Top Business Podcast • over 4 million downloads • 900+ episodes

The Strategy Hour Podcast

with abagail pumphrey

Recognized by INC and Forbes as one of the best podcasts for entrepreneurs, join our twice-weekly show as we share business strategies, interviews, and actionable advice for building an online business your way.

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Our Episodes

Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

Creating a Holiday Master Marketing Game Plan

Are y’all ready to start hearing Jingle Bells? Well, you need to prepare yourself cause the holiday season is fast approaching even though it felt like we all lived in a time warp this year. Usually, we are not great with planning far in advance, but this year, while the weather is still warm, we thought we would jump ahead and create a holiday master marketing game plan. Q4 has this weird way of flying by in the blink of an eye, so we want to share with you some of our top strategies to make the most of the festive season. Because, while the world is in recovery mode and things are uncertain, we know that people are still spending their dollar bills, and the predictions suggest that people will spend more money online this year than they ever have. Whether you are in products, services, coaching, or something else, people are spending their cash on the internet, so let’s capitalize on that and see how we can leverage this fact this coming season. While we do not know what exactly you will be offering these holidays, we can help you work backward (from the end of December to where we are currently) to give you a pretty clear idea of what you need to work on and when. So, fill up your cup and be ready to take down notes, cause this is going to be a goodie!

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Podcast, Systems & Automation Guest User Podcast, Systems & Automation Guest User

Increasing Client Conversions and Offloading Admin Tasks Using Dubsado with Colin Tierney

On the show today, we have brand designer Colin Tierney joining us. He owns and runs Tierney Studio where he has grown his branding and started a whole new business before the pandemic hit, which we will get into today. Talking to Colin, we give you another perspective on a Dubsado customer’s experience and how they have used the software and CRM to perfect their client process, land deals faster, offload projects, and more.

As a fellow designer, Abagail wishes she knew about Dubsado when she was still in the design business since their software takes the client management side of things off your hands to free you up for doing the design work. There are just too many benefits of signing up for Dubsado, as you will hear from Emylee, Abagail, and Colin. If you’ve had questions about the capabilities of Dubsado or have thought about getting started with the platform, this episode will give you a really good peek behind the curtain. Remember, as a listener of the podcast, you can also get Dubsado for 50% off your first month or first year!

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Podcast, Project Management Guest User Podcast, Project Management Guest User

Building A Paid Community: Patreon vs. Mighty Networks

In this episode, Emylee and Abagail get into the topic of building a community that you get paid to run, talking about two of the more popular options in the creator space – Patreon and Mighty Networks. We see musicians, comedians, artists, podcasters, and the like use these platforms to create a network. As you all know, Emylee is always looking toward the next thing and has taken the leap to start her online community for those interested in building clay earring businesses, so she has done some research, signed up (and canceled) subscriptions, and figured out the details so you don’t have to!

We know you love your Facebook group, but there are serious limitations to it, such as you can’t get paid for it. However, migrating from one platform to another can be a nasty business since humans are creatures of habit who often resist new paths. You’ve got to have pretty solid reasons for wanting to migrate, and Emylee and Abagail break it all down for you in this episode. Before you get started on a paid community, be sure to tune in for this episode!

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Podcast, Services Guest User Podcast, Services Guest User

Listening to Your Audience So You Can Create Services That Sell with Sarah Peck

Today on the podcast we are joined by our wonderful friend and all round badass, Sarah Peck. Sarah is the founder of Startup Parent, a New York City based company dedicated to documenting women’s leadership. She is a writer, yoga teacher and hosts Startup Parent’s weekly podcast too! Her goal is to amplify women’s voices and promote their business through her work and she definitely has one of our favorite brains in the game! We share a lot of her business philosophy and will be using this episode to geek out on some strategies for listening to your audience as a way to help grow your product or service.

This super under-utilized and somewhat simple strategy can help you and your biz so much! By paying closer attention to your audience, you can really improve what you offer and make the direct connection between those paying you and what you provide for them. Quite a straightforward equation, right? This is the second time Sarah is joining us on the Strategy Hour and if you haven’t heard her previous appearance, go back and check it out immediately! It’s Episode 185. Today’s episode’s topic was sparked by a conversation a few days prior where we were chatting to Sarah about business philosophies and implementation. We really believe in these ideas and they are so in line with our core values that we could not resist having her on to talk all about it! So stayed tuned to hear it all.

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Podcast, Systems & Automation Guest User Podcast, Systems & Automation Guest User

Simplifying Workflows and Automating Your Business Using Dubsado with Krystal Clark

When we say that today’s episode is going to rock your world, we’re not even joking! If you have a client-based business and use Dubsado, maybe you have wanted to set up workflows, but been so overwhelmed that you haven’t started, then stop what you're doing and listen to this show with a notebook because Krystal Clark literally breaks down every step! From lead capture to onboarding to delivering to offboarding, she leaves no stone unturned. Krystal even goes so far as to give us five hacks on how she’s using Dubsado differently than what we have heard before!

