Latest / Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh / Transform Your Business: Cut Chaos and Clarify Strategy

Transcript

Transform Your Business: Cut Chaos and Clarify Strategy · Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh

• 0:02
  Welcome everyone.
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  I'm excited you're here.
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  Today, we're diving into the areas where businesses get stuck and
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  what you can do to move forward with clarity and confidence.
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  This session is about information, not a pitch.
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  Although I'll share more on how I can help you at the end
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  of end of this presentation.
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  So just bear with me.
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  Okay.
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  So first and foremost, let me let you know a little bit about myself.
• 0:35
  I started InEssence because I know how it feels to be overwhelmed, spinning
• 0:40
  your wheels and not seeing progress.
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  Because I've been where so many business owners are juggling many roles, unsure
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  of what's working and exhausted from doing it all alone, I created InEssence
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  to be the partner I wish I had when I was starting out and growing my business
• 1:03
  with limited time, resources and clarity.
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  Helping entrepreneurs move from chaos to control, from stuck to strategic, well,
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  that's just not my work, it's my passion.
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  So I'd like to cover what most businesses get stuck on, and there's two areas.
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  There's marketing bottlenecks and there's operations systems bottlenecks.
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  Most businesses hit a wall because of two main things, the lack of
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  clarity and messaging and lack of structure in operations.
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  So let's break down what causes these issues and what
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  to consider when you face them.
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  Let's start with marketing.
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  Unclear brand message.
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  This one's huge.
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  If people can't quickly understand "who you help" and "what you
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  do" and "why it matters", then they're just going to scroll past
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  you, click away, or just forget.
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  You might be brilliant at what you do, but if your messaging is vague and
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  scattered, your marketing won't land.
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  The next one is scattershot content.
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  You know, when you like randomly post things on social media, updating your
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  website just because without any clear plan behind it or running promotions
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  that don't align with your goals.
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  There's activity going on, but not strategy and activity without alignment
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  leads to burnout and not business.
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  And then there's the busy, but not effective.
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  Okay, you're showing up maybe even consistently, but it's not
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  translating to leads and revenue.
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  That's because without a clear funnel, a focused message and the right audience,
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  all that work ends up just being noise.
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  And then there's the business systems bottlenecks.
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  The things that you're juggling all at once.
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  Wearing all the hats is one.
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  Been there, done that.
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  This is classic.
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  I'll just do it myself.
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  So you are the CEO, the admin, the marketer, the bookkeeper, and the
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  IT support all wrapped up into one.
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  That's unsustainable.
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  If you are not scaling, you are just surviving.
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  And then insufficient processes.
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  Whether it's onboarding clients, tracking invoices, or managing projects.
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  If every task feels like a new adventure, you've got a process problem, okay?
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  You are probably wasting more time than you think.
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  And then the tech overload.
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  There are amazing tools out there.
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  But they're only good if they're the right fit for you.
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  Okay?
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  And used correctly.
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  Okay.
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  Too many people are juggling five apps that don't talk to each
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  other, or worse, they don't even use, so you're paying for nothing.
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  The goal is simplicity, not a tech jungle.
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  So the shiny objects syndrome.
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  No.
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  Get off that.
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  So this all sounds familiar.
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  These are incredibly common challenges.
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  Let's explore how you can address them with some practical insights.
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  Let's check in with yourself.
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  Okay, so if your marketing feels chaotic and isn't generating results, it might not
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  be the platform, it might be a message.
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  So you have to ask yourself these questions.
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  Okay?
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  If any of these questions, you're nodding your head to, well, then that's something
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  that you need to pay attention to.
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  It means that, you know, you have to, you have to look at what the bottom
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  line causes, you know, should you say yes to any of these questions.
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  So now we move on to some of the common problems of what you can do,
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  what takeaways you can do from these.
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  Marketing should be about creating connections, not confusion, but
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  many business owners are stuck in what I call the Noise Zone.
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  You're doing a lot, but your message isn't landing, and it's not bringing in
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  the right people or maybe not any people.
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  So the key takeaway is for one create a one-liner value statement.
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  And why do you wanna do this?
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  Because if you can't explain your value in one sentence, neither can your audience.
