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Featured Essays & Articles

Refund Policies: What’s Fair and What’s Not For Online Businesses

“If you don’t see results, you didn’t want it bad enough.” That’s become the prevailing narrative of the online business refund policy. Of course, it’s nearly impossible to guarantee results. And there are reasons to remind customers and clients that, no matter what...
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Overdelivering Doesn’t Help Anyone (And Is Probably Causing Harm)

Photo by Erda Estremera on Unsplash “Underpromise and overdeliver.” I'm sure you've heard that maxim before. But most of the time I spend money, I don't expect anyone to overdeliver. I expect to get what I paid for. That's really all I ever want. Sure, a little...
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Why We Just Keep Squeezing More In

Photo by Ferenc Horvath on Unsplash Sometimes it feels like I just can't slow down. I rush all day while I work—and then I rush to fit in a walk, make dinner, fold the laundry, run to the store. My internal pace is frenetic—but so is my external pace. I'm speeding...
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EP 378: How much time do you work? with Anne Ditmeyer (Time & Money 7)

A lot of the work we do today doesn’t much look like “work.” The divide between work-life and life-life is flexible and porous. So what does that mean for the way we spend our time? Or how we earn a living? In this episode, I share designer, coach, and consultant Anne Ditmeyer’s story of rethinking how she works thanks to a big move to Paris. And, I argue that perhaps we need a radically different way of thinking about what work is—instead of a better “work-life balance.”

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The Eggbeater Effect: How Time-Saving Technology Just Makes For More Work

Before there were egg beaters, there were women with whisks and spoons beating eggs. As a woman who bakes and also owns a KitchenAid Pro stand mixer, the thought of doing everything my mixer does with my own two hands is a bit horrifying. I can combine my flour, milk,...
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Emotional Labor, Entrepreneurship, and My Breakdown

My mom was a seamstress while I was growing up. She started working at her sewing machine in the wee hours of the morning, paused to help my brother and me get ready for school, and then welcomed a steady stream of customers into the house for fittings and pickups....
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I Quit! How The Ethos Of The Great Resignation Is Fueling The Great Pivot

"This did not feel like real life, exactly, but nowadays what did?" Patricia Lockwood I first saw the Fisher-Price My Home Office playset cross my Twitter feed on Saturday. I thought, surely, this must be a joke! This dystopian image was an attempt at cutting cultural...
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Thinking Systems? Here’s What Every Small Business Owner Needs To Know

“I need to create some systems for my business.” It’s one of the key needs we hear from small business owners. Recognizing that they have something that works on some level, they’re looking to make it work better. Systems seem to be the way to do it. But then a...
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The Tourist, The Artist, and The Archeologist: How Changing The Way You Think About Business Changes What You See

The way we think about business shapes what we can do and build with our businesses. Two different perspectives will lead to two different choices about the same circumstances.  Different ways of thinking lead us...
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How Your Personal Priorities Shape The Way You Design Your Business

Our feeds are full of people trying to sell us goals. More money. Passive income. Working far fewer hours. Building a community. Working 1-to-many. Charging more. Writing a book. Building a team. These are all solid goals. But are they your goals? Marketers sell us...
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Featured Podcast Episodes

EP 224: Building Confidence Through Consistent Action With Shatterboxx Design Founder Jamie Varon

Jamie Varon made a big lifestyle change over the last few years and I wanted to know where she found the confidence to do life differently as a small business owner.

We talk about the year she spent living and working in France, how she’s redefined satisfaction for herself, and how she balances setting goals with finding peace in what already is. We also talk about the very real implications these changes have had on her business and professional success.

EP 214: Creating Content That Stands Out with Awkward Marketing Creator Rachael Kay Albers

Rachael Kay Albers is a marketer who hates marketing. As the founder and creative director of RKA ink, a branding, web design, and digital marketing studio, Rachael has helped hundreds of small business owners all over the world stand out online without selling their soul or playing the manipulation game.

When not crafting epic, unforgettable brands for her clients, Rachael hosts Awkward Marketing, a business comedy show blending fun-size small business advice with storytelling and sketch comedy, for entrepreneurs who want to create epic, unforgettable brands online.

EP 210: Doing Less To Achieve Your Goals With Do Less Author Kate Northrup

As an entrepreneur, bestselling author, and mother, Kate Northrup has built a multimedia digital empire that reaches hundreds of thousands globally. She’s committed to supporting ambitious women to light up the world without burning themselves out in the process. Kate teaches data-driven and soul-driven time and energy management practices that result in saving time, making more money, and experiencing less stress.

EP 199: Leveling Up Using A Simple One-Day Event With The CEO Retreat Creator Racheal Cook

Racheal Cook is the creator of Sweet Spot Strategy and the CEO Retreat.

Racheal and I talk about how she came up with the idea of the CEO Retreat, how it solved a persistent problem for her clients, and what her greatest fear about hosting the event was. We also discovered how the idea has evolved and the role it plays in her business today. Hint: it’s big!

EP 197: Growing A Sold-Out Program From The Seed Of An Idea With Fix My Churn Founder Val Geisler

My guest today is Val Geisler. Val is an email marketing specialist and the founder of Fix My Churn.

Today, Val is wrapping up a 12-week email marketing program that netted her about $90,000.

But just 6 months ago, this kind of result would have been hard to believe.

A small offer—a 2-hour workshop on the research behind successful email marketing—changed everything.

I talk with Val about how she came up with the seed of her big idea, how she sold the workshop that started it all, and how she developed the 12-week program once she knew it would be a success. We also discuss the mindset behind starting small and why it was key to her accomplishment.