When you started your business, you probably thought a lot about what you wanted to do. That's certainly what I thought about! What do I love to do? How can I do that for other people and get paid for it? Do I want to have a writing business so I can spend my time...
This month, we’re going to take a deep dive into the tools that different businesses rely on to run.
We’ll talk software, systems, and processes—plus how it all works together.
We’ll talk about how things have changed, what’s stayed the same, and how to know when it’s time to switch up your tools.
And, we’ll talk with business owners that run different kinds of businesses—digital products, 1:1 services, and agencies.
Focusing on tools is especially relevant right now because many business owners are looking for ways to run more efficiently and more effectively so that they can boost profit or create new streams of revenue as the economy is changing.
We’re also trying out new tools to cope with interruptions and stress. So in this kick off episode, I wanted to talk about both of those pieces of the puzzle with my podcasting partner-in-crime, my husband and the production coordinator for What Works, Sean McMullin.
Together, Sean and I run YellowHouse.Media, a full-service podcast production agency that specializes in helping small business owners create standout podcasts that power their marketing and sales.
We’ll get into the tools we use to run YellowHouse—including how we set up client dashboards, manage projects, edit audio, and consult on content strategy. But first, we wanted to share some of the tools we’re using to mange stress and anxiety right now.
Let’s get into it!
My guest today has had a similar experience learning the ins and outs of event planning and hosting kickass conferences.
Isaac Watson is the founder of Kickass Conferences, an event strategy and production studio based in the Pacific Northwest. Isaac helps community leaders develop and deliver transformative events for their audiences that inspire them to build a better world. So far, he’s planned and managed events that have touched over 21,000 lives across the US and Europe.
Isaac is a natural event planner. I know because I’ve attended a number of events that he’s planned and I hired him to plan a conference for me 4 years ago.
But Isaac hasn’t relied on his natural aptitude for creating meaningful and engaging experiences. Instead, he’s designed a process he can rely on to pull off one great event after another.
This process and the way he manages his events is clearly a product of the way he’s honed his craft over the years.
He notices what works, he notices patterns, he notices the things that go unnoticed—and then he adapts the way he manages future projects.
In this conversation, Isaac and I talk about how things have evolved since his very first event, the 5 phases that every event goes through from vision to completion, how he works with clients within that process, and what it’s like when it’s go-time and an event is live.
I wanted to know how people who work with lots of data and reports manage the process, communicate with their clients, and organize all the work to be done.
So I asked Christina Sjahli, an on-demand CFO and cash flow analyst, to share her process. Christina started her career in corporate finance and now brings that experience to established entrepreneurs in the process of scaling to $1 million in annual revenue.
In this conversation, Christina shares how she manages the financial reports that help her do her job, how she tracks changes in those reports so the history of the project is never lost, how and why she uses Trello boards to interact with her clients, and why being deadline-oriented helps her manage her own work.
The Nitty-Gritty: How Kaye Publicity founder Dana Kaye plans and manages multi-layer book publicity projectsThe tools she uses to track progress, run reports, and organize the information that goes into every projectHow her team members take ownership of different...
We’ve had a helluva year here at What Works. We’ve talked to over 100 small business owners, published more than 80 episodes, and tackled 12 different themes this year.
What Works is special because we focus on the people who are making their businesses work every single day.
We believe we all have a lot to learn from each other—and the more honest & transparent we are about how our marketing, operations, tools, product development, or sales processes work, the better chance we all have for success.
On this episode, it’s no different—except, instead of me being the one asking the questions, you are!
Ashley is a business coach who specializes in helping overwhelmed, frazzled entrepreneurs streamline their businesses and work less—while they continue to grow.
Ashley took me through her whole client process—from on-boarding, to communication, to workflows, to off-boarding. You’ll learn about how she manages the whole client experience through a customized Trello board both she & the client accesses. And you’ll learn how she’s streamlined her own packages to allow her to provide the best experiences.
This interview—and this whole month—is going to be full of aha moments you can immediately apply to your own business to find what works.
I spoke with one of my oldest business friends, Rebecca Ching, about some of the mistakes she made when she took a huge leap forward in her therapy business and opened a multidisciplinary brick & mortar practice. Today, Rebecca is both the founder of Potentia Therapy and an Integrated Leadership Coach helping entrepreneurs and leaders navigate the complexities of leadership today.
Rebecca shares both the errors in her execution and the errors in her thinking that led to some difficult years.
She also gets into some deep reflection around her personal identity and sense of worthiness that really resonated with me. For many of us self-described “achievers,” making a mistake or failing at a venture isn’t just a set back—it rocks us to our core.
If that’s you too, I think you’ll especially appreciate this conversation.
Is it too early to start thinking about scaling your business? Absolutely not! Tara & Sean McMullin have started a brand new business and are starting with scale in mind from the get-go. Here’s how they’re doing it.
A couple of years ago, Michael Karsh and Elizabeth Madariaga started Edios Media to help thought leaders & educators create high-quality video education. I spoke with Michael & Elizabeth in Episode 101 and I wanted to bring Michael back on the show to take a look at how his and Elizabeth’s mindset and confidence level has evolved as they’ve worked with giant clients like Google, Facebook, Salesforce, and The Sundance Institute.
Michael and I talk about the first big deal they signed, how the clients they serve today are different from what they initially expected, and how the business itself has evolved to serve those clients.
What Works offers in-depth, well-researched content that strips away the hype of the 21st-century economy.
Whether you love the podcast, the articles, or the Instagram content, we’d love your support.Â