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  This one-liner becomes the foundation of your website, headline, your social
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  bio, your networking intros, everything.
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  It ensures consistency and confidence in your message.
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  For instance, I help who you help solve this problem, whatever their
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  pain points are, so that they can get the results that they want.
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  So that's the message that you wanna make clear.
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  Whatever you wanna put in those little brackets.
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  That's the message you wanna get across to your audience, and
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  that's what you need to work on.
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  When this is dialed in, people will stop saying, well, that's nice.
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  And they'll start saying, oh, I need that.
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  And that's what you wanna get there.
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  The next key takeaway is to do an audit.
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  30 days of your content.
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  And I know you're going, whoa, wait a minute.
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  This is gonna take me forever.
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  But this is a incredibly useful exercise to do and to do on regular
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  basis because what you wanna do is improve... you can't improve what you
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  don't evaluate for first and foremost.
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  If you don't evaluate yourself, you're not gonna improve.
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  Look at what you've posted recently.
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  Emails, email blasts, newsletters, Instagram, LinkedIn, blog posts, even your
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  discovery calls with potential clients.
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  Pay attention to what you're saying.
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  Is my message consistent?
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  Am I speaking to the same audience?
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  Do these posts support what I'm selling now and not what
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  I'm selling six months ago?
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  Now, this audit helps you eliminate filler, okay, and double
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  down on what actually works.
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  It also shows you what you could repurpose or refresh.
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  'Cause things could stale after a while.
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  You can't keep talking to saying spiel, you know, so it's really good for that.
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  Taking these two actions, getting clear on your one-liner, tightening
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  up your content can immediately reduce the noise in your marketing.
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  And more importantly, they can help your ideal client see that your solutions
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  are what they've been looking for.
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  So that's why you wanna do that.
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  Now streamlining your business operations is the next important step because
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  if you don't have your processes and systems in place very tightly, you're
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  gonna find yourself constantly in a reactive mode, constantly juggling.
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  And it's exhausting.
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  You cannot sustain that.
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  Okay, let's talk about your business behind the scenes.
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  If you feel like you are stuck in a loop, repetitive tasks, dropping balls, or
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  chasing details every day, chances are it's not you, it's your systems, right?
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  Or lack of them.
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  Okay?
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  Your system should support you and support your growth, not stress
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  you out, and to drain your energy.
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  So that's something that you really need to work on.
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  So let's talk about those takeaways because better
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  systems just don't save time.
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  They protect your sanity and free you to focus on growing your business.
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  So list the top five tasks you repeat weekly.
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  And why do you wanna do this?
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  Well, because awareness is the first step to optimization.
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  Most of us don't realize how much time we're spending on things that could be
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  automated, streamlined, or delegated.
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  And delegation is not a dirty word.
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  A lot of people don't wanna do that.
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  This business is my baby.
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  I understand it.
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  But there's quite a few savvy virtual professionals out there
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  who can understand your message, what you're trying to achieve,
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  and collaborate and help you grow.
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  So if it means offloading so you can network and get new
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  business, that's what you wanna do.
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  This list gives you clarity.
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  You may find that you are spending 10 hours a week on something, a tool
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  or a VA could do it in two minutes.
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  Okay?
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  So once you see that, you can begin to take your time back
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  and then try simple project management tools.
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  Fish around, you know, search them.
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  There's all kinds.
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  And why do you wanna do this?
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  Because your brain is not the operations department.
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  If everything lives in your head or sticky notes, things will slip or
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  get lost or thrown away or forgotten, and you'll keep spinning your wheels.
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  Tools like Trello and Asana and Clickup help you offload that mental
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  clutter and they give structure to your workflow, help you track progress
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  and make delegation possible when the time comes, when it bring someone in.
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  Now the goal isn't to get fancy.
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  It's get functional.
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  Okay.
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  You don't need 15 tools.
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  You just need one that fits your workflow and your your style,
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  and makes your life easier.
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  Okay?
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  Most entrepreneurs wait until they're overwhelmed to think about these systems,
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  and that's not the right time to do it.
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  But the truth is, your future growth depends on the structure
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  you put in place today, right now.
