Breaking Down Your Business | Small Business | Business Owners | Entrepreneurship | Leadership
What To Do On Your Summer Vacation w/ Matt Miller | Ep. 156 | Small Business | Entrepreneur | Leadership

What’s In This Episode:

So what are you doing this summer? Going far or staycationing it? Jill and Brad talk about camping, tech blackouts, and how they're going to spend the time off. It's nearly impossible for a small business owner to feel relaxed and comfortable about taking time away from the business, but it's important. And while entrepreneurs know that it's a necessity to take a breather, how long you can get away from your business and how much you can genuinely enjoy that break is different for everyone. So, tune in to find out What To Do On Your Summer Vacation in this episode and hear from School Spirit Vending's Matt Miller. Listen in! »

Guest:

  • Matt Miller is the founder of School Spirit Vending, a franchise business that provides a wide range of benefits to help school fundraising needs and helps professionals develop more freedom and security. Find him on LinkedIn and Google+

Tool:

  • ScannerPro :: This app allows you to scan paper documents (like receipts!) into PDFs that look clean and professional. Brad highly recommends you try this one out!
Direct download: Jill_and_Brad_EP_156.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 2:00am CDT

Top 5 Ways You Can Tell That The Prospect Is Not That Into You w/ Ryan Dohrn Ep. 155 | Small Business | Entrepreneur | Leadership

What’s In This Episode:

Are all of your prospects into you? Do you pitch to a prospect in, think everything's going swimmingly, and then it just doesn't happen for you? Why do people seem so into you one minute, and the next, they aren't interested or stop calling you back? Brad and Jill dig into what's going on when you're trying to close a deal. What happens, when you should really try and close the deal, and why they just might not be that into you. They also talk about the Top 5 Ways You Can Tell That The Prospect Is Not That Into You in this episode and they welcome Brain Swell Media's Ryan Dohrn to the show. Listen in! »

Guest:

Rant:

  • Jill really really really really really really really really really really really wants you to stop speaking for free. She gets all riled up during her public service announcement to everyone in small business who keeps taking speaking gigs that do not pay. No pay? No way. Tune in for the hysteria!
Direct download: Jill_and_Brad_EP_155.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 2:00am CDT

Top 5 Ways To Get Out More w/ Melissa Lanz | Ep. 154 | Small Business | Entrepreneur | Leadership

What’s In This Episode:

What does "getting out there" mean to you? How do you get out the world of business for your business? So much sales and marketing seems to be focused online today. Should we be so focused on staying there, or do you try to get folks offline and meet you face-to-face? Jill and Brad debate whether what's more important and throw in a conversation about whether PayPal money is real money. And they throw in a big fat fight about sales -- is it a dirty word??? They also talk about the Top 5 Ways To Get Out More in this episode and they welcome The Fresh 20's Melissa Lanz to the show. Listen in! »

Guest:

  • Melissa Lanz is an author and the founder of The Fresh 20,a meal planning service, created for busy families and singles who want to eat fresh, healthy meals, and save time and money. Find her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Fight! Fight! Fight!:

  • Brad and Jill go after one another in a heated debate about whether sales is a dirty word. Because it is, says Jill. Except it's not, says Brad. Tune in to find out who wins!
Direct download: Jill_and_Brad_EP_154.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 3:00am CDT

Top 5 Things Business Owners Say That Actually Mean The Opposite w/ Ben Seigel

What’s In This Episode:

Do you ever listen to the conversations going on around you at networking events? Is everyone having the exact same conversation? They're all doing really well. Super busy, making paper, things are just soooooo fantastic. But what if you slipped some truth serum into their drinks and heard what was really going on in their small businesses? Jill and Brad think that more business owners should stop the hype. Say what's really going on. Tell the truth. There's seemingly only one way that business banter has to go -- and so many of us would benefit from having it go the other way, even if only from time to time. So, they talk about the Top 5 Things Business Owners Say That Actually Mean The Opposite in this episode and they welcome Ben Seigel to the show. Listen in! »


Guest:

  • Ben Seigel is the founder of Versa Studio where he builds smart, creative, effective brands and web sites through a consultative approach. Find him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Rant:

  • Why can't people commit to scheduling anything anymore??? There has been a rise of people not committing to phone calls or in-person meetings at specific times on specific days. What's with this "call me some time between these 3 hours" or "let's play it by ear" type of planning? It's crazy-making. And neither Jill nor Brad understand why this has become a thing. Do you know why?
Direct download: Jill_and_Brad_EP_153.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 11:00am CDT

Top 5 Ways To Have A Better Business Conversation w/ Chris Thompson

What’s In This Episode:

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Unlike Jill and Brad, do you stick to them? If you’re resolving to get in shape, stop doing all the bad things and wanna sing Kumbaya more often: Good luck with that. Jill and Brad talk about how they make goals, not resolutions, and they plan ahead rather than making a few things up in the hopes that they stick to it. They also talk about the Top 5 Ways To Have A Better Business Conversation in this episode and they welcome Chris Thompson to the show. Listen in! »


Guest:

  • Chris Thompson is the founder of  truBrain and wants you shift to a focused state of mind using their nootropic drinks. Find him on TwitterFacebook and Instagram.

