Tue, 28 November 2017
What’s In This Episode:Jill and Brad are continuing their series on taking time off. They discuss Thanksgiving, and neither believes that visiting family counts as a vacation. They don't think the occasion is bad, but Brad can't really talk about business while he's around his family, and Jill has to explain to hers why she doesn't eat turkey. She says that, as a vegan, sides are where it's at anyway. And she's making a supposedly delicious vegan pumpkin cheesecake, so maybe desserts are a close runner-up. "Why are we encouraging working on a Saturday? Why isn't it Small Business Wednesday?" - JillThey then talk about Small Business Saturday, which was created by American Express to get more people to shop local ... and therefore, get more of a percentage from the transaction. Jill has to admit that the marketing is clever. After all, it's not every day small business owners get to celebrate themselves. Brad's conflicted because it does get people to shop local, but it was created in self-interest which benefits a big corporation. "Boredom does good things for your brain." - BradJill and Brad then discuss the top 5 ways taking time off makes you a better person:
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Tue, 21 November 2017
What’s In This Episode:Jill and Brad are still talking about taking time off, 'cause business owners NEED it. They ponder the longest they went without taking a vacation. For Jill, her longest span was 2 years. Brad went 4 years without taking a bonafide vacation. If it's been more than six months, please, please, please book a vacation (or a staycation, or just a break where you don't do work). You need it. "If you start small, you might accomplish all of the things you want to do." - JillAmelia Forczak of Pithy Wordsmithery calls in and has two related problems. She wants to be able to help the clients who reach out, but who can't make the investment that ghostwriting a book calls for. Secondly, she needs to figure out how to make her business scalable. She's thinking of starting a course for people to write and edit books on their own, but she doesn't quite know how to begin. Jill's advice: start small. Brad says that if she coaches clients to do the work, then that serves as practice for the eventual course Amelia wants to create. Overall, though, she needs to decide what market she wants to serve. "I hope you get rich. And when you do, send us 5%." - BradJill and Brad then discuss the top 5 excuses for not taking time off:
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Tue, 14 November 2017
What’s In This Episode:Who needs a break? Jill 'n Brad are on a mission to make sure that business owners take more time off. Jill thinks that some people don't want to take time off because they don't want to miss anything (FOMO, anyone?). Others fear that the business won't survive without them. Or worse, people think that their customers will hate them if they take time for themselves. Brad also points out that it takes so much momentum to get started again once you've gone away for a little bit. "You have to connect the dots and make sure that I know that if I'm spending money on you, you're going to improve my ROI." - JillRenee Epstein and Lisette Kreuzer of B-Well Wellness Events started their business three years ago and have been doing well in their primary market. They want to branch out and do more corporate events, so they ask Jill and Brad how to get more exposure. Jill suggests that they make a good 30-second video to avoid having 17 pages of e-mail testimonials in order to pitch to the right people, and follow up repeatedly. Brad says that corporate stuff always takes time to come to fruition because it needs to get onto budgets. He also points out that even if you have a contact in the business, or names of people on your lists, they may not be the right people to talk to. So you need to find a way in and then get to the person who cares. Lastly, he suggests they may want to check out wellness fairs (that's where that video would do REALLY well). "It's like walking in a forest where you realize that you're a very small part of this large thing." - BradJill and Brad then discuss the top 5 reasons you need more time off:
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Tue, 7 November 2017
What’s In This Episode:What are your bad habits? For Jill, she says yes to things she doesn't need to say yes to (coffee dates can wait). Brad overschedules himself and has too many piles of papers on his desk. And while they both agree that social media is a bad habit, Jill thinks that's sort of a necessary evil for small business owners. "I'm really good at pretending that things are going well in certain areas when they're not." - JillMuhga Eltigani, creator of the fresh fruit hair care line NaturAll Club, calls in to ask how to expand her product line. Customers are asking for more product and since she promotes a subscription-based service, she's wondering how to best launch new product. On top of that, her product is refrigerated which might add a logistical problem. Brad suggests she uses a line of credit to introduce new products to select customers. This way her inventory doesn't get crazy. Jill suggests pre-orders, but Muhga is worried that they might not be able to fulfill the orders within a certain timeframe. The easiest way to get money is to sell things to people who already buy from you, and you don't need to tell them a timeframe - if they want the product, they'll wait for it. "It's okay to adjust your scope to their budget, but you can't give away the whole shebang." - BradJill and Brad then discuss the top 5 things you should do less often:
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