Social Slowdown: sustainable digital marketing for entrepreneurs (Meg Casebolt)

Welcome to our second case study on the Social Slowdown podcast, where we interview someone who has taken a step back from social media and figured out how to run a successful business without depending on social media.

Today I'm interviewing Jo Gifford, an author, podcaster, writer, creative thought leader, and prolific human connector. You'll hear about how Jo hustled to create a business with a huge following - and how that hustle led to burnout. She'll then talk about why and how she decided to pursue a more intentional business that brings her more joy every day.

Trigger warning: In this episode, we talk briefly about the grief of losing a parent, so please proceed with caution if this topic is sensitive for you.

• Jo Gifford's Website
• The Human Connection Experience Podcast
• How Radically Reducing Your Time on Social Can Grow Your Business

Watch the YouTube clip

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/burning-down-the-machine-jo-gifford/ 

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2021 was the year I started my YouTube channel! And in 2021, I posted 76 YouTube videos.

In this episode, I share with you my tips and suggestions on how you, too, can efficiently create YouTube videos, and how to go about creating a content strategy.

This episode will cover:

• My takeaways from a year on YouTube
• Tips to help you produce your own youtube videos
• How I'd do things differently
• Recommendations for if you're thinking about starting a YouTube channel
• How you can strategically plan your YouTube content and analyze whether or not it's worth it for you

Please note that this episode was originally posted as a YouTube video, which is why you may hear some fun sound effects that you don't normally hear in Social Slowdown episodes.

Click here to watch the YouTube video

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Earlier this week, I spoke with Tara Newman about how to make more revenue in your business, and next week, I'll be releasing the episode with Megan Flatt where we talk about personal outreach. So I wanted to take some time in between these two episodes to talk to you about three marketing metrics that you hear about all the time - that don't really matter: followers, listeners, and traffic.

In this episode, I'll be talking about the four levels of commitment your audience can fall into, and what those levels mean for your business. We'll reshape the way we think about our marketing strategy to focus less on quantity and more on quality and connecting with your audience.

Listen to  Ep. 13: How Much Money Do You Need to Make? + How to Price/Sell With Tara Newman: https://www.socialslowdown.com/how-much-money-tara-newman/

For the full show notes/to see the visual of the four levels of commitment, go to https://www.socialslowdown.com/revenue-leads-traffic/

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In this week's episode of the Social Slowdown podcast, I'm talking with Gina Horkey, founder and co-owner of Horkey Handbook.

Gina used to work the corporate 9-to-5, but she's now making a living helping people start and grow their own freelance writing and virtual assistant businesses.

In this episode, Gina gives us her recommendations for people who are trying to get their first (or next) clients without relying on social media and her advice on making connections and prospecting with potential clients.

Visit the Horkey HandBook website

Visit Gina's Website

How to Find Qualified Leads and Pitch Your Virtual Assistant Services

How to Write Pitches that Get Noticed

How to Cold Pitch Like a Pro with Joe Dyton

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/client-pitch-gina-horkey/

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This week I'm welcoming Lacy Boggs back to talk about something we both have experience with - and that's invisible audiences.

In this episode, Lacy and I talk about the importance of knowing that your audience is not always trackable - and that there's probably a good chunk of people that are invisible to you. So what do we do with this audience, and how do we serve them? Find out in this short episode!

Relevant Links:

• The Content Direction Agency
• The Social Slowdown podcast

For the full show notes and transcript, visit socialslowdown.com

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You've heard of all the studies about the impact of social media on youth and cyberbullying - but there's not much talk about how social media usage impacts our mental health, as entrepreneurs and business owners.

When we rely on social media for our businesses and our livelihood, we can see some negative impacts on our own health. And over the past 8 years of running my business, I've seen some of those impacts myself. So how can we change the way we use social media so as to NOT completely take over our lives? How can we continue to use social media for our businesses, without feeling like we're attached to our phones 24/7?

In this episode, I'll be sharing some tips on how to decrease your dependency on social media not just for your business, but for your mental health.

For the full show notes, transcript, and a list of all relevant studies & resources mentioned, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/social-media-mental-health/

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Today I'm speaking with Shulamit Ber Levtov, AKA Shula - or you may know her as The Entrepreneur's Therapist or the cofounder of The Business Therapy Center.

Shulamit is also an entrepreneur herself and works with her clients to help manage and overcome the anxieties and stresses of running a business. She also has over 20 years of experience supporting women's mental health, as she is a licensed trauma therapist.

In today's episode, we're talking about how we can change our mindset and the way we show up for ourselves and our businesses. 

Shula gives us insight into:

• 6 risk factors to mental health for entrepreneurs
• Lead & lag indicators
• 3 principles of stress resilience
• Self-kindness & self-compassion 

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/mental-health-kpi-shulamit-berlevtov/

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Today I'm talking with Ashley Gartland, a business coach, and mentor who helps people do less work.

 Ashley helps people with time freedom - and so in this episode, we'll learn about how she helps her clients alleviate extra work in the future by leaning on templates and automation now.

You'll learn how she helps her clients to create that high-touch feeling with their customers, without needing to create content from scratch every single time.

Ashley also talks about how she used to utilize a bunch of different platforms for her business - like Facebook groups, Instagram, her podcast, Facebook ads, email opt-ins, etc. - but pulled back from these when she realized they weren't doing much for her business. Now she spends less time on social media, and more time doing things she loves - like reading and being outdoors.

This episode is for you if you're also struggling with responding immediately, any time you get an Instagram or email notification. We'll talk about how we can work on our reactionary responses to create less stress and less work for ourselves.

Learn more about Ashley

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/subtractive-approach-ashley-gartland/

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Did you know that childhood and workplace trauma may actually impact the way that you're running your business today?

Today I'm speaking with licensed clinical social worker and business therapist, Nicole Lewis-Keeber, about burnout, hustle, and trauma responses in relation to your business.

With 16 years of experience as a therapist, Nicole now works with entrepreneurs to help them create mindset practices and build healthy relationships with her business while working to break the stigma of mental health within business ownership.

In this episode we talk about the way trauma (especially childhood trauma) can impact the way you structure your business and the way you interact with your clients and team. And there are many ways in which this trauma can manifest - whether that be in money, marketing, or social media.

We attempt to answer the questions:

• How we can be more trauma conscious as entrepreneurs?
• How can we let go of the codependent relationship we have with social media?
• How can we teach ourselves to become better - more inclusive - when we're creating content?
• How can we build a healthy relationship with our businesses?
  
  

If you're feeling codependent on social media for your business or you're stuck in an unhealthy relationship with one (or multiple) aspect/s of your businesses, this episode is for you.

Content advisory: This episode mentions the idea of how trauma can impact the way you run your business (no specific details are shared). If this is a difficult topic for you, you may want to skip this episode. We hope that you will make an informed decision on whether or not this episode may be beneficial to you.

Click here for the full show notes and transcript

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For our third case study of the Social Slowdown podcast, I'm interviewing Leah Neaderthal, the founder of Smart Gets Paid.

Leah is a sales coach for women who run B2B consulting and coaching businesses. She started her career in corporate marketing, taught herself everything she needed to know about selling, overcame "selling shyness", and created a sales approach that feels comfortable, builds strong client relationships and gets results.

In this episode, Leah tells us about her decision to remove Facebook and Instagram from her phone. You'll hear about why she decided to cut back on social media, how it has affected her personally and professionally, and how she's been able to continue running a successful business without depending on these two platforms.

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/case-study-leah-neaderthal/

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Today I'm here to talk with Samantha Pollack of Cult of Personality to talk about feminist copywriting.

"That's a real thing?"

Yep. In this episode, Sam will share with us how she helps feminist businesses owners to align their marketing efforts with their values. No one likes feeling like they're just another number on an email list - and that's exactly what Samantha helps to tackle - she helps businesses treat their readers like HUMANS.

If you're struggling with your email marketing or you want to learn how to create relatable effective email copy, then this episode is for you.

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/feminist-copywriting-ethical-marketing-samantha-pollack/

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Today I'm speaking with Shannon Mattern, a pro in teaching solopreneurs how to build their websites from scratch. Shannon also mentors web designers on how to package, price, and position their web design services without burnout.

In this episode, Shannon will talk to us about how she leverages other people's audiences to benefit her business, and how she uses social media to connect with other people and get on their radar for potential collaboration.

But the main topic of conversation in this episode is how her freebie offer has been incredibly successful - so successful she was making enough money to pay off her mortgage.

If you want to learn how she transitioned away from her 1:1 service-based business to utilize her free challenge to make money, grow her email list (for free!)  and leave her day job, then this episode is for you.

Learn more about Shannon

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/free-content-affiliates-shannon-mattern/

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Today I'm speaking with Krista Miller, the summit guru. Krista is the founder of Summit In A Box, and she also runs the Simply Profitable Designer Summit.

At Summit In A Box, Krista helps entrepreneurs 3x their monthly revenue through virtual summits without wondering where to start or what to do next. Her method is focused on strong connections, collaboration, and making a difference in the lives of everyone involved. The best part? She makes it easy! With every strategy, copy template, website template, script, tech tutorial, and resources you'd ever need, your summit prep just got a whole lot easier! 

This episode is packed full of tips and info on summits. We go over:

• What is a summit? 
• How you can use summits to grow your business
• The benefits of hosting a summit
• How to pitch speakers who are going to bring results and get results 
• The benefits of being a speaker at a summit
• Plus more!

If you're interested in becoming a speaker at a summit, or you're thinking of hosting one yourself in the future, this episode is for you. Krista gives us insight into allllll things summit related.

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/krista-miller-grow-email-list-with-summits/

• 12 Secrets To Your First Profitable Online Summit
• 3-Part Framework to Triple Your Monthly Revenue w/ a Summit (while building your list for free)
• Learn more about Summit In A Box
• Learn more about the Simply Profitable Designer Summit
• Watch the YouTube clip

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Today I'm here with Stacey Harris of Uncommonly More,  a podcast production agency that helps service-based businesses to use their podcast as a platform to generate leads and build a bigger impact and a larger audience.

