Today we’re talking about one of our favorite systems, Squarespace. We’re discussing why it is our favorite web platform, chatting about all of our favorite features, and why we have adamantly insisted on staying on Squarespace despite having had the option to leave multiple times at this point. Now, if you are using another platform, we are not here to shame or judge you for that, and we are certainly not going to tell you that WordPress is wrong and that it will ruin your life. So if you are happy where you are and you are getting great results, then maybe this episode is not for you.

However, if you are frustrated with where you are right now and are thinking about leaving, or if you haven’t even started your website yet, then this might break down some options for you and let you know where we stand. This will be our judgement free zone and, although we are completely biased, we will not shame you. That is not our objective. So if you are curious about how we started out on Squarespace and why it might be right for you, then stay tuned!

It’s going to get crazy up in here! Today on the podcast we have Tasha Haynes from BLINK Conference. She is AMAZING, and we are so excited to have her share all her wisdom with ya’ll. Tash is in her fifth year of running the BLINK Conference, so she definitely knows a thing or two about conferences by now.  She has great advice for those looking to start their own conferences or perhaps attend a conference for the first time.

With Tash, we go through how the BLINK Conference has grown and chat about the unique format of their conference that makes them so different. We also dive into how they are able to create that really intimate family aspect at BLINK, which is hands down our key takeaway from our experience there and has led us to have really close relationships with not only Tash, but other speakers and attendees that we met at that conference as well. We also chat about landing sponsors, landing keynote speakers and all the good stuff in between. Tash has a huge place in our hearts and we think she will have a huge place in yours too, if you let her in.

Today you are going to learn all about how to do a survey, why it’s important, how to actually create the thing, and a few of our tips and tricks. We’ll also talk about some of the questions that you should consider asking inside of this bubbly delicious thing that’s going to give you so much information that you will be exploding with ideas by the end of it.

Surveys have gotten a bad rap, but they can seriously do so much for you and your business. If you can incentivize and make it seem easy to do, you’ll be surprised by how many people will actually give you really valuable feedback. It reminds your readers and your audience that they are literally helping shape the content that you create. Instead of just making up things that you think your audience wants, give them a platform to tell you what they actually need from you. Ready to learn how to create a badass survey? Listen in!

Oh my gosh! We are so excited to have Sarah on the podcast today. Sarah was our first hire here at TCC and has been with us the longest. We still remember her first email to us, asking to be part of the team — she was definitely heaven sent! Sarah is awesome, we love her, she is amazing, and she plays a big role in this team. You may not know this, but we are not the greatest spellers and grammar is for sure not our forte, so thank goodness for Sarah. She is our editor for the blog, and makes everything super wonderful and polished.

Now you might think that when hiring an editor, all you are getting is some spelling fixes and maybe a couple of extra commas. We are here to tell you that you most definitely get a whole lot more than that! Here’s what an editor brings to your blog — they polish the content and keep your voice intact, while also acting as an accountability partner to help you keep on a consistent publishing schedule. Sarah also helps to improve SEO by making sure that not only are links working and things spelled correctly, but that various industry standard SEO steps have been implemented for each post, including older ones. All of this consistency ensures that our readers know exactly what to expect and that the content is delivered as promised.

Lately, we’ve seen a lot of people rebel, and not in a good way. There is a little bit of anti-trendsetting happening, and although we totally fit in with the weirdos and the misfits, we need to give you guys a little bit of a reality check about the difference between marketing tactics that work and trends that you can spin your own style on. We are going to peel back the layers, Shrek style, so you can better understand how to move past the fear of not understanding and learn how to use these tactics for your unique business.

Today’s conversation is going to be a lot of this versus that, and we are going to give you a peek into a lot of the pushback that we hear from our audience and those in the online creative space. We are going to break down the difference between marketing tactics, style, and branding. So if you are looking to get some ideas on how you can spin these tactics and make them work for you and your own business, then listen in!

Today on the podcast we have Katie Hunt with us, and it is going to be an absolute showdown — tradeshow showdown! Katie knows all the secret stuff about this whole secret universe that they call “wholesale”. Now although neither of us live in this parallel universe, Katie definitely does, and she has a ton of knowledge to share with us. Katie has been wholesaling and dealing with the wholesale world since 2009 and has always had the entrepreneurial bug, even back in the day selling friendship bracelets to all her friends.

Katie shares how she first got started in the wholesaling industry, going from making wedding invitations and cards for all of her friends, to a full-blown Etsy shop of her own. She has spent the last 16 years coaching large corporations and entrepreneurs on marketing and business development strategies. Her strengths lie in connecting with people and bringing ideas to life – brainstorming, making plans and executing them. Katie has a passion for creating, a mind for business, and a strong desire to help others succeed. So if you want to soak up all her  knowledge, then you’d better listen in!

Alrighty babes, today we are getting super nerdy. We are bringing you some stats and some numbers, all in the hopes of giving you a little peek into why we do what we do. Because of what is going on in the world of small businesses, we hope to give you some motivation, a little bit of fire under your booty to keep doing the work, to keep being boss, to keep running your business, strategizing, and continually doing better at whatever it is that you are taking on.

Uncovering what our mission is and why it is what it is, we know that you will come out with a little bit of clarity on getting to the heart of your business and being able to voice it to other people. We have dug deep and done our research, and the bottom line is that there are not enough women business owners out there who are successful enough to be profitable enough to contribute to society, contribute to their families, and contribute to changing the stats across the United States! We hope that hearing these numbers inspires you to find your own mission, and living out your why.

Have you been aiming to become the face of your business, but just not sure how exactly to do it? Well, you are in luck! In this episode we have our friend Mallika from MikiFoto with us and that is precisely what she is coming on to share with you guys today. We got to meet Mallika last year at The Savvy Experience and have loved watching as she shifted her business to do more lifestyle branded headshots and photography for small businesses and creative entrepreneurs.

In our chat with Mallika, we jump into the importance of being the face of your business, exactly what you should be doing to find the right photographer for you, how to prepare for your shoot, what to wear, and how to make these photos last longer than three months. We also get into the most important shots you need for your business so that you can take away from this photo session exactly what you need to prosper online. We are super excited for you to listen more, because she’s legit, guys. So get excited!

For today’s episode, maybe have a glass of wine while you’re listening to it. Kick back in your PJ’s, just chill, and be with us for a second. We are getting super real today. Not that we are any less real any other day, but we are taking it way back today.

We hear so often that lives on Instagram look fancier than they are, and that Facebook portrays a certain façade. However, we are also really are in tune with being authentic for you guys and portraying our real selves as much as we can. We show our real selves as we are now and I think sometimes we forget where people have come from and what they have gone through in order to get to be where they are today. So that is exactly what we are doing today.