Today on the podcast we have Melissa Harstine. She helps creatives, coaches, and consultants land next-level clients with customer-centric copy and gripping case studies. As a trained journalist, she leverages her research and interview superpowers to write killer copy that makes readers think, “holy guacamole, did they read my journal?!”

We’re breaking down everything about case studies today; what they are, how you can use them to land more clients, how you can use them to vet your clients, and to work with your dream clients. We also dive into how you should set up the interview, how to transcribe it, and how to repurpose your content. Everything about this process makes it seem so tangible and 100% worth it!

Back in the day, we recorded an entire series on starting your business and one of the first subjects we talked about was adopting a profit-first mentality. Here’s the thing, we re-looked at that episode and have so many more things to say! The way we run our business has dramatically shifted in the last 12 months and because of that, we have so many things to say to people who are just getting started. Even if you have an established business, we have some thoughts about what you should be doing differently when it comes to your dollar bills.

We recorded that first episode about adopting a profit-first mentality in February of 2018 but we honestly didn’t really put our ideas into practice until 2020! It took two years for us to learn how to do that, so we are going to save you that time today. We are not saying that our first episode has no value, but now that we have actually been through the trenches, this is the episode you want!

Any business that is selling through a one-to-many system is going to, at some point, debate whether or not their strategy is worth their time and energy. That’s why today, we are going to talk a little bit about why we decided to roll out our affiliate program, as well as some of the logistics behind setting it up. When it comes to affiliate programs, there are a few mysteries that need solving, like what kind of software is out there and how to make it work in your business. We are also going to focus on some of the aspects that didn’t make sense for us in the past, because like we said: affiliate programs aren’t always the best idea. So join us and get the lowdown on the dos and definitely don’ts of setting up an affiliate program.

Today on the podcast we have Kaye Putnam. Kaye is is a psychology-driven brand strategist for entrepreneurs. Through work with over a 100 clients, from Fortune 50’s to entrepreneurs, she developed the In Demand Brand method. She has had some crazy success though with her famous opt-in. 55,000 people have taken her psychology quiz all about branding and y’all need to take it too. Inside this episode, all three of us nerd out pretty hardcore. We talk about the psychology behind understanding your competition and establishing your brand presence. We uncover a couple of the most popular archetypes and the least popular ones.

Back in the day, we recorded an entire series on starting your business and one of the first subjects we talked about was adopting a profit-first mentality. Here’s the thing, we re-looked at that episode and have so many more things to say! The way we run our business has dramatically shifted in the last 12 months and because of that, we have so many things to say to people who are just getting started. Even if you have an established business, we have some thoughts about what you should be doing differently when it comes to your dollar bills.

We recorded that first episode about adopting a profit-first mentality in February of 2018 but we honestly didn’t really put our ideas into practice until 2020! It took two years for us to learn how to do that, so we are going to save you that time today. We are not saying that our first episode has no value, but now that we have actually been through the trenches, this is the episode you want!

Today we welcome Aandra Bohlen, sales guru, inspiring friend, and all-round badass! She is here to demystify the stigmas around selling and the ways it is being taught. Her work is centered on developing and teaching entrepreneurs how to create an amazing enrollment experience that leads to higher conversion rates. She is an expert on sales calls and mentality and if you did not get the point already, she has it going on! We are going to talk about getting your mindset right and some real techniques for conversion so you are not going to want to miss this, we promise!

Aandra has almost 30 years of experience in sales and we are so lucky to get to throw a bunch of questions at her, things we know you would love to have answered. We discuss getting past money-mentality blocks, perfecting your pitch and how to translate sales onto social media and your content creation process. Aandra has a bunch of great reframes of the sales thought process and we promise that this conversation is going to help do better and think better about your sales game. We also have a great activity that we really want you to do, so stay tuned for that!