Stacey has recorded 500 episodes of her own podcast, where she gives advice on how to give value to your audience and to educate them on what you're trying to sell so you can shorten your sales cycle.

Because of her backlog of episodes, Stacey is able to convert a lot of new people to her podcast production agency without really relying on social media - and that's what we'll be talking about today.

This episode is all about how you can use your podcast - and your voice - to promote your business and get the RIGHT people to find you.

This episode is NOT about monetizing your podcast or using sponsorships to grow your business - it's meant for those of you who maybe are thinking of starting a podcast or those of you who already have one but it's not generating the leads you want.

And this is all possible even with a small audience.

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/podcasts-for-lead-generation-stacey-harris/

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Hey friends! Today I'm here with Maryellen Dance of the Okay-ish Podcast to talk about comparisonitis on social media.

Maryellen is a therapist in New York who's working to bring awareness to the dark side of social media that makes us feel bad about ourselves, feel the need to be present all the time online, and gives us a level of isolation like never before.

In today's episode, we're talking about HOW these social media platforms play a role in affecting us mentally and how we can navigate such a saturated online space.

We also cover:

• vulnerability on social media
• influencers and performative content
• experiencing the imposter complex
• how can we decrease our comparisonitis

Listen to the Okay-ish Podcast
Follow Maryellen on Instagram
Subscribe to Maryellen's new YouTube Channel
Learn more about Maryellen

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/overcoming-comparisonitis-on-social-media-with-maryellen-dance/

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This week’s episode is a special 2-parter! My conversation with Erika Tebbens was so long that we’ve split it up into two parts: the first part, which you’re listening to now, and the second part which will be released on Thursday of this week! 

Erika Tebbens focuses on growth strategy for established entrepreneurs who are looking to figure out what’s next for them and their journey. So this episode is all about how to grow your business by bringing value to conversations and building relationships with others

In this episode, Erika and I talk about:

• Imposter syndrome; You do not have to do what other people are doing in order to be successful!
• How to know what to do more of if you don't necessarily know what's working for you
• The importance of understanding fundamental business knowledge before trying the “fancy, shiny things”
• The importance of relationship-building over time to build trust
• Abundance mentality and leaning into your strengths

Stay tuned for the second part of this episode which will be released later this week!

For the full show notes, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/relationship-marketing-with-erika-tebbens-part-1/

Relevant links:

• Learn more about Erika
• The Sell It, Sister! Podcast
• Rebellious Success Program

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In today's episode, I'm speaking with Melissa Harstine, an expert when it comes to customer research interviews, all about voice of customer.

Melissa helps her clients understand what their audiences are thinking and feeling so that they can take those insights and apply them to their business. Melissa has built her business using a unique approach, prioritizing her health while also running a successful business - so you'll hear all about how she's designed her business while dealing with chronic health symptoms.

This episode also covers:

• How to make your business work for YOU
• How to use "borrowed" audiences (AKA guest podcasting) to grow your business
• How you can do customer research in your own business and what types of questions you should be asking

So if you're thinking of shifting away from social media and doing more collaborative marketing strategies, then this episode is for you!

• Learn more about Melissa
• Get Melissa's guide on how to do an effective customer research interview 

For the full show notes and transcript, visit socialslowdown.com

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In this episode, I'm speaking with Kristin Wilson of the Society for Creative Founders about how you can intentionally build a community with purpose.

What does that mean? Well, in this episode, we cover the following topics:

• how you can engage with people on socials to boost rapport, instead of posting and ghosting
• how you can build a business and a life that you love
• how to set boundaries for social media
• how to create strong, foundational content before incorporating it in your social media

Want to know a little more about Kristin?
Kristin Wilson is a business educator for creative entrepreneurs. As the owner of the Society for Creative Founders, she works with stationers, artists, designers, and makers to help them to build their business sustainably through a signature six pillar method. With more than 12 years of experience as a small business owner, she hosts an online community, teaches workshops in her local small town, and creates conference experiences for women to receive the education they need to grow their business well. On any given day you’ll find her with her rescue pup sleeping at her feet and classical piano humming in her earbuds to keep her ADHD at bay while creating a business and a life she loves every single day. 

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/community-building-with-kristin-wilson/

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This week I'm here with a solo episode! Last week, I led a live training last week for Love At First Search all about maximizing your marketing time by creating evergreen repurposing content that can generate new leads - and in the live training, I outlined five common time-wasting marketing mistakes, and then I worked through their solutions.

As I touched upon marketing mistake #4, which (spoiler alert) is repurposing your work across multiple channels, I realized that I very ironically spent a bunch of time on creating these slides and getting this presentation together for only one purpose - so I decided to share this framework here with you on the podcast!

In this episode, you'll hear about the five most common marketing mistakes that I've made in my own business and I see a lot of other people make - as well as five "fixes" or alternative solutions for these marketing mistakes.

I'll give you some specific examples of how I've made these mistakes in my own business and what I've done as an alternative.

For the full show notes and graphics mentioned in this video, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/5-marketing-mistakes

Join Attract And Activate: https://attractandactivate.com/

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If you're here, that probably means you've listened to Part 1 of this episode. In the previous episode, Erika and I talked about a bunch of different things when it comes to relationship building for your business. In this episode, we talk a bit more about social media. We also cover:

• Experimentation of marketing strategy on social media 
• Influencers vs. experts
• Reciprocity on social media...
• and more!

Erika Tebbens focuses on growth strategy for established entrepreneurs who are looking to figure out what’s next for them and their journey. To learn more about Erika and her business, click the links below.

Learn more about Erika

The Sell It, Sister! Podcast

Rebellious Success Program

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In this episode of the Social Slowdown Podcast I'm speaking with Victoria Levitan, video coach & business strategist all about how you can use video in your content planning.

Victoria gives tips on how you can begin to get your video content out to the right audience and what type of content to create. We also talk about how small businesses can benefit from having a YouTube channel, so if you're thinking of starting a YouTube channel (or you already have one and you need a nudge to start creating more content), then this episode is for you!

Learn more about Victoria Levitan

Get her free YouTube Jumpstart Guide

Video: How to Make Money on YouTube

Book a free discovery call with Victoria

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/video-content-planning-with-victoria-levitan/
 

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In today's episode, I'm speaking with Theresa Truong Baretta, CEO of Loop Link.

Theresa helps business owners standardize their operating procedures so that they can spend less time managing and directing the day-to-day operations.

In this episode, that's what we're talking about! - How you can get more time back for yourself by putting marketing and content production systems in place to make the things that you've built work for you.

We talk about some examples of SOPs that we've put in place for our own businesses when creating content such as blog posts, YouTube videos, and social content.

If you're looking to "be the owner who isn't owned by your business", as Theresa would say, then this episode is for you!

Learn more about Theresa & Loop Link Inc.

Get Theresa's FREE Standard Operating Procedure Bundle

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/sops-with-theresa-baretta/

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I'm welcoming Lacy Boggs back for this week's episode! In this episode, Lacy and I talk about:

• How to ensure you're creating content for everyone 
• How everyone's customer journey is different - and understanding the importance of meeting people at whichever stage they're at
• Creating robust nurture sequences for people who maybe aren't ready to buy your product or service yet

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/customer-awareness-with-lacy-boggs/

Liked this episode? Check out some of our other podcast episodes with Lacy!

Episode 9: Scaling up & Down as Your Business Evolves: https://www.socialslowdown.com/scaling-your-business-lacy-boggs/

Episode 18: Invisible Audiences: https://www.socialslowdown.com/invisible-audiences-lacy-boggs/

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Today I'm here with Sweta Vikram, an Ayurveda wellness-based coach, and speaker who helps people thrive on their own terms. Sweta uses a holistic approach, incorporating mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and more to enhance productivity and overall well-being.

Sweta uses writing to make sense of the world - and in this episode, Sweta tells us how she's able to balance writing, creating content, and enjoying her personal life.

This episode also covers:

• How to be open to feedback and new perspectives
• Finding the balance between inspiration and deadline
• The power of building habits to improve productivity and decrease stress
• Figuring out what writing means to you

So if you enjoy writing, or maybe you're trying to push yourself outside of your comfort zone a bit and want to find new creative outlets, then this episode is for you!

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/finding-time-to-write-with-sweta-vikram/

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This week's podcast guest is Stephanie Hayes!

You may remember her from Episode 7: Aligning Your Marketing With Your Business & Life Goals With Stephanie Hayes.

This week is a shorter episode where we talk about figuring out what works best for YOU and YOUR business instead of just blindly following what other people have said has worked for THEM. Stephanie talks about the importance of being authentically you - (psst, I'll give you a hint! This not only helps YOU connect with your biz, but helps your AUDIENCE connect with your business, too).

Stephanie shares with us how she goes about creating content without trying to fit into one particular framework or formula, and why getting back to your business passion is so important.

If you want to hear how to make everything flow really well in your biz, then this episode is for you!

For the full show notes and transcript, https://www.socialslowdown.com/ditch-perfectionism-with-stephanie-hayes/

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This week's episode is all about virtual coworking.

You may remember Megan Flatt from Episode 15 which was all about using personal outreach to grow your audience. Today, I'm speaking with Megan again, more specifically about her online virtual coworking space, Focus Sessions.

Focus Sessions are timed, structured, virtual sessions where you can get important tasks done with the accountability of other people. There's something about the human brain that functions better when we have other people there along for the ride with us - and Megan's got the science down - even to the number of minutes!

In this episode, Megan will talk all about what Focus Sessions are and why they're helpful for people who work from home - and how they're especially great for getting those important but not necessarily urgent tasks done.

If you struggle to get tasks done while working from home, give Focus Sessions a try at focus-sessions.com

You can even try a session for free!

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/virtual-coworking-with-megan-flatt/

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During the pandemic, the number of Pinterest users skyrocketed. But Pinterest isn't just for wedding hairstyles and tattoo inspiration. Pinterest can be a huge channel to grow your business.