Tool:

  • No More Voicemail :: This app helps you stop your voicemail box from becoming full, and from needing to check or return messages at all, by sending your unanswered phone calls to endless ringing.
Direct download: Jill_and_Brad_EP_152_2.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 2:00am CDT

What’s In This Episode:

Do you know the difference between cash and accrual accounting? (YUCK.) If you're wondering how much money you've loaned to your clients, where would you look for that? (UGH.) Do you ever pay yourself distributions as opposed to salary? Are those expenses? (GRRR.) If you're like Jill, you can't stand this topic...and if you're like Brad, you know a lot more than she does. But they're pretty important principles, along with a slew of other number basics that any business owner should be familiar with when it comes to that whole money thing you're trying to conquer. So it's time, guys. Tune in to hear Brad lead us through the basics, and check out how they talk about the Top 5 Accounting things that actually matter. They also welcome app creator Angela Jackson to the show. Listen in! »


Guest:

  • Angela Jackson is the founder of Talent Flood, a central, instant marketplace for employers and employees to get matched based on who they are, not what they do. Find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Rant:

  • People have pitch problems. If you're sending a pitch, via email or otherwise, to media outlets or colleagues or sponsors or venture capitalists or customers or clients or anyone, really, to have them do something about it -- publish you, partner with you, pay you money -- you need to do a better job. Jill's been getting WAY too many poor pitches and while there's no one right way to do it, there are thousands of wrong ways to do it. Tune in to hear what's going wrong.
Direct download: Jill_and_Brad_EP_151.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 8:33am CDT

Top 5 Ways To Have A Better Business Conversation w/ Chris Thompson

What’s In This Episode:

We made it, guys. WE MADE 150 EPISODES!!! We can't believe it, either. Jill and Brad, in their disbelief, mull over the things that have surprised them the most as podcast creators. They talk about what they've found difficult in the making of what has become a top business podcast. They talk about what they've found to be inspiring along the way. Things they never considered, guests that they learned from, and the commonalities they've found across the board no matter what business folks run. Have you been thinking about doing your own podcast? Then you're in for a treat. In this episode, Jill and Brad go over the Top 5 Things You Need To Know When You're Podcasting. And they welcome NEW Breaking Down Your Business podcast producer and sound engineer Anthony Gravino to the show. (Hand claps, please!) Listen in! »


Guest:

  • Anthony Gravino is a Freelance Music Producer and Engineer who works on studio albums for the world's best artists and happens to produce the Breaking Down Your Business podcast, too. Find him in the studio and on Instagram.

Tool? Rant?

Direct download: Jill_and_Brad_EP_150_2.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 2:00am CDT

Driving Yourself Crazy? w/ Erika Marie

What’s In This Episode:

Ever have really important stuff that you know you need to get done but you're not doing it? Are there times when you've made a decision -- and you feel like it's the right decision -- but you spend a few hours second-guessing yourself? One of your co-hosts experiences this tactic a lot of business owners use to drive themselves crazy, and one of them is crazy enough to skip the questions altogether and press on. Which host goes which way? You'll have to tune in to find out! In this glorious episode (and by glorious, we mean hilarious, and by hilarious we really mean CRAZY,) Brad and Jill talk about the Top 5 Ways You're Driving YOURSELF Crazy in this episode and they welcome Erika Marie to the show. Listen in! »


Guest:

  • Erika Marie is the founder of the Chiyu Center where she offers exceptional acupuncture, integrative medicine services, and integrative health connections. Find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Tool:

  • One Big Thing :: The simple app to keep you focused on your biggest task every day. Every day, you type in one big thing you want to do. Add a few little tasks you might also want to get done. Check the app during the day to focus on your goals. Next day it’s a blank slate. That’s it? Yeah! Trust us, it totally keeps your aim on the game.
Direct download: Jill_and_Brad_EP_149_2.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 2:00am CDT

Top 5 Ways To Market Your Content w/ Priya Amin

How do you market your content? What is content? If you're producing things that you want customers and clients to see, read, hear, and see, you're producing content. There's so much of it, and so many WAYS to get it out to the world, what's really working for you? It's hard for small business owners to figure out what's actually working and what seems like it's working and what's really just giving you a lovely positive feedback loop full of likes and followers -- even though it's not actually paying your bills. If you don't market your content properly, no one is gonna read or see or hear it. That's why they spend this episode talking about the Top 5 Ways To Market Your Content and they welcome Priya Amin to the show. Listen in! »

Guest:

Shout Out:

  • Meg Ricard called in to tell us what's happened to her since she was on the podcast. Her business, Simply Organized By Meg, is taking off and her clients are happy. YOU MADE OUR DAY, MEG!
Direct download: Breaking_Down_Your_Business_EP_148.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 3:00am CDT

Top 5 Things You Need To Know BEFORE You Start A Podcast w/ Laura Kalister| Small Business | Entrepreneur | Leadership

Ever consider starting your own podcast? Everybody's doing it. Brad and Jill got wayyyyyyy ahead of the game and determined that it would be really easy to promote what they do for a living by shouting into microphones every week about business things and stuff. But whaddya know? Getting way ahead of the game also put them in a position of not knowing what they were doing, having to learn what podcasting is all about from the ground up, and making a lot of mistakes along the way. Well lucky for you, they have a thing or two that they want you to know about launching your very own podcast before you actually do it. So they talk about the Top 5 Things You Need To Know BEFORE You Start A Podcast in this episode and they welcome Laura Kalister to the show before Brad goes on another amazing rant... Listen in! »


Guest:

  • Laura Kalister is the founder of LK Weight Coaching where she helps clients end their struggles with weight and emotional overeating. Find her on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Rant:

  • Brad is MAD. Do companies think that incompetence is actually a business model? A serious question from a very amazingly lengthy and hilarious rant. If Brad is ready to "gouge his ears out" and firmly believes that people are creating "customer incompetence systems" you HAVE to tune in to hear why he hates the hotel industry and customer service fails so very much right now.
Direct download: Breaking_Down_Your_Buseinss_EP_147.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 3:00am CDT