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Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

The New Way to Price Your Products, Offers, and Services

It’s been a hot minute since we had this conversation and we think we have some fresh takes on this taboo topic that seems to happen in every single niche, in every single industry, and that is the conversation about pricing! We have so many thoughts and ideas around this and think there are a lot of very strong opinions about what you should and should not do and so we just want to put a disclaimer at the top of the whole episode to say, “You do whatever you want, and that’s okay!” Nevertheless, we want to have this conversation again because we both have our own businesses on the side of Boss Project.

Abagail will share how pricing impacts her marketing and clients, some complexities about pricing, and how she has felt differently about this topic over the years. For Emylee, the maker community is rampant with conversations about pricing, but she believes the questions being asked are often actually about something different to pricing. So, Emylee will pick apart what this means for her, and talk about the different conversations that actually need to be had!

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Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

Email Marketing & High-Touch Customer Engagement for Product, Coaches, and Network Marketing Businesses

In this episode, we get into exciting topics like email marketing, conversions, texting, relationships, and more! We talk about what we get up to in Boss Project (our main gig) and our side hustles, because we have accumulated some valuable experience over the years. Emylee sells handmade accessories (physical products) and hosts her website on Shopify, and every month she learns more and more about e-commerce and all things product-based. Abagail started her wellness company after going through a serious car accident, and as she journeyed to improve her health, people wanted to join her. She used her story to build a group coaching program called Jumpstart where she helps women lose weight and focus on their health. She is also a leader in the Young Living network marketing business.

While it can be overwhelming to run different businesses, we find that it triggers different parts of the brain and keeps things fresh! As we grow, we realize how important automation is and why we should leverage key tools to make things more streamlined in all of our businesses. Stay tuned to hear about our most trusted apps and tools!

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Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

22 Tips to Rock Instagram with Tyler J. McCall

Hey everybody and welcome to another fantastic episode of The Strategy Hour Podcast! Today we are joined by one of our favorite people in the world, a real internet bestie and the Instagram King, Tyler J. McCall! Tyler is here to talk to us about his speciality, how to get Instagram working for you immediately. Of course, Instagram, like all social platforms is constantly evolving so Tyler will be talking about what the best strategies are right now, but also looking at some of the more timeless rules of the framework. Tyler has helped a huge amount of entrepreneurs (including us!) to grow their Instagram following and engagement through the lessons he teaches. For Tyler, it really is quite simple: if you follow a few easy rules, have fun, and bring your own personality to your account you really can’t go wrong!

During our conversation we cover some of the basics around content and captions and the move away from highly curated profiles. Tyler also stresses the importance of knowledge of your audience and how this informs your strategy. We get into the nitty gritty of telling your brand’s story and how to convey this in an effective and engaging way as well as looking at the values that underscore everything that you post. One of the biggest recent developments on Instagram is obviously the Stories feature and Tyler breaks down some lessons for approaching that area and also reiterates just how important they are to your reach, engagement, and potential profits. Lastly, we cover some tips and ideas for personal versus business profiles and how to go about starting out on the platform for newbies. Jump in, it’s going to be a fun ride!

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Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

Growing Your Brand on Instagram with Natasha Samuel of Sol Studio Marketing

The 'gram is a topic near and dear to our hearts, and it’s one we know every entrepreneur who we cross paths with thinks about on a daily basis. For most of the people that we know, it’s their happy place — that’s definitely the case for us! Today's guest does things differently on this incredible platform. Natasha Samuel, Founder of Sol Studio Marketing, is not simply posting stories or putting things on her feed. Of course, she is still doing these important things intentionally, but she has some other tricks up her sleeve that most people probably have not thought about when it comes to their Instagram account, so you definitely want to stick around to hear what she has to say.

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Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

Creating Marketing That Feels Fun and Converts with Shunta Grant

Hey everybody, we are thrilled to bring you this episode with our good friend Shunta Grant! You might remember our Episode 441 that was all about tiny offers and why they might not be for everyone. Well, our guest today is the founder of the Best Today Brand and Guide and more recently the Right Now Routine™, which is the bombshell tiny offer she developed. The way she is marketing this pocket product (with cool gamification aspects!) is just next level, so we talk about that and how we swiped the idea for our own marketing for the Creative Template Shop. We also get into how creating a low-priced offer was right for her in her business at this moment and what kind of groundwork she had to do before she could even begin creating it. She shares how leaning into something that is fun, simple, and feels good produces miraculous results and how you can implement it in your marketing strategies. Be sure to give this episode a listen: you will not only love it but also walk away more inspired and much better equipped!

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Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

Launching Strategies for Coaches, Digital Sellers + Physical Products

Today we are talking about launching various types of business, sharing a bit about what we are doing with the Creative Template Shop, and what the different avenues of our business entail. We sell courses, run a membership, sell products, and run a coaching business, so between all of that, things can get intense! We are always curious about the behind-the-scenes of a launch and what people are having success with, but the truth is, there are no guarantees. There is no perfect equation. At some point, you just have to jump. What is more important is taking an approach that you feel aligned with and excited about because your enthusiasm and confidence is what will win people over. In this episode, we break down a few strategies that we have used in our various businesses to help us grow—the kind of intel you do not want to miss out on!