In today's episode, I'm speaking with Presh Rodgers, the Pinterest Badass. Presh knows everything (well, pretty much everything) there is to know about using Pinterest for your business. In this episode, Presh gives us insight into how she's used Pinterest for her own business, how she's helped her clients grow their businesses with Pinterest, and how you, too, can benefit from this platform.

Learn more about Presh Rodgers
Connect with Presh on Instagram
Presh's Pinterest

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/pinterest-for-business-with-presh-rodgers/

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Helen Tremethick is a Holistic Business Coach, Co-Conspirator, and Regenerative Business Designer for entrepreneurs who are ready to show up more fully (and authentically) in their lives and their businesses. Since 2011, Helen has worked with hundreds of business owners using a proprietary methodology called Love & Badassery, which combines contemporary business strategy, values-based business models, and a hefty dose of what makes you unique. 

Helen lives on a permaculture farm in the Canadian countryside, which means if you ever hop on a call with her, you might hear roosters.

In this episode, Helen and I talk about regenerative business systems vs. sustainable business systems. Whereas sustainability = net-zero, regenerative = more revenue and less output. We can learn a lot about regenerative business design from Helen's business as well as her permaculture principles (hence the carrots).

We also talk about:
🥕 Recognizing how your business shows up in the world and how you show up in your business
🥕 Knowing what your values are and extending them into every piece of your life
🥕 Performing vs providing in your business - especially when it comes to social media
🥕 Showing up as YOU, and knowing that it's okay to not be everyone's cup of tea.

To find out more about Helen, check out helentremethick.com

For the full show notes & transcript, visit socialslowdown.com/regenerative-business-with-helen-tremethick

One quote from this episode that we love is, "The work isn't about pivoting, it's often about becoming more of ourselves and getting more and more focused on the real work that we do, the real change that we create."

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"Having a podcast is the most powerful networking tool you could ever have."

Maybe you're thinking of starting your own podcast or you've toyed around with the idea of becoming a guest on other people's podcasts, but you've never really known where to start. Today I'm talking with Jaclyn Mellone about leveraging podcasts to help you get more clients.

We talk about:

• Building authority - whether you have your own podcast or you show up on someone else's
• The advantages of hosting your own and being a guest
• How to showcase your expertise
• How to pitch yourself to podcast hosts
• And more!

Get Jaclyn's Podcast Guest Plug-N-Pitch System

Liked this episode? Check out our other episode about podcasting: Ep. 28: Use a Podcast for Lead Generation (Even With a Small Audience) With Stacey Harris

Get the full show notes and transcript at socialslowdown.com

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For the next week, I'll be offering FREE website reviews!

To get feedback on your website (which includes a  5-7 minute video with three to four actionable, tactical changes you can make to your website today to get more traffic to your site), head on over to loveatfirstsearch.com/website-review and fill out the quick questionnaire to get started.

If you're listening to this after this offer has expired, don't worry! Sign up for our email list so you won't miss out the next time around.

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Today's episode is republished from an episode I did on Tara Newman's podcast back in May 2022 titled How Referrals and Relationships Create a More Profitable Business.

The reason I'm republishing this episode is that tomorrow, August 23rd at 1pm ET, I'm hosting a masterclass with Tara: 3 Ways Online Business Culture is Stopping You From Getting Paid Like an Expert, and wanted to introduce her work to my audience. Be sure to check out the links below to sign up for the masterclass (and if you're watching this after August 23rd, make sure to head over to her website so you can get more of Tara's wisdom!)

In this episode, Tara and I talk all about how referrals and relationships can help you create a profitable business. If you're spending so much time doing mass media types of marketing (i.e., running Facebook ads, trying to grow your reach on Instagram - or maybe even SEO), it might be time to take a step back and use your referral network instead to convert those leads.

• The Bold Money Revolution Podcast
• Sign up for Tara's FREE masterclass
• Sign up for Tara's email list
• Ep. 13: How Much Money Do You Need to Make? + How to Price/Sell

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You may have heard the recent controversy regarding Google Analytics and its privacy concerns - and that's what I'm talking about today with Lanie Lamarre.

In this episode, Lanie and I talk about:

• Google Analytics privacy laws and how it affects you as a business owner AND a consumer
• GDPR compliance
• What is third-party data?
• Should you leave Google Analytics altogether?
• "Safer" alternatives to Google Analytics

Watch the YouTube video
Learn more about Lanie Lamarre
Listen to Episode 5 with Lanie: Establishing Benchmarks

Plausible Analytics
Fathom Analytics

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Natalie Taylor, a multi-six-figure launch expert (with no team or course!) specializes in launch strategy and copywriting for online course-based businesses, so in this episode of the Social Slowdown podcast, Natalie and I are talking all about launching, webinars, workshops, programs, and: 

• Ways you can simplify/streamline funnel activity when running webinars
• How you can launch without having to go live on social media all the time
• If you NEED to launch, and if not, what are some alternatives?

And Natalie is launching Launch Lemonade soon so make sure to head on over to launchlemonade.com to sign up for her waitlist. 

Relevant Links:

• The Missing Ink with Natalie Taylor
• Launch Lemonade
• Big Brand Energy
• Ep. 15: Shoulder Tapping: Using Personal Outreach to Grow Your Audience With Megan Flatt

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If you're on social media, you've probably heard the term "imposter complex" or "imposter syndrome". Today I'm bringing in the "reluctant expert in the imposter complex", as she likes to describe herself - Tanya Geisler to talk all about the imposter complex.

In this episode, we cover:

• What is the imposter complex?
• How the imposter complex shows up in entrepreneurs
• People pleasing, inclusivity, and procrastination
• The way social media expects us to behave
• How we can become more aware of the imposter complex and recognize when we're working against ourselves

Learn more about Tanya Geisler

Get Tanya's free training:  Five ICONIC shifts leaders use to overcome Imposter Complex

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SEOctober is back! Our 4th annual month-long challenge is starting on Monday, October 3rd.

 BUT, it's totally different than in previous years, so in this solo episode, I'll share with you how this year is going to run, how it's different from previous years,  and how it'll hopefully work out better for you if you join this year. 

If you're listening to this in September or October 2022, you can head over to SEOctober.com and join us for just $99 -- even if you're not there for lesson #1, we'll catch you up to speed. 

And if you're binging this later, that's okay, too! Head over to socialslowdown.com to join our email list so you learn about our more time-sensitive offers moving forward. 

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Krista Walsh is a website copywriter and strategist who helps client-based businesses attract more of the right clients to their websites through intentional messaging.

If you own a business and you have a website (which, you should!) then this episode is for you!

We talk about:
- How Krista used copywriting to market her business when social media let her down
- Understanding the stage of business your clients are in to resonate with them through your messaging
- Pain points, hesitations, and motivations for buying
- DIYing your website copy vs. hiring an expert
- The use of empathetic messaging
- And more!

Learn more about Krista Walsh

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I'm sure most people would agree that the way we consume content has drastically changed over the past 15 years. But we've also seen major changes just within the past few years too, ever since the pandemic.

In this episode, Jeni B and I discuss how our consumption habits have changed over the last decade, how the landscape of marketing has changed, and the ways people are coping and adjusting to these changes.

We talk about how blogging, social media, and even just going about our everyday lives has changed and what that means for us as online business owners. How can we continue to engage with and support people?

jenibee.co

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Michelle Mazur is a message coach who helps expert business owners who often feel overlooked to create messaging that will get them seen. She does so using her 3 Word Rebellion process, which we talk about in this episode. This episode is alllllll about brand messaging. We also discuss:

• Things that you should and shouldn't include in your website copy
• Voice of customer research
• The relationship between SEO and brand messaging
• Repurposing content and messaging that's worked in the past
• How to organize and structure your messaging

- Learn more about Michelle Mazur
- 3 Word Rebellion

Listen to these other Rebel Uprising podcast episodes :

• WHAT THE HELL IS MESSAGING & WHY DOES YOUR BUSINESS NEED IT?
• SELL THE RESULTS, NOT THE SOLUTION
• WHY YOU SHOULD DITCH IDEAL CLIENT AVATARS & DO THIS INSTEAD
  
  

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"So I went to my team and was like, 'We are gonna only have 9 posts on our Instagram and we're gonna archive everything else" - Jordan Gill

After taking a look at her social media analytics, Jordan Gill (of Systems Saved Me) decided to ditch the way she'd previously been using Instagram for her business for a 9-grid strategy.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How and why Jordan "9-gridded" her Instagram
• Pivoting your business/niching down
• Word-of-mouth marketing
• Content or relationship marketing - which one is better for you to get good SEO results?

Jordan Gill is a 7-Figure Business Strategist whose mission is for high-achieving business owners to prioritize rest without sacrificing revenue! She’s helped over 400 coaches and consultants work with clients only 4 days a month with VIP Days! When she’s not spreading the gospel of VIP Days, she’s working on one of her thousand-piece jigsaw puzzles or traveling the world with her husband and bonus son. 

Jordan helps service providers and strategists structure and sell virtual VIP days. Click here to get her Free VIP Day Roadmap!

The Membership to Get Data-Driven by Lanie Lamarre

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Jen Mayer is a Brooklyn-based mom of two, a financial counselor, a former doula, and has been self-employed her entire career life. Jen is a financial counselor trained through the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education (AFCPE). Her passion is working with parents and self-employed people to implement financial strategies so they can live with financial confidence, less stress, and meet their lifelong goals. 

In this episode, Jen and I discuss:

• As a self-employed person, how do you make sure you're building a financially stable business?
• How to give yourself a benefits package as a self-employed person
• Retirement and 401Ks
• Financial freedom

- We Are Fully Funded website
- Get your free Financial Roadmap to Financial Freedom

For the full show notes and transcript, visit socialslowdown.com

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You're sick of posting day after day on social media, only to do it over and over again in order to get any smidgen of sales. If this sounds like you, then this episode is for you!

In this episode, I'm speaking with Liz Wilcox, the email marketing expert.

