Podcast Episodes

  • Podcast Episodes

    When is it Time to Hire Help or Outsource

    What Questions to Ask before Hiring Help or Working with a Virtual Assistant (VA)

    On today’s episode we’re going to talk about when is the right time to hire help, whether that’s a VA, or hiring someone like an SEO coach, or someone to help you with ads, whatever the thing is, we’re going to talk about when you should and when you shouldn’t hire someone to help you, too beautiful friend,

    Okay, let’s dive right in. In Why am I talking about today? Why is it so important? Well, I’ll tell you a couple of reasons. First of all, I do have people ask me things like when should I hire a VA or I’m thinking about hiring help. And that’s the first reason I want to talk about this today. 

    But the second is even way back when I was helping people with their online presence, you know, over 15 years ago, the people I was working with would be approached all the time by either an SEO company or an advertising company, or some other company trying to sell them something. And of course, the it would sound great, like, hey, we can help you get more leads, we can help you, you know, get traffic or whatever they were offering. 

    The issue was in my clients just you know, didn’t really think about this is why would you hire someone to help you if you don’t know what your baseline is, if you don’t know what your baseline is, how do you know if the money you’re putting forth, or the person helping you is actually helping you achieve your goal, right, or your business measurements, you know, improving that. That is why this is so important. And that’s why we’re going to talk about when you should and when you shouldn’t hire professional help, to specialize to help you grow or to help take on some of your workload. So here we go.

     

    Okay, first, let’s talk about when you shouldn’t hire help, at least not long term help. The first is if you have a problem with your business, then you need to understand what the problem is, and how it can be fixed. Now, obviously, if you can’t fix it on your own, I’m not saying gets don’t get someone to help you. But you’ve got to understand where you have an issue. And then you have to understand truly how it gets fixed. Even if you don’t actually do the work yourself. That’s the first thing. The next is you can’t outsource something or handed off if you don’t know how to do it yourself. Or you don’t know how to do it yourself. 

    And it’s not so clear that you can very specifically articulate what it is you want from the person. Because if we can’t, step by step, explain to them our expectations of what they need to do. It’s not going to work out and we’re going to be frustrated. And so as the person we’re trying to work with, because we have failed to super clearly in really simple terms, give them examples of what we want, how we want it when we want it and make sure that that aligns with how they can help us. That’s the second thing. The next is to how many people try to get help before they actually know their numbers before they know their measurements. 

    And this is just a slippery slope. Because how do you know how much they helped you if you don’t even know your your numbers. And so today for this example, about the numbers I’ll explain regarding your website. And so here’s often what happens. Someone has a website. 

    Obviously, most people if your site’s been around for a little bit, and there’s some content, you’re getting traffic, right? Someone is finding your site or you’re telling people about it, or it’s in your emails for people are clicking on your website. Well, that is obviously a metric that you’d want to know how many people are coming to your website, from where and then how many people are signing up for something that you offer, right. So this can be an email lead. This could be they’re calling you on the phone, but they’re signing up for a program where maybe a free group or community you have but we have to track those numbers. Because if you ever want to grow that and you’re at that point where you actually want to spend money growing it not just doing it gimmick, you know, tactics or strategies to help you. 

    You want to know what your baseline is? And then where are you trying to get in? Does it make sense for the money that someone’s you know, what program? Or what service they’re offering you? Does that make sense to have it aligned with what you want and where you’re at in your business? So it’s so important that you understand that.

     The next is, are you consistently having that extra work? Or that it’s an area that you just can’t fit in doing? But it’s integral to your business? Meaning, are you consistently not able to do the work or you’re just, you’ve grown enough, and you have consistent growth, where it makes sense financially, but also from a workload perspective, to have someone help you? So that’s the other thing that people need to look at it. Sometimes we don’t, we just feel busy. We feel like we’re overwhelmed. But often, that is a different struggle or challenge that we have to work through. Because if it’s not really about growth, right, like maybe our revenues aren’t where we want them to be yet. We’re thinking of hiring someone, and I’ve been there, just, you know, truth bomb 100%. I’ve been there. I’ve had those times where I feel overwhelmed. 

    And I think, is it because I need help as I get a little bit bigger. But sometimes it’s because I wasn’t super clear on my priorities in what work had to get done. What was mission critical? And what work could be put on the backburner that wasn’t really mission critical to what I was trying to accomplish at that time. So often, it’s because in our minds, we think, oh, gosh, wouldn’t it be so nice if I had help? But before we get help, we just need to reflect and decide, are we? Are we overwhelmed and too busy? Because we’re not prioritizing, and we’re not doing the most important work in instead? Are we doing busy work? 

