Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / It's Your "Make It" Season

Transcript

It's Your "Make It" Season · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

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  321.
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  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 smallbizchat 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 20 minutes or so a week, you can get a ton of insight and resources to propel your
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  business forward.
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  Be sure to subscribe to the Small Business Chat podcast today.
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  Hi, everybody.
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  Welcome to another episode of the Small Biz Chat Podcast.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson, small biz lady, your host.
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  I am America's number one small business expert and is always a thrill for me to have the
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  opportunity to share with you just a nugget or 2 that is going to take you to the next level
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  in your business.
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  Now, I have something very important to share with you today, and it is simply this, my
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  friends.
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  It is your make it season.
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  Yes.
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  Right now, from now until December 15th, you still have time to make big things happen in
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  your small business this year.
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  Right?
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  So I don't want you to be like, oh, things are slowing down.
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  It's Q4.
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  No.
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  Things are heating up.
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  It's Q4.
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  It's time to score that touchdown.
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  Okay.
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  I'm an Eagles fan too, so I have to show put that out there.
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  But listen, I know that a lot of you been out there have been feeling pressure.
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  I know you have.
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  I know you've been feeling pressure from inflation.
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  The cost of everything is expensive.
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  The rising cost of labor, you know, increased inventory challenges.
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  Where are you going to get your supplies and raw materials from?
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  And certainly the cost of money is as high as it's ever been.
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  And yes, even those painful, you know, gas prices from earlier this year.
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  Look, I get it.
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  You are not alone.
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  Many of us are feeling the squeeze this year, and it can be easy to let fear and anxiety
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  creep in.
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  But I'm here to tell you that this is not the time for that.
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  This is not the time to throw in the towel.
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  I see far too many people give up too soon, and I do not want that to be you.
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  In fact, I believe that this season is ripe for innovation, for growth and for determination.
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  So I want you to grab your favorite comfort food or a cup of tea and get comfortable
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  because I'm about to dove into a lot of different ways that you can harness this season
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  and push through your challenges and make great revenue still this year.
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  2024 still could be your best year ever.
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  So here's the first thing.
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  I am not one of these pie in the sky people that wanna pretend like things aren't tough.
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  Yeah.
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  Look.
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  It's time to acknowledge the struggles.
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  Right?
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  Let me take a moment to acknowledge, you know, what's been happening in our businesses here.
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  You know, I've seen certainly fluctuating demand, rising operational costs and extreme
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  difficulty in hiring.
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  We particularly had trouble, you know, hiring salespeople in our organization.
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  It's been tough.
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  And the landscape for small businesses has been hard for me.
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  And I'm not I'm sure it's been hard for many of you out here.
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  But here's the thing.
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  Every challenge also brings an opportunity.
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  So here's what I want you to do.
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  I think it's time for you to reassess your revenue model and your marketing strategies.
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  What has been working for you and what hasn't been working for you lately?
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  Right?
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  The things you were doing 5 years ago probably aren't working anymore.
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  And that's okay.
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  You just have to figure out what is.
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  What do you have to pivot to?
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  What marketing strategy or sales strategy do you have to start using that you've never tried
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  before or you tried it years ago and it was a disaster?
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  Well, maybe it's time to try it again.
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  Right?
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  Use this time as a reflective period to make adjustments, whether it's rethinking your
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  marketing approach or finding more cost effective suppliers or going after a new niche
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  target customer.
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  There's always a silver lining even in challenging times.
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  And I also want to tell you guys, leverage a I look, AI is still out here and you can use AI
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  to come up with new revenue streams for your business.
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  You can use AI to develop a new go to market strategy for your business.
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  So don't sit here looking at a blank screen on your computer and thinking that you have to
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  come up with everything yourself.
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  You don't.
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  You want to be leveraging these tools out here.
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  Chativity is free.
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  4 hours a day is free, so you should have no excuse.
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  And, certainly, if you buy a paid subscription, you get more firepower with it.