The Fresh Princess of Email Marketing, Liz Wilcox is an Email Strategist and Keynote Speaker showing small businesses how to build online relationships and make real money with emails. She’s best known for selling a blog, turning a $9 offer into multiple six-figures (without ads), and helping you untangle the email “knot” with pop culture references. She loves the 90s, headbands, and the beach. 

We talk all about how you DON'T need to rely on social media to market your business and how you can utilize the power of email marketing to get people interested enough to buy from you. We also discuss:

• How to get people to actually open your emails
• Email vs. social media marketing for your biz
• Diversifying the ways you make money

• Get Liz's Email Marketing Membership for only $9
• Learn more about Liz and email marketing

For the full show notes, transcript, and more, visit socialslowdown.com

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When it comes to finding clients, there are lots of different strategies you can choose from. For Rebecca Tracey, she's found that the best way for her is through collaborating and networking - NOT spending countless hours filming TikTok videos, uploading Instagram stories and creating Canva posts.

In this episode, Rebecca gives us insight into why she focuses more on relationship building instead of using social media to get coaching clients. We also talk about:

• Some of the marketing gaps that many programs don't include
• 3 key marketing strategies she gives to her clients
• The pressure of constantly being on social media, and how you can get away from this marketing strategy
• Marketing advice for businesses with service provider clients

Rebecca Tracey is the founder of The Uncaged Life where she works with coaches and online business owners to get clear on their brand message, create packages that sell, and help them get clients. Rebecca runs a highly engaged online Facebook group of over 15,000 entrepreneurs. She started her business while living in a Chevy '81 campervan (and now owns a sweet upgraded van) and lives in her dream town of Squamish BC surrounded by mountains, where she is truly living her Uncaged life. 

• The Uncaged Life
• FREE TRAINING: HOW TO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA
• Watch the YouTube clip

For the full show notes and transcript, visit socialslowdown.com

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I participated in the challenge to write 50,000 words during the month of November for National Novel Writing Month - NaNoWriMo.

And I met that goal of 50,000 words! I wanted to share with you how my first year of participating in NaNoWriMo went, how I had to rearrange my schedule (and my life!) to be able to complete this challenge, how I planned ahead, and some of the other things I did to be able to write 50,000 words of a novel.

My fellow business-ownin friends Megan Flatt of Let's Collective and Focus Sessions, and Stacy Spensley of Semi-Crunchy Mama also participated in NaNoWriMo, and they're here with me to discuss their experiences as well.

In this episode, we go over seven (7) marketing and business lessons the three of us learned from NaNoWriMo.

• NaNoWriMo
• Learn more about Stacy Spensley (Semi-Crunchy Mama)
• Let's Collective by Megan Flatt
• Focus Sessions by Megan Flatt

For the full show notes and transcript, visit socialslowdown.com

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In episode 9 of the Social Slowdown podcast, Lacy Boggs mentioned she was going to start a fiction podcast about business and marketing - Ace Stone, Marketing Detective. And she did just that! The first volume of her podcast is live, and she's here today to talk to us all about it!

Lacy Boggs is a content strategist, author of the bestselling Kindle ebook, Make a Killing With Content, and the mastermind behind the podcast, "Ace Stone, Marketing Detective. As director of The Content Direction Agency, she helps small business owners create and implement content marketing strategy that feels like a playground for ideas and results in deceptively powerful nurture content to create massive growth. 

Other episodes with Lacy Boggs:

• Ep. 9: Scaling up & Down as Your Business Evolves With Lacy Boggs
• Ep. 18: Invisible Audiences With Lacy Boggs
• Ep. 35: Nature Hike Through Customer Awareness With Lacy Boggs

Other relevant links:

• Listen to the Ace Stone Marketing Detective podcast
• More about Lacy and The Content Direction Agency

Support the Show.

Lacy Boggs is a content strategist, author of the bestselling Kindle ebook, Make a Killing With Content, and the mastermind behind the podcast, "Ace Stone, Marketing Detective. As director of The Content Direction Agency, she helps small business owners create and implement content marketing strategy that feels like a playground for ideas and results in deceptively powerful nurture content to create massive growth.  

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As of January 2023, we're archiving all of our Instagram posts and shifting to a 9-grid strategy.

In this episode, Jocelyn Koury (our Content Marketing Coordinator) and I talk about some of the changes we're making in 2023, how we've decreased our dependence on social media over the past year, and how you can participate in a challenge we're running from January 23-27. 

This episode will give you insight into:

• A "behind-the-scenes" of what Love At First Search is doing to decrease our dependence on social media
• How you can make better use of your time on social media, or getting off of social all together
• How running a service-based business has differed over the past year from a product-based business when it comes to social media 
• The 9 things we're adding to our Instagram grid as we archive all of our other posts

For the full transcript and show notes, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/sunsetting-your-social-media-with-jocelyn-koury/

Relevant links:

• Join the Social Slowdown Challenge, January 23-27, 2023
• Never miss an episode! Sign up for the Social Slowdown email newsletter
• Learn more about Jocelyn and The Cozy Tangerine

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The FREE Social Slowdown Challenge starts next week!! (If you're listening to this in January of 2023)

In this short episode, I'm talking about what to expect for next week's Social Slowdown Challenge. I go a bit more into detail on the logistics, expectations, resources and more.

The Social Slowdown Challenge is a FREE challenge we're offering from January 23-27, 2023 to help you explore your business relationship with social media and learn how to be more intentional with your time and energy.

You can opt for the free podcast episodes that we'll be releasing every morning from Januar 23-27 right here in this podcast feed, or you can delve deeper and join the free challenge to be part of our online Circle community, come to daily roundtable Zoom discussions (every weekday at 12pm EST), download free worksheets, and more!

Head to socialslowdown.com/challenge to learn more and join the challenge!

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The Social Slowdown Challenge begins next Monday - so consider this "Episode 0" of the challenge...

In this episode, I'm going over a few things I want you to take note of before we actually start the Social Slowdown Challenge.

After listening to this episode, take a few days over this weekend to do some digging and sleuthing and really just notice your behavior when it comes to social media and online marketing.

What is the Social Slowdown Challenge?
The Social Slowdown Challenge is a free challenge that will help you  explore your business relationship with social media.

How does the Challenge work?

Every morning from January 23-27, we’ll release a 20-30 minute podcast episode.
If you’re already subscribed, it’ll show up in your existing feed; if you’re not, subscribe now!

If you just want to follow along with the podcast prompts, that’s awesome.

Or if you want to delve deeper, join the free challenge to be part of our online Circle community, come to daily roundtable Zoom discussions (every weekday at 12pm EST), download free worksheets, and more! 

Relevant info from this episode:

• RescueTime: Fully Automated Time Tracking Software

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What do you need your marketing to do for you? What would a marketing victory look like?
Sample marketing objectives: 

• Brand awareness
• Lead generation: list building, inquiries/discover consults, cold sales, etc.
• Lead qualification/sales
• Decrease churn
• Increase website traffic

Choose a primary and secondary marketing objective. For Love At First Search, these are ours: 

• Primary: lead generation (measured in discovery calls for strategy sessions + sales for our group coaching program)
• Secondary: Brand awareness (measured in branded search traffic and colder referrals) 

PROMPT: What worked in 2022 in your marketing to achieve these objectives?

• Quantitative data (if you have it): Google Analytics
• Qualitative data: 
  • Where did your last 5 clients come from? Not sure, go ask them. 
  • Shoot a quick broadcast to your email list to ask
  • Add a question on your intake form “how did you hear about …”
  • Ask on social media how people found out about you

PROMPT: How did you FEEL about your marketing tactics in 2022?

DIY Scorecard: 

Rate your 2022 marketing by 3 criteria: 

1. Time/money invested on this strategy
2. Effectiveness of this strategy (how well did it work to accomplish your objectives)
3. Enjoyment of this strategy

Here's a starting list of different marketing strategies you may have used last year:

• Social Media
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • TikTok
• Content marketing
  • Blogging
  • Podcasting 
  • YouTube
  • SEO 
• Email marketing
  • Newsletters
  • Email automations
• Paid advertising
  • Facebook/Instagram
  • Google ads 
• Relationship marketing
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Collaborations
  • Guest expert trainings 
  • In person networking
  • Referral generation

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In this episode we're talking all about the ECONOMICS of marketing (it should come as no surprise that Meg is a total nerd about this stuff 🤓).
But don't worry, there won't be any supply & demand charts here ... just a conversation about making choices with limited resources.

Here are the five economic principles discussed in relationship to our marketing:

1. Tradeoffs: Every yes is a no to something else -- where one thing increases, and another must decrease
2. Opportunity costs: The cost of something isn’t just money, it’s also what you give up to get it (including your time, your energy, and your mental load)
3. No such thing as a free lunch: In 1973, the artist Richard Serra coined the phrase, "If something is free, you're the product." At the time he was referring to television, but the same holds true for social media ... your data is being packaged up for sale to advertisers.
4. Sunk cost fallacy: We have a tendency to follow through on something if we have already invested time, effort, or money into it, whether or not the current costs outweigh the benefits.
5. Money is not wealth: All the money in the world will still leave one starving if goods and services are not available. So what does wealth look and feel like to you? 

Quote:
The more money we have to spend, the more we spend. The more time we have, the more of it we spend working. When we give ourselves less time, we also need to figure out where to focus the remaining time. It’s not about doing more with less. It’s about doing less with less to achieve more. You need to do the right tasks with your restricted time and have other people do the right tasks with their restricted time. - Clockwork, Mike Michalowicz

Homework:

• Imagine your ideal day or week → What could you be doing instead if you spent less time on your marketing or your business? 
• What assets do you already have that you could reuse, repurpose or optimize? → You don't always have to create something NEW to be effective.