    So important to make that differentiation? And sometimes you might need someone else to help you look at that, you know, look at your schedule for the week, what are you working on? What are your goals, or if you don’t have goals, yet are not real clear goals, maybe you need help with getting those kind of nailed down, you know, maybe you need to work with someone, you know, a consultant or a coach or, you know, some sort of expert in that area, you know, whatever your area is. So it’s just super important, though, that we really look at each of these things before we jump into working with a virtual assistant, or hiring a specialist to help us with something, whether it’s to grow our, you know, our audience, or whether it’s to grow maybe an Instagram following. Maybe it’s to get a

     

    publicist, or somebody to help us with PR. Once again, before we do that, what are our goals? And what are we already hitting now? Or are we going from never submitting, you know, like pitches to media or podcasts, but then we’re going to hire somebody to do PR for us. But we have no baseline like we’ve never tried it ourselves. We just think, Gosh, I need help here. There’s two challenges there. The first is, it’s expensive to work with a PR person. So if you don’t have a budget for that right now, then it’s costly. And so the question is, could you do it on your own? Do you have two hours a week or a couple hours a week, or even a handful of hours a month? To work on? You know, putting your stuff out there to people? Or who else could you use, that’s maybe not a full publicity firm, a PR firm. And so there’s always good alternatives to write, there’s this, there’s been around for many, many years now. Right? A freelance market. And so you can go on places like Fiverr, or Upwork, and lots of other ones, and find somebody to help you with on a project basis. Right. 

    And so that’s always a great thing to to try is don’t commit to some long term, you know, three months, six months, 12 month program, until you’re sure that’s really what you want to do. typed it out, maybe with somebody that will just work on a project with you. The next thing is, that’s what I always say is do a test with somebody, you know, before you commit two months in lots of money to work with somebody, do a test, you know, and obviously, like a paid test, like, just say, like, Hey, can I just have you work on this one thing for me, and like, let’s just see how it goes, you know, if this is a fit. The next thing is, until you’re sure that the the thing you’re going to do is what you want to do. Don’t sign that long term agreement initially. 

    Make sure there’s a fit. So whether that’s doing phone calls or doing that test, or making sure what is the cause? Can you get out of it if you’re unhappy with the quality of the work or the profit or timeliness of it? But you need to be really careful that you understand what are the terms to which you’re signing. So if you’re signing a six month you know deal with somebody, either a VA or like I said, a PR person or anyone what you know? And when what case can you cancel it is it a cancelled anytime as long as you give 15 days notice or 30 days notice. It’s so important though. And so I don’t think you should just jump in to working with a professional working with someone to help you until you really understand these things. Let’s review. If you have a problem, you need to learn how to fix it first. And you need to know how to deal with that thing before you hire somebody at least long term. If you’re going to outsource or hire company to help you in a specialized way, you need to learn how to do the thing yourself before you hand it off. Because if you want them to do a great job, you need to be clear on what it is you want them to do for you. You have to know next is you have to know your numbers. What are your metrics are your measurements, which What’s your baseline? 

    You have to know that because you don’t want to start some giving someone money and think, Oh, they’re doing a great job, but you really had no idea how it was going on your own if you weren’t measuring metrics or numbers or indicators. The next is do you really need help? Do you need, you know help let’s on a monthly or weekly basis? Or do you feel overwhelmed because you haven’t set clear, reasonable priorities? Next is are you experiencing consistent growth? Where you know, it makes sense to spend that money on another person to help you? And then can you do a test? Or if you can’t do a test, can you shine sign a shorter duration agreement or ensure that you can get out of the agreement? If it’s not going well for you if you’re not satisfied with the work or the results you’re getting? And what sort of timeframe does that look like? And so

     

    I think this is so important, because like I said before I’ve been here, there have been times where I thought, oh my gosh, I’m so busy, I could really hire somebody to help me with this. But often it’s because I was spending too much time on things that didn’t matter. They weren’t mission critical. And when I eliminated some of those other things, if you will busy work or work that was distracting me from my primary, you know, top three goals, I had more time. And surely that doesn’t mean that you don’t get to a stage where you do hire people to help you whether they’re contractors or whether they’re freelancers or whether you have employees. But we need to make sure we’re at that point before we get that help. So reach out I’d love to hear if you’ve if you already work with people that help you and if you do it what point did you hire those people? If you’re not quite there, but you’ve been wondering about this? What other questions do you have? And how else can I help you answer this question about when do you get help? Until next time, I hope you have a great week. 

  • Podcast Episodes

    4 Ways to Get More Leads Using Your Website

    Use Your Website to Get More Leads to Grow Your Online Business

     Today we’re going to talk about four ways you can get more leads from your website. This is such an important topic and so many of us don’t like talking about these things. We think they feel a little salesy or in people’s faces, but the honest truth is, is if you don’t tell people what you have to offer them, they’re not going to know we have to make it easy. So let’s jump right in to beautiful friend. 

    Okay, here we go. We’re going to talk about four ways to get more leads from your website, we’re going to talk about why pop ups are important. How you use freebies and lead magnets, how you do exclusive content or behind the scenes content, and then inline forms to unlock content. But let’s start off with something that I hear often from people, which is I hate popups. I hate when someone’s website has that obnoxious little box. But why do you think you go to so many websites with pop ups, there’s a reason it’s because in so many cases, they convert really well. Because if you can match what your visitor wants, and the type of content that you can offer them, you are going to increase the number of people that sign up for your email list or that actually go for your offer.

