We’ll gladly join the masses of people saying that they’re so glad that 2020 is over! And it isn’t so much that we expect the pandemic and all of the issues that come with it to just disappear with a new year, but more so that we’re now able to reflect on the year and kick everything in gear for 2021.

For us, 2020 was a whirlwind, but it was actually our best years ever. Of course we still dealt with setbacks just like everyone else, but we changed up the way we did things at the beginning of 2020, and it had a profound impact on how the year played out.

So what did we change? What actually happened for us in 2020? And what lessons did we learn that we’re carrying into 2021?

If there’s anyone that knows a thing or two about launching, it’s us. In the past 5 years we’ve been in business, we’ve launched more times than we can count with a multitude of different products and services as our business transitioned and grew.

During the different seasons of our business, we’ve had big launches, small launches, and everything in between, so we’ve also picked up on how to do it without being so stressed. We think the number one important thing about launching is that it’s fun and simple. Otherwise, who the heck would ever want to launch anything?

So, today, we’re going to share with you a little about our plan for launching simply, and show you our little secret for making launching even easier.

2021 is right around the corner, and last week we talked all about the never-ending cycle of being super super motivated to crush your goals in the new year, and then as the year goes on, momentum starts to fade ever so slowly.

We even talked about the importance of reflecting on your goals the week before and how doing so can help you plan strategically and intentionally, so you aren’t just writing down goals that aren’t realistic or reachable.

Now, what about the actual planning process? At the end of 2019, we tried a new technique that helped us plan for 2020 tremendously, and we’re going to break that down for you today.

With the new year right around the corner, you may already be thinking about all of the things you want to accomplish in 2021. Will this be the year you launch that new product or service? Will this be the year you bring in enough revenue that you can hire a web designer? Will this be the year you reach 6-figures?

It’s so fun and refreshing to list out all of the goals we want to accomplish in the new year. The thing is, cooking up new goals and ideas is easy, but unless you’re reflecting on your past goals, you’ll have a harder time bringing them to fruition, if at all.

We think one of the biggest mistakes you can make in your business is not dedicating recurring time to reflect on what you’ve accomplished (or not) in the past. It’s imperative to look back on previous years before jumping the gun and setting new goals, and here’s why.

No matter what type of giveaway you end up deciding to try first, the foundations of running a successful giveaway are generally the same. If you follow these eight basic steps, you’ll have a clear control over your giveaway and can potentially reach a lot of new people.

Client and customer testimonials are one of the most crucial pieces of your marketing strategy. The journey you want to take people on to lead them to a sale consists of three main parts:

1. The “Are you in my head?” stage when you relay their pain points to them

2. The “Yeah, that actually would be nice..” stage when you have them envision what their life would be like if those problems weren’t problems

3. The “Okay, I’m ready to buy!” stage when you present the solution as your product or service

But– hold on a minute– hardly any one is just going to be ready to buy after seeing your thing. First they want to know if it will even work, and that’s when you bring in the big guns. (Big guns being testimonials, if that wasn’t clear.)

Testimonials can sometimes be the single defining moment of someone ready to hand their money over, or not. You probably wouldn’t purchase a product on Amazon if it didn't have a single review, would it? We as consumers count on those reviews as the proof of a product being worth the investment or not.

So, what makes your products or services any different? You can use those testimonials strategically in your marketing plan to be the final push that gets someone over the line and to the checkout page or paying their first invoice.

That’s why we’re going to share with you 7 places you should be showcasing client or customer testimonials, if you aren’t already.

We all aim to shoot for those killer client and customer testimonials, the ones that you’re so so proud to display on every outlet possible. And why wouldn’t you be? 87% of consumers place as much trust in reviews as they would word-to-mouth, and 90% of consumers want to read between 5-10 reviews before gaining trust in a brand.

That places a LOT of pressure on us as creatives to give our people the best experience possible when working with us so that we can have another awesome testimonial to add to the pot. After all, birds of a feather flock together and when you wow one dreamy client, another is bound to follow soon after.

But what if we told you that there’s no need to feel so pressured? That there are actually a ton of simple actions you can take to get raving client testimonials and wow your customers?

It’s been over three years (really, close to four) since we launched The Strategy Hour Podcast. Since then, we’ve made the ranks of Apple’s Top 30 Business Management Podcasts, have been featured in multiple blog posts about business-related podcasts, have had X total downloads on Apple Podcasts alone, and we’re coming up hot on the heels our 500th episode (that’s a lot of freakin’ recording time!).

And while we’re so grateful that our podcast took off the way it did and has influenced thousands of lives and launching it was a blast, in no way has it always been easy. So, today, we’re going to be pulling back the curtain on how we launched our podcast, the challenges we faced, all of the hustle we put in to launch, how we plan and upload new episodes, the whole 9.

If the idea of launching a podcast has been tossing and turning in your brain, our totally candid and honest experience will hopefully help you determine whether this is the right next move in your business journey!

“Do I need a website to use Dubsado?”

“How will I be able to use it for all the things I need to launch my business?”

We get these questions tons. The short answers are no, you absolutely do not need a website in order to make Dubsado work for you. And yes, you will be able to use it for every aspect of your launch and beyond. In fact, Dubsado could actually completely replace your website.

Evenmoreso, although Dubsado is a CRM, it can serve the same purposes as many other softwares, especially for someone who might be new to being in business and doesn’t have the extra income right now to invest in other tools.

So, keep reading if you want to deep dive into all things Dubsado, how to use it if you don’t have a website, how to use it to launch your business, and how to bypass the headache and set it up in just one or two days.