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  But for what you need, probably the free version will be just fine.
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  But acknowledge your struggles, but look for new solutions.
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  Reassess what you're doing and how you're doing it.
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  Are you still chasing the right customer?
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  Has somebody moved your cheese?
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  Right?
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  All of these things are valid questions that you should be asking yourself so that you can
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  make sure that you are really maximizing your business and really have the opportunity to
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  serve as many clients as possible.
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  Just remember, there's always a silver lining.
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  And also remember this God does his best work in valley season.
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  So if you're in a valley, you need to up your prayers.
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  Right?
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  It's time for you to really activate all of the resources around you.
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  It's time for you to start dialing for dollars, calling people every day, touching base with
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  people on LinkedIn.
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  All of these things are super, super important for you.
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  The second thing I wanna talk about is your mindset matters.
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  It's really important that you tell yourself, I am capable.
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  I am strong.
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  I will push through.
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  You can also tell your things tell yourself things like, I walk with the favor of God.
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  The favor of God is on my life.
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  I walk in my purpose.
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  I serve my customers with my anointing that God has put on my life.
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  Those are things that I tell myself, and that's how I'm able to keep going.
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  A lot of times when you're in the thick of it, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and want to
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  retreat.
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  But remember, God is the source of your strength, and I want you to lean into that.
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  Allow your faith to full fuel your resilience.
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  Let me say that again.
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  Allow your faith to full fuel your resilience.
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  I had the exact same mispronunciation twice in a row.
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  Fuel your resilience.
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  Allow your faith to fuel your resilience.
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  This is not the time to have a spirit of fear in your business because fear is just false
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  evidence appearing real.
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  It's time for you to do something different.
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  But that should not strive fear in your heart.
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  That should drive opportunity in your mind.
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  So every successful entrepreneur has faced adversity.
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  The difference is how they respond.
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  So what will be your response?
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  It's just as simple as that.
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  What do you want and why do you want it and what are you willing to do to get it?
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  Those are the things that you need to be thinking about in your business.
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  Now let's talk about what I call the make it season strategies.
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  Now, you know, there's lots of things you can do to start making things happen in your
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  business.
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  But I just want to run you through a few things that I think are important to think about.
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  Number 1, set your goals.
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  What do you want to have happen between now and the end of the year?
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  How many clients?
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  How much revenue?
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  How many calls a day?
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  How many calls a week?
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  How you know, I want you to start thinking about your business in terms of your weekly
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  sales goals.
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  How much money do I have to make this week?
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  If you just focus on the week, a week at a time, that will make it a lot less
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  overwhelming.
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  So if you're gonna launch a new service before the end of the year, you're trying to increase
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  your customer numbers.
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  If you wanna enhance your website, maybe you're building a new customer engagement program to
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  spark retention.
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  Whatever it is, set your goals and work on your goals week by week.
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  Maybe you wanna design a cool new way to thank your customers, you know, for all of the
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  business that you've received.
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  Regardless of the task, write down your goals and break them into weekly tasks.
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  That's the first thing I want to charge you to do.
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  The second thing I want to charge you do is prioritize your marketing.
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  In challenging times, visibility is crucial.
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  This is the time for you to invest in your marketing efforts.
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  You want to consider a new social media strategy or a content campaign.
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  Can you develop a new nurture sequence for your list or a new lead magnet to draw traffic to
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  your website?
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  You want to think of a new way to engage your online and in person community.
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  Engagement is your goal because engagement is everything.
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  So don't shy away from promoting your successes, even the small ones, because even a
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  small success can catch someone's eye and make them say, you know what?
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  I could use that kind of help in my business.
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  Your audience needs to see you in action.
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  They can't see anything in the four walls of your office.
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  So you need to show them what you're up to.
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  Show them where you've been.
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  Show them what you're doing.
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  And they your energy will draw people to you.
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  You know, we all have a vibration that we operate in, and your vibration will attract
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  people looking for that vibration.
