biggest keynote stages, because I went from association work,
• 15:31
  like training, to go keynote stage.
• 15:32
  And I, yeah, I got exactly what I wanted and thousands of people.
• 15:35
  And then I would go to my hotel room and go, I feel really lonely.
• 15:38
  I hope that message stuck.
• 15:39
  I was only with them for an hour.
• 15:40
  Right?
• 15:41
  I like that deep dive where you see people change and grow and actually grow small
• 15:45
  businesses.
• 15:46
  So we were very smart to figure that out early on.
• 15:48
  I wasn't that smart.
• 15:49
  It took me a little while in a financial crisis.
• 15:52
  Well, you know what?
• 15:53
  I mean, I had to do what I had to do because I had a little boy.
• 15:56
  Right?
• 15:56
  He's now finally 19.
• 15:58
  So now I I'm free to move about the country, but I don't have to.
• 16:03
  So there's that.
• 16:03
  You didn't have to.
• 16:04
  Awesome.
• 16:06
  But listen.
• 16:06
  When we come back, I wanna talk to you more about the biggest mistakes that people make
• 16:12
  when they start to position themselves as an expert.
• 16:17
  Hey there.
• 16:17
  You are watching the Small Biz Chat podcast live, and we will be right back.
• 16:27
  Are you tired of feeling stuck in your business because your sales are not clicking?
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  Well, it's not your fault.
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  Hi.
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  And in my sales accelerator boot camp, I teach expert, coaches, and consultants my proven
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  Head over to smallbusinessladyuniversity.com so that you can sign up today.
• 17:28
  Hi, everybody.
• 17:28
  Welcome back to the Small Biz Chef podcast.
• 17:31
  I'm talking with my guest, Debbie Allen, and we're talking about expert positioning.
• 17:37
  Alright, Deb.
• 17:38
  Let's talk about what are the biggest mistakes you see folks make when they're just getting
• 17:42
  started positioning themselves as an expert brand.
• 17:45
  They try and get cheap.
• 17:47
  So they're trying to do the DIY.
• 17:49
  I'll just do it myself.
• 17:50
  I'll create my own website, my own marketing.
• 17:52
  Even though I don't know marketing, I'll throw something out there, then I'll go make some
• 17:55
  money, and then I might hire a consultant.
• 17:57
  So in the meantime, they've positioned themselves ineffectively, which actually hurt
• 18:02
  their credibility and their value.
• 18:04
  And now they got to rebuild and completely relaunch.
• 18:07
  And so, you know, here's the number one thing.
• 18:09
  This is a business.
• 18:10
  I don't care what kind of small business you're in.
• 18:12
  First and foremost, it's a business.
• 18:14
  When I built my business from day one, it was I'm gonna build it to sell it.
• 18:18
  Entrepreneur thinks two ways, build to sell or build to magnify.
• 18:21
  You gotta be thinking that way.
• 18:22
  You're not creating a job for yourself.
• 18:24
  You're building a business that can that you can sell and move on to the next chapter.
• 18:28
  And if somebody takes your business and they destroy it, that's up to them.
• 18:31
  But you do the best that you can do to get there.
• 18:33
  And the thing is you have to invest in business.
• 18:36
  And every time as I was building, I didn't go from a hundred thousand dollars to 2 and a half
• 18:42
  million in two years without continually reinvesting.
• 18:44
  So reinvesting and then be smart about your reinvesting.
• 18:46
  So when you're reinvesting with a coach or consultant to help you move to the next level,
• 18:51
  make sure you've done your homework on that person, that their case studies are real, and
• 18:55
  understand very clearly what is the ROI, what is the return on investment I'm going to get,
• 19:00
  and how long is it going to take me to get that investment back.
• 19:03
  And then it's a great investment that will move the needle and move you to making more money
• 19:08
  and getting a better business.
• 19:09
  Yeah.
• 19:10
  And I would just piggyback on that as well.
• 19:12
  If the expert that you wanna hire is only big on one social media platform, be concerned
• 19:19
  about that.
• 19:19
  You they you need to see their expertise lots of places and lots of different ways.
• 19:25
  Otherwise, they may be only one step ahead of you.
• 19:29
  And I see a lot of people hiring people that, you know, have not been when they're trying to
• 19:34
  go, but they're they're flashier about what their business has been able to create for them
• 19:40
  in terms of their lifestyle.