Next steps:

• If CONTENT MARKETING + SEO (ie getting traffic from google for your website, blog, podcast or youtube channel) is a strategy that you want to embrace as part of your 2023 marketing, we’re starting our Attract & Activate program on February 6. 
• Register to find out more at loveatfirstsearch.com/webinar to get a full live overview of what you can do over the next 4 months to get started or improve your search traffic.
• Find out more about the program at attractandactivate.com

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Today I'm here with Andréa Jones to talk about our 2023 goals, boundaries and resolutions surrounding social media.

Andréa Jones is the social media strategist who helps coaches and experts go from stuck to strategic, passion-led powerhouses and visionary thought leaders with her simple approach to social media: “take one little step each day. Build your social media savvy overtime.” (You may remember Andrea from last year's episode,  Social Media Boundaries & Metrics.) 

You can find her online at onlinedrea.com or @onlinedrea on Instagram.

 This episode covers:

• Finding and setting boundaries surrounding social media
• The pros of repurposing content across social channels (and the pros of reusing old posts!)
• Batching content for social to help set boundaries
• Utilizing evergreen content
• How to make your content more accessible 
• Paying for ads versus organically acquiring customers

If you want to learn how you can effectively use social media in a healthy and purposeful way this year, then this episode is for you.

For the full show notes and transcript, visit socialslowdown.com

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This is the final episode of the Social Slowdown Challenge series, and I'm here with Sheena McKay, our Community Manager + Customer Support Manager to recap the Social Slowdown Challenge. In this episode, we discuss:

• How people behaved during the challenge
• Our expectations vs. reality of the challenge
• What went well, and what we'd do differently next time around
• Major themes we found throughout this challenge

If you want to go back and participate in the free podcast episodes we released, you can do so here:

• Day 1: Debrief Your 2022 Marketing
• Day 2: Your 2023 Marketing Vision & Strategies
• Day 3: Choosing Your Marketing Intentionally
• Day 4: Maximizing and Managing Your Marketing Time with Megan Flatt
• Day 5: Boundaries, Self-Compassion, and External Validation

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Last month we talked a lot about our time spent on social media during the Social Slowdown Challenge, so I thought it would be the perfect time to share my conversation with Becca Rich about time management with you - and not just time management when it comes to social media, but here we talk about time in relation to our personal lives as well.

In this episode, we cover :

• Time blocking and time awareness
• Reframing the way we think about "time management"
• How capitalism has exploited our time
• The many factors that impact our ability to rest and experience joy and pleasure
• Prioritization and constraint

About Becca Rich
Becca Rich is a former Engineer turned Holistic time coach, speaker, educator, and full-time digital nomad. She works with creative, ambitious entrepreneurs and professionals seeking more freedom and joy.

The most common thing holding people back from what they want? Time. 

But let's be honest… Traditional time management is outdated and ineffective. Becca is a visionary, cutting through the BS of the billion-dollar productivity industry creating a ripple effect with Holistic Time Management.

If you're ready to team up with time in a way that honors your unique mind, body, and soul so you can accomplish what you want, be the person you're meant to be, and experience an extraordinary life... Learn more about working with Becca at theholistictimecoach.com.

Watch the short YouTube clip

For the full show notes and transcript.

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Do you hear the word "networking" and simply roll your eyes? Well in today's episode, Lindsay Johnson and I have a great conversation that's gonna change the way you think about networking. We talk about radically connecting with others - and what people THINK "networking" is, versus what it ACTUALLY is.
In this episode:

• What does "networking" really mean in 2023 and what can it look like for you, as an entrepreneur?
• How and why Lindsay uses consent-based strategies
• Connecting organically and figuring out who you really click with and want to work with
• TikTok for networking?

Lindsay Johnson, aka The Radical Connector, has been teaching first-time entrepreneurs how to get clients and make money in their businesses for over 20 years. Lindsay’s an entrepreneurship nerd and holistic business strategist who's obsessed with teaching service-based entrepreneurs and content creators business skills and strategies for turning their brilliance into a profitable business by working less and playing more.

Born into a family of entrepreneurs, Lindsay watched as their family worked themselves into the ground and promised themselves they’d find a better way to build a business.

Lindsay’s two online business programs, blog, YouTube channel, Work Less Play More Podcast, and free Facebook group, Rad Connectors, teach overwhelmed entrepreneurs practical, consent-based marketing and sales skills so they can use their business as a tool to build the life of their dreams, change the world, and finally ditch their desks and go have a life!

Relevant Links:

• Learn more about Lindsay Johnson and The Radical Connector
• Work Less, Play More Podcast
• Join Lindsay's free Facebook group, Rad Connectors
• Watch the YouTube clip
• Ep. 43: Regenerative Business, Permaculture, and Carrots With Helen Tremethick

For the full show notes and transcript, visit socialslowdown.com

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"Define success for yourself and then unapologetically chase it. Because [...] if you don't define success for what it means to you, you'll chase someone else's definition." - Amanda McKinney

In her new book, Uncover Your Confidence: An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide to Success,  Amanda McKinney talks about what success feels like to you - and how you can become the confident entrepreneur you strive to be.

I've brought Amanda on the podcast to talk about her new book and have a deeper discussion about what it means to define success for yourself and chase that success.

We also discuss:

• What is an "accidental entrepreneur"?
• Navigating change (we know, it can be scary!)
• Being confident when you need to pivot
• How Amanda's business has shifted after writing a book
• Gaining clarity after stepping back from social media  

Amanda McKinney is on a mission to help accidental entrepreneurs unapologetically chase their definition of success. After becoming an accidental entrepreneur herself she has been on a mission to help others step into their definition of success so they can combat the comparison and “should” trap that all entrepreneurs face. For more information, you can connect with Amanda on her website at amandamckinney.com, on Instagram at @theamandamckinney or LinkedIn. 

• Learn more about Amanda McKinney
• The Unapologetic Entrepreneur Podcast
• Uncover Your Confidence: An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide to Success
• Book Interview (Episode #168)
• Amanda's blog post about Instagram

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Erika Tebbens is a Growth Strategist for visionary entrepreneurs, leaders, and changemakers who are looking to make their mark doing things differently –– and leave a legacy of positive impact.

She provides growth consulting and training through her company, Erika Tebbens Consulting; her podcast: Sell it, Sister!; and through being a featured speaker on podcasts and for communities such as The Tory Burch Foundation and Honeybook/Rising Tide.

She's also the author of You've Got This!: A Counterintuitive Guide to Powerful, Inevitable Changemaking

In today's episode, Erika and I talk about her new book which focuses on how you can make a difference in the world without sacrificing who you are and what you care about. Erika also gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her book-writing and self-publishing process.

For the full show notes, transcript, and more, visit socialslowdown.com

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Lisa Princic knows how to build a lasting membership program - and she's here today to talk with us all about it!

Lisa Princic is the owner of Scaling Deep. Over the last 14 years, she has helped thousands of impact-driven business owners dive deep into their unique value and business models to build sustainable & profitable brands. 

Lisa helps coaches niche experts to become thought leaders and increase their impact and wealth with membership programs. A staunch believer in business simplicity and intention, she helps her clients accomplish their goals by focusing on what to do AND what to ignore. 

Lisa loves a challenge with adventure and can often be found skiing or biking in the coastal mountains of BC. 

In this episode, we cover:

• Myths and truths about memberships
• The pros and cons of pricing: high ticket vs. low ticket memberships
• The benefits of small groups
• The cost vs. the value of memberships
• Creating evergreen content for memberships
• Issues with how high profit, low revenue business models are marketed
• And more!

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/sustainable-memberships-with-lisa-princic/ 

• Scaling Deep
• Free video training: How To Grow A Wildly Successful Membership That Provides Financial Freedom & Fulfillment

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This episode is all about social media - the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to utilizing it as a business owner.

I'm speaking with Bonnie Bakhtiari, a brand strategist and designer for creative entrepreneurs, as well as a coach for fellow graphic, brand, and web designers. 

She specializes in crafting high-converting, strategic brands for her custom design clients. And she currently teaches fellow designers how to generate consistent income and connect with their ideal clients on repeat through the Brand Strategy School, her signature program for designers.

In this episode, we cover:

• How Bonnie made the decision to move away from a relatively large Instagram/Facebook audience in favor of more relationship-based lead generation that better supports her time, energy, and creativity
• Social media as an extension of capitalism
• Managing burnout and low energy as a business owner

Relevant links:

• B is for Bonnie Design
• The Brand Strategy Podcast
• "My Go-To Tools For New Brand Designers"
• Episode 260: Using People-Led Marketing To Generate Leads

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As an entrepreneur, how do you make your work, WORK for you? How do you create a sustainable business? In this episode, I'm speaking with Brooke Monaghan about breaking the "rules" in your business and challenging the status quo. 

In this episode:

• Aligning your offers with your values
• Sustainable aligned marketing plans (AKA marketing plans you can STICK with)
• How to navigate discouragement or criticism as an entrepreneur
• Planning for long term vs short term and how this affects your expectations
• How to make your work more sustainable, and work for YOU
• Why Brooke is starting a YouTube channel

Brooke Monaghan is a trusted advisor to founders and leaders who value impact, integrity, and relationships and are on a mission to set things straight in their industry. In her work, she helps her clients build both their confidence and their business acumen as they navigate the unique challenges they face when daring to do things differently. She also hosts the podcast Transcend Your Dichotomy, a show about business ownership that challenges the self-sacrifice narrative. 

• Brooke Monaghan's website
• Transcend Your Dichotomy Podcast

Support the Show.

You'd think it would be the default way of marketing, but it's not. And why is that?

In this week's episode, I'm speaking with Sarah Santacroce about humane marketing.
We also discuss:

• Showing up authentically
• How gentle/humane marketing is different from mass marketing and automated systems
• Hardcore "bro marketing" and manipulation 
• Unlearning what we know about marketing
• Other collaborative ways to market your business (summits, etc.)

More about Sarah:
Over a decade of running a successful LinkedIn Consulting business inspired a yearning in Sarah to create a global movement that encourages people to bring more empathy and kindness to business & marketing.

As a ‘Hippie turned Business Coach’, Sarah has written two books, hosts the Humane Marketing podcast, and works with heart-centered entrepreneurs to question their assumptions when it comes to marketing & give them permission to market their business their way, the gentle way!