Do you want to increase your sales? Of course, you do, we all do! There are so many strategies out there on how to do this and today we are picking out four that have been highly effective for us! We hope that sharing this with you will help you to decide which strategies are best for you and your hustle. When we speak about our work we are referring to Boss Project, our main thing and then each of our own side gigs. Some of the strategies have worked better in different places but we will be unpacking all of that, do not worry!

The cool thing is that you get to try these out for yourself and see which suits you. We want you to think about which fits with your goals and lifestyle, as well as its conversion efficacy. These are the most important metrics for you to keep an eye on while testing things out. Don't forget to keep the conversation going over on Instagram, you know we love to hear from you, so hit us up with any thoughts or questions!

In today’s episode, we speak with Dresean Ryan. He started his SEO career only four years ago after bootstrapping it and learning everything he could to make a better life for himself. Dresean has gone on to work with some large companies like Etna, Signa, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. He helps his clients make millions of dollars just by improving their search engine optimization.

Today we are diving into how you can DIY this process and how you can learn how to hire the right kind of person. Dresean breaks down SEO in an easily-understandable, digestible way to keep things simple for you. He supplies listeners with actionable steps to outlining your content, deciding what your content should be, and then creating that content. To do this, Dresean uses a bunch of excellent tools — both free and paid — and references his amazing resources at the end, including his very own program you can use or even pass on to your VA. This ensures that even if you’re not up to speed with SEO in your business, someone on your team definitely will be. Let’s get to it then!

Joining us today on the podcast is Kali Rogers, the Founder of Blush Online Life Coaching, a life coaching business aimed at female millennials. Kali is here to teach us more about the super do-able, fun and stress-free Pinterest strategies that have boosted their site traffic and sales and grown their clients and customers. The best of all? You don’t need a Pinterest marketing degree to implement them, you can start today! If you have a Pinterest account but have stopped using it for some reason, we hope this episode will inspire you to get back into it, or if you have been utilizing this potentially awesome tool, that you will get what you need to brush up your skills even more.

In the beginning, Kali used Pinterest for personal reasons such as recipes and fashion inspo, until she decided to take a break. At first she didn’t see how Pinterest, a mostly visual medium, would be applicable to Blush, a service-based business. How would she promote a life coaching business through images? When she first started she didn’t have any entrepreneurial skills but realized she needed to communicate to people that she and her team knew what they were talking about. She resorted to writing as a cheap, safe means of publicity, creating numerous articles for The Huffington Post, including “An Open Letter From Introverts To Everyone Else”, which went completely viral. Many people have a Pinterest account when they first get started in business, but then they get distracted along the way and stop using it on a regular basis. In this episode we are going to show you that even though it’s an oldie, it’s still a real goodie. So be sure to join us for this awesome conversation!

Are you ready to plan the year ahead? It might be easier to do when you’ve had a great 2020 but, even then, you can plan to stick to the plan! We know we just want more of what we had but we are also keen to try new things too. In 2020, we found the sweet spot of being consistent and boring and realized that they are our middle names. We embrace them, we love them, and this is where we flourish and feel comfortable. While it’s not flashy or sexy and it doesn’t do dances on TikTok, we are 100% okay with that!

Not all of us dream of making seven figures. For some of us, our businesses are perfect the way they are when they work for us instead of us working for them. In other words, while you might not roll in the dough, if you are satisfied with what your business brings in and it supports you to the extent that it suits your lifestyle, who cares about the rest? It is worth remembering that you risk much more when you try to grow and scale your business aggressively, and many have closed their doors after pursuing exponential growth instead of keeping to the stable and consistent things. We would like to be around, no matter what happens in the world, and we believe that we can do that by doing more of the same-old same-old. This strategy will not get us on Oprah’s couch or anything spectacular like that, and we don’t have $10 million growth plans, but tune in to hear how we are planning to bring boring, stable, and consistent back!