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  Right.
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  So it's not about being an introverted shrinking violet right now.
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  You have to push yourself.
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  You have to be out there.
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  You should be going to at least 1 to 2 networking events a week.
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  No more hiding in your house.
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  The pandemic is over.
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  I mean, now I do hope you get your flu and your COVID shot, but it's time for you to start
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  going to events, getting out there, meeting people, giving away business cards.
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  You should be going through your business card.
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  That's how you can go back and put yourself out there.
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  And if not business cards, you know, get that QR code from LinkedIn and go out to events and
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  connect with people on LinkedIn.
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  Whatever you're going to do, don't just collect people, connect with people.
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  That means you have to communicate with them after you meet them.
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  They'll just meet them and connect on LinkedIn, and that's it.
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  No follow-up meeting.
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  No follow-up phone call.
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  That's not gonna help you grow your business.
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  You wanna make sure that you have an action plan for new connections.
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  That is how you can prioritize marketing in your business.
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  And I may do it before the end of the year.
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  The next thing I want you to think about is how you can network and collaborate.
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  You want to surround yourself with other business owners, collaborate on projects, share
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  resources, lean in to each other for support.
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  Right.
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  Look for networking opportunities that open doors to new relationships and ideas.
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  Maybe you want to create a mastermind group among, you know, 3, 4 other complementary
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  businesses.
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  Remember, your network is your network.
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  And when your business is struggling, that's when you need to activate your network.
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  That is really a secret to growing your business.
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  When times are tough, you have no idea what people are up to, what they're doing, what they
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  need, and they have no idea what you do.
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  No one knows everything that you can do.
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  So make sure that you keep putting it out there and letting people know and you'd be shocked.
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  Somebody be like, oh, my brother now is the so and so with this company.
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  You never know how that could lead to another opportunity for you and your business.
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  And lastly, in this area, I want you to focus on your customer experience.
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  Now is the time to double down on customer service.
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  Make sure that your clients feel valued and appreciated.
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  A little extra attention goes a long way.
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  Just a phone call to thank somebody, a phone call to say happy birthday to somebody, you
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  know, especially when things are tight.
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  Sometimes it's not about making a sales call.
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  Sometimes it's making a friend call.
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  Right.
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  You have to friend raise before you can fundraise.
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  And if you do get somebody to do business with you, even somebody to meet with you, create a
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  memorable experience for them so that they keep wanting to interact with you.
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  Again, the frequency with which you vibrate is important.
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  So even if it's in your initial discovery call, it shouldn't feel like an inquisition.
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  It should feel like they're talking to a friend.
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  So make sure that you watch your tone.
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  Be friendly.
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  Ask personal questions, not just business questions.
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  Don't come off like you're just transactional because that's yucky.
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  Nobody wants that.
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  Come across like you're interested in a long term relationship.
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  And if you do that, you will win every time.
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  Even if you don't win that day, they'll remember you and they'll come back.
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  The 4th thing I want to talk about is I want you to think about how you can embrace
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  innovation better as we look forward.
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  If we look towards the future, it's all about innovation.
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  And, frankly, you guys, it's all about AI.
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  And I just wanna throw it out here.
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  Look.
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  I am doing an AI master class on Tuesday, October 29th at 7 to 9 PM.
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  It's gonna be a 2 hour master class.
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  We're going to be teaching you guys everything you need to know about AI and how to use it in
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  your business to generate new revenue models while you are asleep.
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  And I would just want to encourage all of you guys to sign up.
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  It's it's all out on my site.
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  Succeedisyourownboss.comsmallbizladyuniversity.
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  Sign up for this.
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  It is gonna be a great 2 hours that is really gonna open your eyes to how powerful AI is.
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  You're just using AI for a little bit of content here and there.
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  Oh, no, honey.
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  There is a whole bunch more stuff that I AI can do.
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  So I just want to encourage all of you to check out my AI masterclass boot camp mastermind.
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  You know, we are gonna be talking for 2 hours.