Sarah shares a fresh perspective and doesn’t shy away from calling things out that no longer work for many of us when it comes to the current marketing model. Her clients sometimes refer to her as ‘the female Seth Godin’.

• The Humane Marketing Podcast
• Marketing Like We're Human (book)
• Selling Like We're Human (book)
• Get the Fill In the Blank One-Page Marketing Plan

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/humane-marketing-with-sarah-santacroce

Watch the YouTube clip

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I've said it before, and I'll continue to drive it home: you cannot rely on social media to promote your business! In this week's episode, I'm speaking with Jenny Melrose about how why it's important that you utilize email marketing and other platforms such as a podcast, YouTube channel, and your own website to market your business. We also discuss influencers, TikTok, and Instagram.

What you can expect from this episode:

• Why you can't rely on social media for marketing your business
• How to get the most out of email marketing
• Monetizing your blog (with ad networks and sponsorships)
• Social media influencers: Are they oversharing?

About Jenny Melrose:

Jenny is a former reading specialist who “retired” from her teaching career when her blogging income far exceeded her salary. Through hard work and dedication, her lifestyle blog, The Melrose Family, became regularly sought out by nationally recognized brands such as Neutrogena, Smuckers, Glad, Costco, Stanley Steamer, Sara Lee, and many more. She is a content strategist who helps entrepreneurs better understand their messaging and unique position in the online space. Now, she’s combining her passion for teaching with her extensive experience of creating strategic content for online business owners via JennyMelrose.com and her podcast, Influencer Entrepreneurs with Jenny Melrose as well as her first book Influencer Entrepreneurs: The 4-Step Framework to Building Your Audience, Growing Your Business, and Making More Money Online.

Relevant Links:

• JennyMelrose.com
• The Influencer Entrepreneurs Podcast
• The 4-Step Framework for Building Your Audience, Growing Your Business, and Making Money Online
• Jenny's Instagram @jenny_melrose

Watch the short YouTube clip

For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/influencers-email-marketing-with-jenny-melrose/

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From topics like the patriarchy and hormone cycles to sunk costs and securing stable income, this episode with Michelle Stevens is a good one.

Michelle Stevens is a self-care advocate for high-passion, low-energy business owners and professionals. She has been navigating the online business world for over 10 years, most recently under the brand My Body My Queen. She loves talking about energy management, life with Type 1 Diabetes and other autoimmune conditions, breaking free of diet culture, and finding ways to sneak movement into our busy days.
 
In this episode, we discuss:

• False promises in digital marketing
• Energy management, self-care, and setting boundaries
• Patriarchal and societal expectations a female entrepreneur
• Minimizing business costs
• How hustle culture impacted Michelle's mindset and business
• Working full-time and running a business as a side hustle

Relevant Links:

• My Body My Queen
• Follow Michelle on Instagram
• Watch the short YouTube clip

For the full show notes and transcript, visit socialslowdown.com

Support the Show.

"We aren't going to be able to solve the problems of the world if we're only listening to a small percentage of the world's voices"

This week I'm SO excited to share with you my conversation with Alyssa Burkus, cuz we dive deeeeeep into some thought-provoking topics.

Alyssa is a thought leadership strategist, writer, and coach. She's the founder of Shift Wisdom, a writing agency based near Toronto, Canada where she specializes in helping business owners and corporate leaders build their authority and influence through writing. Her writing program Get The Words Out helps people who want more writing in their life learn to break through writer's block and build the routines that set them on the path to being prolific. Alyssa is also a 3x cancer survivor.

What you can expect from this episode:

• Why deeper content and thought leadership will become even more important in the age of AI
• How to create thought leadership
• How to build a writing habit that sticks
• Why you should be writing even if you have "people" to write for you (metacognitive thinking benefits)
• Other ways to repurpose content (instead of just social media)
• Why we need more diverse voices to share their writing to counterbalance the assumed default of the white male "expert" 
• How to step into book writing 

Relevant Links:

•  Shift Wisdom
• Connect with/follow Alyssa on LinkedIn
• Follow Alyssa on Instagram
• For the full show notes and transcript, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/thought-leadership-and-writing-ai-alyssa-burkus/

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If you're getting the basics right when it comes to middle-of-the-funnel marketing, but you want to take the next step, this episode is for you.

Katy Widrick talks all about funnels, automations, personalized workflows, and more. We discuss the importance of triggering, tagging, and segmenting in your email marketing, and what to do AFTER you've got those segments.

More about Katy:
Katy Widrick transforms marketing pros into CMOs by teaching them how to recover the biggest expense in their businesses – lost sales – by using simple, effective systems to increase conversions and decrease top-of-funnel costs. Katy has worked in marketing and revenue expansion for more than 20 years, strategizing and implementing campaigns and effective funnels that help visionary leaders maximize their impact, grow their top-line revenue and scale their product and service lines to 7, 8 and 9 figures.

She also serves high-growth founders as a Fractional CMO, using a profit-first approach to marketing and sales funnels.

Relevant Links:

• Learn more about Katy Widrick
• Listen to Katy's podcast, Rising Tide Talents
• Follow Katy on Instagram
• Click here for the full show notes/transcript

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In this week's episode, I'm speaking with Tristan Katz about how we can be more inclusive and accessible in our marketing for our businesses.

We touch on how we can do better at including trans and nonbinary people and people from marginalized communities in various aspects of our business, and why it's important to actually uphold these values instead of being performative.
We talk about how power relates to our marketing, and how we can begin to UNLEARN, as well as how we can use our marketing to create meaningful change, equity, and justice WHILE having a profitable business.

If you're looking to do better at creating safe and welcoming spaces for everyone, this episode is a must-listen.

More about Tristan Katz:
Tristan Katz (they/he) is a writer, educator, digital strategist, and equity-inclusion facilitator. They offer training and consulting on gender equity, trans inclusion, queer competency, and justice-focused marketing practices. Tristan’s intention is to share this work with an anti-oppression and intersectional lens. He was named one of Yoga Journal’s 2021 Game Changers and is proud to serve on the Board of Directors at Accessible Yoga. 

• Learn more about Tristan
• Creating Safer Spaces: Embodying your Commitment to Trans Inclusion
• Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto
  
  

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• Why lead nurturing is more important than lead generation
• Email vs. social for lead gen/nurture
• Nurture sequences
• Smart messaging

• Orisha Creative
• Get your free Nurture Opportunity Scorecard
• Connect with Tamika on Instagram

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Megan Flatt's book, Focused: Reclaim Your Time, Ditch Overwhelm, and Do Less Better, comes out today, and she's here to give us the inside scoop on it!

If you've listened to any of our podcast episodes with Megan Flatt, you know that one of her main goals in her work is to help entrepreneurs do less, BETTER.

Megan (she/her) is on a mission to make entrepreneurship easier. She’s the founder of Focus Sessions and the author of Focused: Reclaim your time, ditch overwhelm and do less, better. Outside of work,she is obsessed with lattes, Post-it notes and romance novels. Catch up with her at focus-sessions.com or letscollective.co or @focussessions

In this week's podcast episode, we talk about how you can be more intentional about the way you use your time and the things you're putting on your calendar. Her book is all about not needing more time, but needing more FOCUS. Megan goes through various topics you'll be able to read about in her book, and she also delves into her book-writing process.

Give this episode a listen if you're struggling with productivity and want to learn how to be more impactful with your work.

Relevant Links/Resources:

• Learn more about Focus Sessions
• Get her book, Focused: Reclaim Your Time, Ditch Overwhelm, and Do Less Better 
• Let's Collective

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I'm sure you can think of a time when something was happening in our social/cultural climate and you wanted to address it in your brand's messaging, but you held back because you didn't want to say the wrong thing or upset anyone.

Well, today I'm here with Peta O'Brien to talk about how you can bring politics and the cultural context into your brand messaging, without pissing people off!

We also talk about:

• How we can have better conversations on social media
• Rainbow Washing
• Making the decision of when to bring politics into your messaging
• How to choose the platform where you want to delve into these topics

Peta is a copywriter and messaging strategist who taps into empathy and her previous career as a youth worker to help her clients connect with their audience. She works with health and wellness startups and coaches who want to weave values through their messaging. She's a politics geek with 2 children who loves escaping into a cheesy action film, or experimenting with her pile of cookbooks.** 

**And she's launched a membership, The Soap Box - a supportive community for business owners with a social conscience, designed to help you share your political and social values in your business messaging. Without pissing off all your potential clients!**

Relevant Links/Resources:

• Learn more about Peta
• Join The Soap Box 
• Americast Podcast
• Article about the fake Twitter profiles that Peta mentioned 
• WSJ experiment about TikTok
• The Rest Is Politics Podcast

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Relationships are fundamental to building a lasting business. And today I'm here to talk with Michelle Warner about her relationship approach to marketing - versus a traffic approach.

In this episode, we talk about traffic funnels vs. relationship funnels, scaled relationship marketing, and how to get over the fear of cold outreach/how to ask something of someone who is a weak tie.

We discuss how you CAN be more profitable as a 1:1 business versus a big business doing mass marketing.

Relevant Resources:

• Get Michelle's free training: 5 Minutes A Day To A Network That Pays
• The 5 Stages of Business Growth
• Connect with Michelle on Instagram

About Michelle Warner:

Michelle Warner designs tiny companies that are built to last.

With an MBA from one of the world’s top business schools and 15+ years growing small businesses, Michelle knows what it takes to build a business - and she knows that authentic relationships are at the heart of it. It's why she created Networking That Pays and why she's thrilled to see over 200 entrepreneurs implementing the system in just the first few months its been publicly available.

The Networking That Pays system was first created by Michelle over 10 years ago when she started her first business. It's what she used to grow that business to 7+ figures while also landing herself a spot on an official White House Task Force - despite starting the business with exactly zero relevant connections. 