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  And these small steps, they prepare you for the big move when you're ready
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  to make that leap to the next level.
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  So now we get to the self-assessment question, right?
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  Let's get curious, not judgmental.
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  This is about identifying your opportunities for improvement.
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  This is where I want you to slow down for a moment, reflect, not just respond.
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  We've talked about two major areas, but most businesses get stuck in
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  marketing and systems, but now is time to ask what's holding you back?
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  Not in theory, but in your day-to-day activities in life,
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  and be honest with yourself.
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  Is it clarity that you're finding yourself, you know, struggling with?
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  You are unsure of what to say or who to say it to?
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  Consistency: you are marketing sporadically and managing
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  task and reactive mode.
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  Capacity: you are doing it all yourself and there's no room for growth.
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  Confidence: you know what to do, but you second guess yourself on everything.
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  So reframe for objectivity.
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  Okay?
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  When we're overwhelmed, everything feels like a problem.
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  But if you can pinpoint the real roadblocks, you can use
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  self-assessment questions, you can finally take the right next step.
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  And that's only if you really pay attention and start
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  cataloging what's going on.
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  And I encourage you to use the self-assessment
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  questionnaires like a mirror.
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  Is your message consistent?
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  Are your tools supporting or stressing you out?
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  Are you spending your time where it matters most?
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  Or not, you know?
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  'Cause if you're doing like little tiny tasks that are eating up your
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  time, you're not spending your time in appropriate way, in a most optimized way.
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  And now we get to what's on your mind.
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  Okay.
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  Alright.
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  I wanna shift gears here and let's talk about what space are you in?
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  Where are you?
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  This is the part where, you know, we talk about what's holding you
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  back and what's tripping you up?
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  So, we've covered a lot on marketing and operations and overwhelming feelings, and
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  I know you might be feeling certain things like, okay, how does this apply to me?
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  Or this all sounds great, but I'm still stuck on X, Y, and
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  Z. So let's talk about it.
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  Let's get it out.
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  This is your chance to share what's been weighing you down in your business?
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  What's keeping you up at night?
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  What do you feel that you're spinning your wheels and what feels unclear?
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  Too big or confusing?
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  And no, there's no such thing as a silly question because if you have
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  it, then somebody else has it too.
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  So
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  before we wrap up, I wanna share something that I've created, especially
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  for those of you who feel like, yeah, this is great, but I still need help.
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  This isn't for everyone.
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  That's okay but if you're still exploring ideas and not quite
• 15:30
  ready to take action, that's fine.
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  But if you are at that, I know what's wrong, I just need help fixing it,
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  then this may be a step for you.
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  Now, these sessions that I'm offering, they're focused, they're
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  practical, they're collaborative.
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  If you grab the three pack, you can choose marketing one time as
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  marketing strategy, operations, and business systems another time or both.
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  But they're here.
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  I just wanna present these to you as an opportunity for if you're
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  ready for that next step, and just know that you need the help to help
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  clarify or put together systems that free you up, either or, or both.
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  So I just wanted to present that to you as an opportunity to help.
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  And if you need a 15 minute chat to just discuss what these sessions can offer,
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  I'm happy to provide that as well.
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  So with that said, I appreciate you spending time with me today and I
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  hope you're leaving with more clarity.
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  And confidence and direction in your business.
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  And if you'd like to have a 15 minute chat, you can scan the QR code there
• 16:47
  for setting up a 15 minute chat.
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  And, but I also wanted to let you know that I'm offering you a free copy
• 16:55
  of what I call the Clarity Catalyst Worksheet, just to help you reflect
• 17:02
  and take the next step in your growth.
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  You can go over marketing as well as the business systems, the
• 17:07
  questionnaires, to figure out where you are and where your gaps are.
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  So that's free.
• 17:13
  You can scan it, and download it.
• 17:16
  And with that said, I thank Paula Okonneh for allowing me to guest host for her
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  this week on Chatting with the Experts and I am pretty sure she'll be back next
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  week, but I'm sure a wonderful guest for all of you and I hope you have a great
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  rest of your day and thank you very much
• 17:37
  for attending.
• 17:38
  Bye-bye.