• 19:41
  So people are hiring people because of that.
• 19:43
  But I, you know, I did a solo podcast years ago called Beware of New Business Barbie.
• 19:48
  She's dangerous.
• 19:49
  Right?
• 19:49
  You know?
• 19:49
  So I I I just wanna put that out there.
• 19:53
  But but let's say you do have limited resources.
• 19:56
  What are some of the low cost strategies that people can implement and as they're getting set
• 20:02
  to start, you know, positioning themselves as an expert?
• 20:05
  Well, there's so much education online right now with all the webinars and finding those
• 20:09
  those experts that you really I wanna work with this person, but maybe I can't afford that yet.
• 20:14
  Join their email list.
• 20:15
  Join all their online classes.
• 20:17
  Even join, you know, small business development center.
• 20:20
  Get a free consultant in s you know, SBA.
• 20:23
  If you have to start there, they're not gonna go deep dive with you.
• 20:26
  Believe they'll give you some start.
• 20:28
  But find those really I mean, there's worldwide experts here on their web.
• 20:31
  It's like we don't have to go to the library anymore.
• 20:33
  They're all right in front of us.
• 20:34
  You know?
• 20:35
  Like, you know, Melinda, how you started many years ago.
• 20:37
  They're right here.
• 20:38
  Follow them and and then say, hey.
• 20:40
  You know, I wanna get to the place where I can I can work with that person and go deep dive?
• 20:44
  But in the meantime, just do a lot of of self training and starting to implement.
• 20:50
  We've never been in a position where we've had so much education at our fingertips and and so
• 20:54
  many experts that are online at every type of level you can imagine.
• 20:58
  So it's right there.
• 20:59
  Like, when we started our business, Linda, we didn't we didn't have that.
• 21:02
  We didn't have the access to all the education we have now.
• 21:05
  It's the absolute perfect time to be really positioning yourself and go deeper without
• 21:10
  having to, you know, start out spending a lot of money.
• 21:12
  Find out who you like.
• 21:13
  Study them and follow them a while.
• 21:15
  Sometimes people follow me.
• 21:16
  Gentleman I talked to this morning, from South Africa.
• 21:19
  He said, I've been following you for three years.
• 21:21
  I'm like, oh, I felt there was a stalker there.
• 21:24
  You know?
• 21:25
  But, you know, people sometimes follow me for years before they actually take action and and
• 21:27
  and do something because it could be their mental state, could be their financial state,
• 21:31
  could be a lot of things.
• 21:33
  Sure.
• 21:33
  Sure.
• 21:34
  No.
• 21:34
  I I agree with you.
• 21:35
  I mean, I think when we got started, the only thing that was out there was YouTube.
• 21:39
  I I mean and that was it.
• 21:40
  It wasn't all this other stuff.
• 21:43
  But it's interesting.
• 21:44
  There's so much stuff out here now.
• 21:46
  People have to be careful about whose advice they take.
• 21:48
  And so I, again, I ask you to make sure that you are googling people.
• 21:53
  Make sure that you see multiple places where they have been quoted, interviewed.
• 21:59
  Have they written a book?
• 22:00
  You know?
• 22:01
  Have they hit major media?
• 22:03
  Like, those are clues that these people are legit and and can really help you, because
• 22:07
  there's a lot of really good salespeople out here that can't really help you.
• 22:11
  Can I add one more thing to that, Melinda?
• 22:13
  Sure.
• 22:13
  Sure.
• 22:14
  So, you know, here's where people are.
• 22:16
  When sometimes you get people that that have the money and ready to go, and so they haven't
• 22:20
  really been in the right circle.
• 22:22
  So they'll go out to an event somewhere, and then they'll have somebody speaking on, you
• 22:26
  need to write a book to be an expert, and then they go and hire somebody.
• 22:29
  And this is a new client that just signed up with me this week.
• 22:32
  She invested a hundred thousand dollars in a publicist to write her book and get her media,
• 22:38
  and she has absolutely no income from clients yet, hasn't got out speaking, nothing.
• 22:44
  And she's not of course, she's not getting the results because it's like, that's a cart before
• 22:47
  the horse.
• 22:48
  You don't write the book before you figure out what your expertise is.
• 22:51
  And then the book is a marketing tool, so it's gonna have all of those, you know, income
• 22:55
  streams that they're selling in the back.