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Podcast, Project Management Abagail Pumphrey Podcast, Project Management Abagail Pumphrey

Migrating Our 100K+ Email List

Are you ready to hear about the biggest change we have made to our business in a LONG time? If you have been with us for a while, you will know all about our email marketing journey. It’s been truly huge for our company and an integral part of our growth and the foundation for our global reach. We have been with many email marketing providers over time for a variety of reasons. If you want to hear about why we migrated between the different platforms, like Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Infusionsoft, and ActiveCampaign, dive into our archives because we have documented all of these moves. We believe that regardless of the size of your business, email should be easy, and dare we say, pretty? All of the platforms we have used have their pros and cons, but for us, we want it to be as simple as logging in, writing an email, having it look good without knowing anything about code, and being able to send it to the right people at the right time. A lot of people, especially in the creative industry, can get carried away by pretty things, and we are guilty of it too, and it does drive a lot of our decision-making. That does not mean we do not value functionality as well. So, today we are going to share more about the new email platform we have found that merges our love of beautiful things with a fantastic backend user experience.

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Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

Your Launch Can Be Simple

In this episode, we talk about launching. We recently posted a fill-in-the-blank about how the idea of doing a launch made you feel, and you guys made us laugh! You came up with such funny descriptions ranging from super excitement to wanting to jump off a cliff—and we totally feel ya! The majority of you expressed some degree of anxiety, though. And we get it, because for so long, launching felt like this burden that put so much pressure on who we were and how our business was performing, it never used to feel good to us either. Fortunately, that’s changed a lot over the years and today we’re sharing how you can adjust your mindset about launching, so that it becomes a fun and profitable thing to do.

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Podcast, Marketing Guest User Podcast, Marketing Guest User

Launch Mistakes Your Business Can’t Afford

Today we are going to be talking about the 23 launch mistakes that your business can’t afford to make. But before we get started, first and foremost, we want to encourage you to get into the mindset of treating every single thing in your business like a launch. Whether that’s an Instagram post, a blog post, creating a course, new brand colors – treat it like a launch. Because if you do not treat it like a launch, it becomes one of those things that sits in your to-do list and doesn’t get done! As soon as you treat it like a launch, you will take the steps you need to in order to make it happen.

We have gone through the process of launching an obscene amount of times, and we have helped so many others do the same. Through these experiences have noticed a pattern of common mistakes made throughout the launch process, and today we want to share the top 23 mistakes we see happening in a launch. From aiming for perfection, to poor planning and promotion, or just not reaching out for support. There are small (and big) things we can do to maximize any launch and keep our sanity in the process! We believe in you and If you’re thinking about launching, you are in the process of launching, or you are just wondering how you can improve on your next launch – this episode is an absolute must!

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Podcast, Leadership Guest User Podcast, Leadership Guest User

Making Less to Make More $$

We have this theory that you can make less revenue and walk away with more money in your pocket if you do a few very strategic things. Like many of you, we came to a point in our business where we were ready to see big growth—and we don’t mean make a little bit more money, but exponentially more! Who doesn’t want that, right? And we managed to do that. In the first six months, we made $100,000, doubled it four months later, and we went on to have a multiple six-figure business in our second year, and over $500,000 the year after that. We just kept going after bigger dreams and pursuing more.

But we believe there are some things you can do to help you along, and it doesn’t include focusing on that top-line number—which you can shoot yourself in the foot with. We know people who look like they are super successful online, but when you dig a little deeper, you would discover that they set themselves up in such a way they get to keep very little of the money they make. We were headed in this same direction. In this episode, we talk about this learning curve we experienced in 2018 and 2019 during which we thought we needed to do XYZ when we didn’t! Besides, what’s the point of reaching your big goals when you are not personally making any more money? Stay tuned to find out.

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Woman leaning on back of chair and smiling at camera

meet your host

I don’t believe there’s one right way to build a business.

I’m your host, Abagail Pumphrey. And I’m dedicated to supporting online businesses.

I’m here to help you build business your way: one that supports not only the life you have but the life you want. I’m on a personal mission to help you become financially free.

I’m talking about all the lessons learned as I turned a layoff into a 7-figure online business. I’m here to help you prioritize your life every step of the way, whether you’re creating your first digital product, growing an email list, or scaling an already profitable business.

I want to hear your hot takes, your biggest takeaways, or the genius ideas that pop in your head as you’re listening to the show.

My DMs are always open on Instagram, so head over and introduce yourself so I can get to know you!

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Software & Services We Swear By

Meet Our Partners

The links below are affiliate links. We receive a commission (at no additional cost to you) when you purchase through these links.

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Digital Product Jumpstart

Build your list and grow your revenue at the same time!

I’ve kept these details to myself for far too long. I’m ready to spill everything and give you the exact steps that’ve helped me generate tens of thousands of qualified leads and MILLIONS in low-ticket digital product sales. I won’t just show you what I did, I’ll teach you how you can do it too.

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