Emylee is back from a much-needed break, but now she feels like she has forgotten how to do her job! Getting back into business mode with Boss Project is also different from returning to her side hustle, since the more creative tasks use another side of the brain. It got her thinking about overwhelm and taking breaks and thought it’s high time they did an episode on honoring your creative process. Abagail, on the other hand, is in the middle of a big house move and, as they both want to take a break over December, they find themselves in an interesting place. Abagail finds that, after a busy day, it is more relaxing and energizing to do something creative rather than vegging out on the couch. Once Emylee got back into her clay-making studio, she also had an idea for a pair of earrings she wanted to get out, surprising herself with creativity she didn’t even think she had at that point.

If you feel like you lack creativity, feel overwhelmed, and get stuck comparing yourself with everybody else, this episode will help you navigate these ‘meh’ situations and get your creative fire going again! At the very least, you will walk away encouraged by the knowledge that others also go through dry spells. Tune in!

Today we are talking about batching your shiz! Yeah, girl! We know it’s a sexy topic going into the holiday season, but even in general, people want to get as much done in as small a window as possible so they can focus on the thing that they started their business to do. A lot of people find marketing monotonous, which we get, and we have been making it not only easier for you but also more fun with the Creative Template Shop.

Another great way you can wrap up the end of the year is by batching a bunch of content so you can serve your clients, finish projects, ship out orders, get things listed, have fun in the holidays with your family, and renovate the new house you just bought too! So, to do this and to make it fun, we decided to bring back the challenge concept, and today’s show is all about our newest one – The 4-Day Batch Blitz!

Our guest on the show today is Abbey Ashley, the founder of The Virtual Savvy! After running her own successful VA business for a few years, she has gone on to help other aspiring virtual assistants launch and grow their own at-home businesses from scratch. We get to pick her brain today, and the reason we’re so excited is that she has an amazing business philosophy which involves keeping things simple while still making a major impact! She has perfected the art of doubling down on the areas that work and remaining laser-focused on those rather than getting distracted.

In this episode, you’ll learn about her launch game plans as well as how she deals with Black Friday, teaching us how to set ourselves up for a booming year ahead.

We remember our first good sales experiences so well! It can be one of the best feelings in the world and it does not have to have that slimy and sleazy feeling to it at all. Today we are talking about what we are actually doing and the process for having more efficient, successful sales meetings, that just feel better. No one one wants to feel icky and coercive when they are pitching and the truth is you really do not have to! What you really need to learn how to do is to let people fall in love with your offer, so it is less about selling and more about showcasing your process. If you follow these simple pointers the actual sales pitch will be a home run, we promise!

We have spoken at length on the podcast about locating your ideal and appropriate clients and this episode is essentially what to do once you have found them. Bad experiences in this department can make you feel terrible so we are trying to steer as far clear from these as possible. You do not want to be word-vomiting your way through nervous, un-researched meetings. These can leave you feeling like a wreck and with no more money to your name! Let's rather get strategic and get selling!

In today’s episode, we are going to bring back an oldie but a goodie — We are going to do a Boss Talk episode, where we just ask a question, riff on it, and see where it leads us. That's totally our style anyway; we love to riff on things. No one is surprised that we go on tangents and talk about whatever we want, whenever we want. The question for today is, how do you cope with stress and still remain productive when you have got all this stuff going on? We both run two businesses, so there is a lot on our plates! Also, we are in the middle of a pandemic, heading into a new season, Emylee has a kid who is bouncing off the walls, and Abagail just bought a house that needs renovations!

So, as you can hear, there is hardly anything going on at all (sarcasm much?). The question around productivity is one we hear super often, and Emylee finds she always gets it in her DMs when she has shared an especially productive day. People want to know how she manages to sleep, much less do it all. So, just to clear the air, she wants to let everyone know that she is not a workaholic, and it’s actually something she actively puts effort into not being. It's so easy in today’s world to just work all the time, especially for her personality type. So, she wants to share some of the expectations she has for herself, and how she and Abagail have stayed productive in the midst of it all.