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Self-doubt, burnout, rejection sensitive dysphoria. Maybe you've experienced one of these as an entrepreneur, maybe you've experienced them all. In this episode, I talk with Jamie Jensen about managing a healthy relationship with social media, looking after your mental health, and unlearning what marketing has told us we need to do as entrepreneurs.

About Jamie Jensen:

Jamie Jensen is an award-winning writer, brand storyteller, and intuitive business coach who's helped her clients up to 9x their sales simply by refining the stories they tell with their branding and marketing.

Relevant Links:

• Follow Jamie on Instagram
• Follow Scribe & Spirit on Instagram
• Learn more about Jamie Jensen
• Scribe & Spirit

For the full show notes/episode page, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/questioning-your-relationship-with-social-media-with-jamie-jensen/

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Dusti Arab figured out what she was the best at and what was working for her business, and was able to pivot completely from agency work to fractional CMO work.

In this episode, Dusti gives us the scoop on how she niched down to offer more specific services, and how pulling back and getting really specific helped her workload and her mental health. She explains HOW her business model has changed within the past year, and how she's been able to avoid burnout.

If you're experiencing burnout or you're in a rut, trying to figure out where to go next with your business, give this episode a listen.

*Dusti runs a marketing consultancy, helping women who have small businesses to transform their marketing to be more strengths-based and sustainable versus tactics based.*

Relevant Links:

• The Reinvention Co
• Connect with Dusti on Instagram
• Connect with Dusti on Twitter
• Connect with Dusti on Facebook

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How do you build an accessible and inclusive social media and website? Alexa Heinrich is here with us to give us insight into the world of online accessibility.
What you can expect from this episode:

• Website design and accessibility
• Best practices for accessibility on different platforms
• Myths about website and social media accessibility
• Tips on how to use emojis to be accessible in your comments
• How diverse disability actually is
• More of Alexa's thoughts on creating inclusive content

For the full show notes, visit socialslowdown.com

• Accessible Social
• The Accessible Social Checklist
• Emojipedia

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Did you hear?! The Social Slowdown book is coming out on July 27th, 2023! 

If you didn't already know, I wrote a book, taking all of the best bits and pieces from this podcast and putting them together into an easily digestible format.

In this episode, I explain WHY I wrote this book and what you can expect from it.

You can pre-order the e-book for $3.99 or the paperback for $8.99 on Amazon.

For the full show notes, transcript, and more info, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/social-slowdown-book-coming-soon/

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I hired Lacy Boggs to help me write the first draft of the Social Slowdown book, and today she's here with me to talk all about the writing process.

We also talk about:

• Book launch strategy
• How it felt to work with a ghost writer
• The difference between a ghost writer and a co-author
• The book publication process
• Thought leadership

 Lacy Boggs is a content strategist, author of the bestselling Kindle ebook, Make a Killing With Content, and the mastermind behind the podcast, "Ace Stone, Marketing Detective.” As director of The Content Direction Agency, she helps small business owners create and implement content marketing strategy that feels like a playground for ideas and results in deceptively powerful nurture content to create massive growth. 

• The Social Slowdown book is available for pre-order for only $3.99 on Amazon!
• Learn more about Lacy Boggs

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In this week's episode, Jen Liddy talks about how her Facebook account got hacked and caused her to completely rethink her marketing strategy for her business.

We also discuss:

• When TikTok and other social media platforms can work for you, versus when it can be much harder to make it work for you
• The pros and cons of scaling your business
• The value and cost of labor
• Where your freedom comes from as an entrepreneur
• The importance of relationships as you grow your business
• Reexamining the relationship you have with your business: what do you want and why do you want it?

Connect with Jen:

• Learn more about Jen Liddy
• Content Creation Made Easy Podcast with Jen Liddy

Click here to read the blog post

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Ohhhh gosh y'all...

You're probably wondering why I'm releasing a podcast episode today instead of Tuesday, and if you pre-ordered the Social Slowdown book, then you already know that we ran into some ~technical~ issues.

Well, I'm here to be fully transparent about what went awry. 

If you're listening to this episode on July 27th, 2023, - then today is the day that my book's pre-orders were SUPPOSED to go live. But as we all know too well, being a business owner comes with its own obstacles.

In this episode, I talk about the pre-publishing errors I encountered with the Social Slowdown book, what I learned from this experience, and the reality of making mistakes as a business owner. 

• Get a signed paperback copy for $20
• Download the Kindle version for $3.99

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Last week I launched my new book, Social Slowdown: Market Your Business Without Sacrificing Your Mental Health.

So for this week's podcast episode, I figured I'd give you a sneak peek into the book with an audiobook version of the introduction.

If you want to read the whole book, you can get it for just $3.99 for the Kindle, or for $9.99 for a paperback copy - OR you can get a signed paperback for $20.

About this book:
In a digital world dominated by social media, Meg Casebolt made a bold decision that would challenge the status quo. Seeking respite from the incessant noise and distractions, she embarked on a 100-day social media break, uncertain of the consequences it might have on her business.

To her surprise, Meg discovered that her hiatus had no detrimental impact on her thriving SEO marketing agency. Curiosity piqued, she delved deeper into the experiences of fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners who shared their secret desires to break free from the clutches of social media's grip.

Driven by a desire to understand the dangers lurking beneath the surface, Meg embarked on a profound exploration of the hidden perils of social media. With meticulous research and personal anecdotes, she unraveled the insidious links between addiction, depression, anxiety, and patriarchal oppression that often go unnoticed in the digital landscape.

Meg, in her wisdom, realized that boundaries were the key to reclaiming control and finding balance in the digital realm. Drawing from her own transformative journey, she shares five invaluable strategies to establish healthier relationships with social media—ways to protect your mental well-being, safeguard personal privacy, and nurture genuine connections in an era of superficiality.

But Meg doesn't stop there. She extends a lifeline to those yearning for liberation from the clutches of social media's alluring yet detrimental embrace. With passion and expertise, she unveils a comprehensive array of 20 marketing alternatives—innovative, impactful strategies that can catapult businesses to success while enabling them to ditch social media for good.

Join Meg on an eye-opening odyssey as she dismantles the myths and illuminates the shadows surrounding social media. Through her empowering words, she invites entrepreneurs and small business owners to embrace a new paradigm, one that champions mindful engagement, authentic connections, and unparalleled growth beyond the constraints of the digital universe.

This book is an invitation to reimagine the future—a future where you can thrive without surrendering your sanity to the endless scroll. Are you ready to embark on this transformative journey and discover the untapped potential that lies beyond the confines of social media?

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This episode is all about planning your marketing strategy as an entrepreneur.

Michelle Mazur talks about the importance of figuring out your messaging before your marketing. We talk about:

• The importance of collaboration for your marketing strategy
• How you can do less, but BETTER and more efficiently - so you can do more of the things you love
• It's not just about the strategy - it's also about the metrics!
• The Expert Up Club

Connect with Michelle:

• The Expert Up Club
• Learn more about Dr Michelle Mazur and her business, Communication Rebel

More about Michelle Mazur:

Michelle Mazur works with brilliant business owners who are shaking things up...but having trouble talking about it. She combines the tools of successful social movements with the qualitative research skills she earned in her communications PhD to help them craft their powerful, captivating message. The author of 3 books (including the newly-updated 3 Word Rebellion) and featured in Fast Company, Entrepreneur and Inc., she knows that speaking about what you do in a clear and captivating way is the key to reaching the people you could help the most. 

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Buckle up for Part 1 of a 2-part episode with Briar Harvey about all things social media, online marketing, neurodiversity, mental illness, and accessibility.

We talk about the fear of missing out on social media, what it's like to run an online business AND consume content as someone who is neurodivergent, and more.

Listen to Part 2 here.

About Briar Harvey:

Briar Harvey is a storyteller and systems witch. She believes that everything has a story and exists within a system. The trick then, is figuring out how to change the rules and tell a better story. She is an IDEA Consultant (that's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) with a focus on Neurodivergence (that's ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, etc). She helps companies create and implement accessibility plans that increase employee retention by at least 50%.

In her free time, she writes stuff and records podcasts. She’s the founder of The Neurodiversity Media Network, a collaborative and accessible media company that is hosting and curating all the news that is relevant to neurodivergent folks. Find her at briarharvey.com and neurodiversitymedianetwork.com

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This is the second part of my 2-part conversation with Briar Harvey about all things social media, online marketing, neurodiversity, mental illness, and accessibility. If you haven't already listened to Part 1, you can listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1887252/13429205

We also talk about our ability to focus,  the importance of our choice of words, and how the average attention span has decreased significantly over the past decade.

About Briar Harvey:

Briar Harvey is a storyteller and systems witch. She believes that everything has a story and exists within a system. The trick then, is figuring out how to change the rules and tell a better story. She is an IDEA Consultant (that's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) with a focus on Neurodivergence (that's ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, etc). She helps companies create and implement accessibility plans that increase employee retention by at least 50%.

In her free time, she writes stuff and records podcasts. She’s the founder of The Neurodiversity Media Network, a collaborative and accessible media company that is hosting and curating all the news that is relevant to neurodivergent folks. Find her at briarharvey.com and neurodiversitymedianetwork.com

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 In this week's podcast episode, I'm thrilled to be speaking with Diann Wingert, a fellow female solopreneur with ADHD.

Diann Wingert became a business strategist, coach, and mentor after a 20-year career as a psychotherapist. Her mission is to help ambitious outliers with big ideas and busy brains get focused, fired up, and flame retardant. Diann is the creator of The Boss Up Breakthrough, host of The Driven Woman Entrepreneur Podcast, and an expert on creative female entrepreneurs with ADHD traits. 

In this episode, we talk about:

• Therapy vs. coaching: What's the difference, and which one should you seek out?
• Why the shift from a social media-based marketing strategy to an SEO-based marketing strategy may be the exact thing you need and why many female solopreneurs are afraid to make this switch
• Rejection sensitivity, confidence, and fear of failure
• Social media and mental health
• How ADHD and giftedness in women can be both challenges and advantages in self-employment

Connect with Diann:

• Learn more about Diann Wingert
• Connect with Diann on LinkedIn
• Listen to The Driven Woman Entrepreneur Podcast

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Marissa Lawton is an 8-year online entrepreneur and conduit for ancient women’s wisdom who guides feminine seekers to reclaim their divine power and channel it into their businesses. 