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  I have a top AI expert that's gonna be there.
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  It's gonna run through all the cool stuff AI can do.
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  And I think that that is really gonna benefit all of us going into 2025.
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  Right now is a great time to rethink how you do business.
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  You know, are there areas where you can automate, how you can leverage technology?
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  It's really important for all of us to recognize the difference between queen bee work
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  and worker bee work.
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  If your time is billable at $255100 an hour, why in the world would you ever spend it doing
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  $30 an hour work?
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  It does not make sense.
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  You cannot offer premium service at a value price.
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  Right?
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  You've got to make sure that how you're doing business makes sense.
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  So it's time for you to look at ways you can streamline your operations, how you can utilize
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  social media to sell and not just promote.
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  You want to really start utilizing social media selling strategies, not just social media
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  marketing.
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  If they are different and it's really important that you kind of learn what the differences
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  are.
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  It might be a time to invest in some new tools, maybe an ad strategy.
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  Right?
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  But not I mean, I'm I'm a big fan of test before you invest heavy.
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  So if you're gonna try YouTube ads or Facebook ads or Instagram ads, start with $50.
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  Never more than a 100.
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  And then if it works, then push the rest of your chips in.
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  But it's time for you to do things that are going to amplify your brand and generate
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  customers.
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  Visibility is great.
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  Customers is really where it's at.
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  So I want you to embrace change if you've never done it before you hire someone to help you
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  with your ads.
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  Check their references.
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  Talk to at least 3 small businesses that they've helped and find out how long it took
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  them for the work to help.
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  You know, a lot of times I know these SEO people are out here selling you stuff, and they
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  always say, oh, it's gonna take 4 months before it kicks in.
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  Now you don't have that kind of time and that kind of money.
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  You wanna work with someone who's gonna do ads for you that knows what they're doing, has a
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  track record of it.
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  And you've talked to 3 other independent small business owners to verify that they can do what
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  they can say that they say they can do.
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  Right?
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  So don't just wing it.
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  Don't just pull somebody off of Twitter or LinkedIn or something.
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  Verify.
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  You know, check but verify that they are who they say they are and that their results are
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  what their results are.
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  It's important for us to embrace change, even if it's uncomfortable and sometimes leveraging
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  new technology or launching ads.
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  We've never done ads or maybe you never been successful ads or maybe it's time to start ads
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  again.
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  Right.
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  You've got to think about what you can do to grow your business.
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  And then lastly, keep the faith.
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  You know, I always remind you of the power of faith and gratitude as you navigate this make
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  it season.
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  Take the time to reflect on what you're grateful for.
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  Start your day each day in prayer.
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  Thank you God for his goodness.
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  The best thing about him is that his blessings are new each and every day.
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  I want you to keep a gratitude journal so that you can remember all the good things that
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  happened to you so that you can appreciate your wins no matter how small.
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  Everyone's business journey is unique.
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  And as you have the strength to overcome these challenges, trust that God has a plan for you
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  and your business.
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  So before we wrap up, I just want to leave you with just a couple more words of encouragement
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  because you are not alone.
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  I think the number one trick that the devil tries to do to us is to make us feel that we
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  are alone, but we are not alone.
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  We're all facing challenges.
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  But together we can push through.
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  So let this be your season to make it your make it season.
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  I want you to believe in yourself.
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  I want you to trust in your abilities and know that you have the power, the power to create
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  the future you desire for your business.
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  Thank you much.
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  Thank you all so much for joining me for another episode of the Small Biz Chat podcast.
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  If you found today's episode helpful, please share it with your network and leave us a
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  review on Apple Podcasts.
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  And please tell everyone that you never lose in business, either you win or you learn.
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  God bless everybody.
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  Till next time.
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  Stay empowered and keep moving forward.
• 18:59
  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
• 19:08
  more fantastic information and interviews.
• 19:11
  You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
• 19:16
  website, succeed as your own boss.com.
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  Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.