• 22:56
  So, you know, she even said to me, she's like, well, I gotta wait to work with you because I
• 23:00
  gotta finish my book.
• 23:01
  And I'm like, no.
• 23:03
  No.
• 23:03
  No.
• 23:03
  No.
• 23:03
  No.
• 23:03
  We gotta we gotta start making you some money.
• 23:06
  Yeah.
• 23:06
  So I think that sometimes they go to these conferences and hear speakers, and they just
• 23:09
  get all excited, like, this is my answer.
• 23:11
  And then they're they're deep in the woods, and they've made so much investment.
• 23:14
  They think, oh gosh.
• 23:16
  I gotta finish this.
• 23:18
  Yeah.
• 23:18
  No.
• 23:19
  It it's like it's like washing without soap.
• 23:21
  Right?
• 23:21
  It doesn't make sense.
• 23:22
  Yeah.
• 23:23
  It's like so you you people have to make sure that they have a strategy.
• 23:26
  The publicist is actually hired last, you know, three months before the book is about to come
• 23:30
  out.
• 23:31
  You you don't hire the publicist to help you write the book.
• 23:34
  Right.
• 23:34
  You get it.
• 23:35
  I mean, we can hang we can hang in and talk about business all day.
• 23:37
  It's lovely when people get it.
• 23:39
  No wonder you're following Melinda.
• 23:40
  She's smart.
• 23:41
  Like, she gets that's another piece of your your your hearing right here.
• 23:44
  Pay attention.
• 23:45
  You gotta take the right steps in the right order, and you gotta put money in the right
• 23:49
  order.
• 23:50
  Otherwise, you know, it's gonna take you that much longer to get to where you wanna go.
• 23:54
  Exactly.
• 23:54
  And there's a lot of unfortunately, there's a lot of snake oils folks out here in this
• 23:58
  business.
• 23:58
  Alright.
• 23:59
  Debbie, last question for you.
• 24:00
  What is the best piece of business advice that you have ever been given?
• 24:05
  It's gotta be focused, you know, staying focused.
• 24:07
  So, you know, it's like and once you pick the lane and you you own that lane, stay focused.
• 24:12
  When I talk about multiple income streams, it's like you don't start five income streams in one
• 24:15
  day and different things.
• 24:16
  They're all that fit into that same business.
• 24:18
  They're not different things.
• 24:21
  And so I learned that really growing up in a family business because my dad would start a
• 24:25
  new business every six months and throw it in my lap to to run.
• 24:29
  And I I learned a lot from that, but I also learned that the things that he focused on, the
• 24:35
  car rental business and the mini storage business, they blew up.
• 24:38
  They were very, very successful.
• 24:39
  But all these other things that he just went on a whim, I'll just do this, they all failed.
• 24:44
  So it was always like I learned, like, I gotta focus and I gotta get really good at something
• 24:49
  and master it, and then I can add something else.
• 24:52
  The mastery level.
• 24:54
  Love it.
• 24:54
  Love it.
• 24:55
  Love it.
• 24:55
  Well, thank you so much for being with us, Debbie.
• 24:58
  I think if someone is serious about becoming an expert, you are an amazing resource.
• 25:06
  Are you ready to turn your dreams of entrepreneurship into a reality?
• 25:10
  Hi.
• 25:10
  I'm Melinda Emerson, the Small Biz Lady, and I wanna invite you to check out
• 25:15
  smallbizladyacademy.com.
• 25:17
  We're here to help you every step of the way.
• 25:20
  With our comprehensive training program and expert resources, you'll learn how to start and
• 25:26
  grow a successful business that aligns with your passions and your goals.
• 25:31
  From business systems to sales strategy, we cover it all.
• 25:35
  Plus, our supportive community of fellow women business owners is here to cheer you on and
• 25:40
  provide guidance when you need it.
• 25:43
  Don't wait any longer to pursue your dreams.
• 25:45
  Join smallbusinessladyacademy.com today.
• 25:48
  We build businesses, and we help you build the life you've always wanted.
• 26:00
  Thanks for listening to the Small Biz Chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
• 26:05
  Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, and join us next Wednesday for
• 26:10
  more fantastic information and interviews.
• 26:13
  You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
• 26:17
  website, succeedasyourownboss.com.
• 26:21
  Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.