As a former licensed therapist who left the medical model of mental health care, Marissa had a behind-the-scenes look into how patriarchal systems and structures continue to diminish women’s ability to co-create the lives and businesses that serve their innate needs. 

And her Work in the world is to change that.

By helping women reconnect to nature’s rhythms, Marissa aims to reintroduce long-denied mysteries and reestablish deep feminine roots in the entrepreneurial space.

In this week's episode, Marissa and I are talking about how you can bring more feminine energy into your business. We discuss:

• Living from a rooted place
• Intuitive decision-making for your business
• Listening to your intuition versus having an analytical mindset when it comes to business decision-making; Can you do both?
• What does masculine and feminine energy look like in a business?
• Traditional marketing with a mystical, sacred flare and how you can bring mysticality into your business
• Redefining your measure of success
• Some examples of how you can bring more feminine energy into your business

Connect with Marissa:

• RootedFeminine.com
• Rooted Feminine Podcast
• Follow Rooted Feminine on Instagram
• Marissa Lawton - Side Hustles for Psychotherapists
• Take the quiz: "What season of “re-rooting” are you in?"

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By now we know that what works for one, may not work for another. And in this week's episode, I'm talking with Jessica Lackey all about business models, and how sometimes what makes sense for other people may not make sense for you and your business. Maybe the traffic-based business models that we're sold can actually be less profitable than a lower, slower pace of business. 

Jessica Lackey is a strategy and operations advisor who is on a mission to radically disrupt mainstream business culture in an effort to create sustainable businesses with a human-centric approach. With a background in corporate leadership, McKinsey & Company consulting, and a Harvard Business degree, Jessica knows a thing or two about hustle culture and what it feels like to judge success by the bottom line…at all costs. 

Now, she combines her deep experience in consulting, Fortune 500 operations leadership, and coaching to help businesses grow without sacrificing the well-being of their clients, team, and community.

Here's what you can expect from this episode:

• The importance of community and relationship marketing
• The "cult-ish" side of social media (in regards to online business)
• Why you DON'T need to build your business like everyone else
• Business models and the math behind scale 

Connect with Jessica:

• Sign up for her newsletter and/or take the quiz "What’s Your Stage of Business?"
• Learn more about Jessica

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Jessica Abel's background as an author led her to assume that mass marketing and a large audience was the ONLY way to succeed as a business owner; Thankfully, she finally figured out that her business models needed to first pay her bills, and THEN she could make decisions about audience and marketing style.

In this week's episode, Jessica (she/her) and I discuss:

• How to think about choosing a business model, and why/when you may choose one over another
• Choosing a  business model that allows you to make more money in less time
• Working with fewer clients for more money versus working with more clients for less money
• Figuring out how social media fits into your marketing - what do you need it to do for you?

Connect with Jessica:

• Learn more on Jessica's website
• The Autonomous Creative podcast

A little bit about Jessica:
Jessica Abel (she/her) is a graphic novelist, author, creative business coach, and the founder of Autonomous Creative, a coaching company that helps mid-career creative professionals build businesses that can pay their bills AND honor their creativity. Abel founded the company in response to the ever-greater struggle creatives face in making a living. Pushing back on the “starving artist” mythology, Abel focuses on business fundamentals, stripped of jargon and adapted to the unique needs of creative professionals, and puts the tools of making real money in less time—without creative compromise—into the hands of the artists, writers, and entrepreneurs who need them. 

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As an entrepreneur, who DOESN'T want to get better clients with bigger budgets? Well in this week's podcast episode, Ilise Benun tells us exactly how she helps her clients do just that. We discuss:

•  How to bring your creativity to the business side of your biz
• How being in a different stage of the buyer's journey means adjusting the wording on your platforms to cater to those needs
• The importance of being clear and creative in who you're serving
• 3 tools in the simplest marketing plan
• What you DON'T have to do in order to market yourself and your business 

More About Ilise Benun:
Ilise Benun is a business coach for creative professionals with a focus on mindset, money and marketing. She is also a national speaker, author of 7 books and multiple online courses, including the Simplest Marketing Plan & founder of Marketing-Mentor.com, the go-to online resource for creative professionals who want better projects with bigger budgets. 

Connect with Ilise:

• Marketing Mentor
• Sign up for Quick Tips

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Welcome to Social Slowdown, the podcast for entrepreneurs and micro-businesses looking for sustainable marketing strategies without relying on social media. I'm Meg Casebolt, your host, and founder of Love At First Search. Before we dive into the episodes, I wanted to give you an idea of what to expect from this podcast.

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Before we get into the nitty-gritty of these marketing strategies, I wanted to give you a brief overview of who I am. Although this podcast will not be full of origin stories (it'll be more strategic than storytelling), I do want to give you an idea of where I'm coming from - so consider this my "origin story".

To find the links mentioned in today's episode, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/

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Please welcome our very first podcast guest, Andréa Jones. Drea is my go-to expert when it comes to questions about social media for small businesses, and she's also the creator and lead social media strategist at OnlineDrea.com.

In today's episode, we're talking about how to make sure you're utilizing social media in the most time-effective way for your business, but also, how can you make sure you're protecting your mental health when it comes to social media?

Find links to everything mentioned in this video in the extended show notes at socialslowdown.com

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This summer I took 100-days off of social media. A 100-day hiatus might be unthinkable for you if social is a key component of your marketing strategy… but it is possible, and I want to share with you why I did it, how it affected my business, what it taught me, and how you can do it, too. If you feel like you've just been spending countless hours on Instagram and you're not seeing your business grow, then this episode is for you.

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In today's episode, I'm excited to speak with my good friend, Lanie Lamarre, all about how we can track our marketing and see how well our marketing is actually working. 

If you're spending a lot of time on your marketing and you're not sure what's working for you and your business, Lanie will share with us her system that helps us understand how people are finding us, how they're engaging, and how they're buying from us. She gives us some numbers and guidelines to follow for these three areas so you don't get overwhelmed trying to track your marketing.

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If you're tired of marketing yourself on social media but still need a way to market your business, you're not alone. You can successfully market yourself online without ever needing to log in to a single social media platform. In this episode, I go over 9 ways you can use content marketing to become a successful digital marketer.

For the full show notes, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/

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"How do I know if my marketing is actually working?"

In today's episode, I'm talking about some ways you can see what is or isn't working for your business. And one of those things is conversion tracking. By taking a look at your conversion rate (don't worry, I explain this in very simple terms so it's easy to understand) for different activities you're doing in your marketing, you can find out if what you're doing is worth your time, or if you should try something different.

Despite what you might think, there's no such thing as a good or bad conversion rate! And I'll explain how this makes sense.

Visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/ for the full show notes.

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Today I'm here with Stephanie Hayes, a business coach and strategist who's been building stronger businesses for 20 years.

Stephanie specializes in helping business owners on their growth path to align their marketing activities with their business models - and today we're talking all about how you, too, can align your marketing in your business.

Maybe you feel like you just can't keep up, or you have all this pressure from other businesses to do all the things, and you're unable to prioritize what really needs to get done.

In this episode we'll talk about ways you can give yourself permission to stop trying to do everything, to make your marketing much more effective.

For the full show notes, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/

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Meet Lacy! I've been working with Lacy Boggs for about 6 years and she now - she's created courses, run group programs,  and she now runs an agency,  The Content Direction Agency where she hires writers to help her with the delivery of her blogging and writing services.

Over the years, Lacy has had to scale her business up and down as she's changed courses, so in this episode, we'll talk about how her marketing has evolved as she's figured out what it is she wants to sell and who she wants to work with.

For the full show notes, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/

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Once a month, we're going to be talking to someone who used to be active on social media and has made the decision to either decrease their time on social or step away from it. In these case study episodes, we'll talk about the decision-making that went on, what they had to put into place to make that shift off social, as well last the "before and after" of how they're getting their business found.

In our very first case study episode, I'm speaking with Hillary Rea, the founder of Tell Me A Story. Hillary works with entrepreneurs and by using storytelling, she helps her clients to communicate their expertise and their passion for all the communication needs they have with their work.

In July of 2020, Hillary decided to cut back her time on social media. Then she realized that her business no longer required social media for marketing. So in this episode, we'll talk about the factors that played into her decision to step back from social media and how she gets her clients, now that she's off of social.

For the full show notes, visit https://www.socialslowdown.com/

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Today I'm welcoming Sophy Dale to the Social Slowdown podcast to talk about why we decided to move our community off of Facebook.

Sophy works as a book coach and copywriter, but she also spent time as a community manager for Love At First Search. During her time as community manager, we hosted a community on Facebook - and we decided to switch platforms.

In this episode, Sophy and I talk about why we switched, the realizations Sophy had when she was able to leave Instagram and get clients from elsewhere, and what some other platform options there are to choose from.

Sophy Dale's Website: https://www.sophydale.com/ 

Watch the YouTube video clip: https://youtu.be/H9MrlDGTpvs

Read the LAFS blog post: https://loveatfirstsearch.com/goodbye-facebook-group/

Join Circle: https://circle.so?lmref=4ceCkw

Circle Communities Review: https://megcasebolt.com/circle-communities-review/

For the full show notes, visit socialslowdown.com

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In today's episode, I'm speaking with Tara Newman of The Bold Leadership Revolution about how to turn your business into a financial powerhouse.

One of the most important questions we ask ourselves is, "How much money do I need to make in my business?" Tara has a tool that can help us determine how much we need to pay ourselves and how much our business needs to make in order to support our financial goals.

And oftentimes the fastest path to being successful isn't necessarily to grow the biggest audience - so in this episode, we're talking about the importance of starting with people you already know.

For the full show notes, head to https://www.socialslowdown.com/

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