    So the first thing you need to do to get more leads from your website is you need to have a popup on your website. And I would even say an alert box, an alert box is the bar that goes at the top or bottom of your website. Or sometimes it moves moves with some of the content of your website. If you already have a pop up box, there are still things you can do to improve it. The first is a lot of people think they have a pop up, you know, little freebie or promotion on their homepage, and they think that’s enough. But traffic to your website is not like it’s your going through the front door of a store, people can come in through any page of your website, they can even find you through an image, which means they could really show up anywhere. So you really need a pop up throughout your website. But here’s the good news, you don’t want to spam them with pop ups. So there are things that you can do to set up the pop up so that it only shows up at a certain frequency. And only so often, right, so you set these parameters up. So there’s someone seen it in the last day or week or month or six months, whatever it is you want to set up, they won’t keep seeing that message. So it really shouldn’t be irritating and getting your visitors to leave because you’re only showing them that information that one time or you know, not as frequently as every time they go on every page of your website. So the reason they’re so important is if you can match your pop up content, either a freebie or some exclusive thing they’re going to get or it’s a time sensitive offer, with what they’re already asking for you to provide them, you know the type of content that you’re sharing with them, you’re gonna get people to sign up for it. If you’re if you have a pop up now and you’re not getting leads, or it’s almost none. First we need to look at, are you getting traffic to your website? For today’s episode, let’s just assume you’re getting some traffic there. And you don’t need huge numbers to make all this work. You just need to have a consistent number of people that are your possible, you know, prospects or possible clients to come to your website. So the first thing you need to do is, if it’s not effective for you, you need to consider what is it you’re offering and if people aren’t biting, let’s find out. Let’s pull your people let’s get feedback on what they really want from you. And let’s offer that. Okay, how do you set up a pop up if you don’t have one? Or how do you change the pop up and make it better? So some of your websites, the content management systems in that things like WordPress or Wix, Shopify, show it all of these types of things, though Do your content management systems, in other words, that that’s what runs your website, the back end where you’re editing content, some of them have a feature or a plugin that you set up to, you know, put the pop up on your site or an alert box. Now, some sites, it’s not, you don’t have full customization for those things. So a lot of people move on to use a third party application or web offering that offers pop ups. So you just basically put a little piece of a snippet of code on your website. And you can get someone to help you with this, that lets you then have super customized pop ups for what you’re trying to do. The examples of that is pop up domination is one company that does them lead pages, and there’s so many more, and I’ve used almost all of them over the years. Okay, the next is sometimes some of the email providers, they offer these pop ups for you. In other words, they have little snippet of code that you can put on your website. And then especially if it’s for like getting emails, you know, you’re trying to increase your email list with your pop up. So that’s the other thing that you need to know. Now alert boxes, you might say, well, if I have a pop up, why do I need an alert box, because everything we’re talking about is really about trial and error. It’s about testing. So while there’s data on this stuff for your own site, and what you have to offer people in who you’re reaching, you may find that your top alert box works better than your pop up on a certain page, or vice versa. So I like to try multiple things, and then see what the data tells me right? Which one is actually getting me leads, which one’s getting me people to give me their email list or some other, you know, piece of information. So that’s why you need popups. But I will tell you on my sites that are the most targeted, meaning they’re the most specific, it’s really, really

    granular content, right? It’s not real broad content, I get the most leads from that popup box. And I have other sites that the percentage is lower, because it’s a little bit more broad content in my popup offering is a little more general, it’s not super targeted to that audience, because I have a mixed audience, I’m going to another site that I run. So that’s the first thing is you need popups. And they do work. And these are the sorts of things that obviously you can get help from other people on. And this is something that I’ve helped people understand how to set these things up and how to really optimize them. The next thing that you need to do to get more leads from your website, is you need to look at what are you offering offering people so that they will give you their email list, right. So that they will tell you more about themselves. That’s where these freebies or other people call it a lead magnet, you know, or in there’s other words for it. That’s where that comes in. And if what you’re offering is working and you’re getting leads, great job, if it’s not doing much for you, then it might be time to consider. Once again, like I said, getting feedback from people that you already are connected with, from your email list, see what it is they really want to hear, hear from you or get from you, you know, what’s kind of like the thing that everybody asks you for that the thing you should focus in on, okay, but the way you use those freebies or lead magnets is one, you tell people in the pop up or the alert box, that of course, if they sign up for your email list, or whatnot, you will send them that freebie, you know, it could be a PDF, a checklist, all sorts of things. But another way to get more leads is to have exclusive content, or behind the scenes content that you only get if you sign up and join your email list or you sign up and join you know, your community or a Facebook group or a LinkedIn group or, you know, some other community group you have. So that is another great way to get more people to sign up is you have to give them show them that there’s something unique and special that they’re only going to get, you know, not everybody coming to your website can get. It makes sure it’s good. Don’t say that it’s going to be this exclusive thing. And then it’s lame, right? It has to have impact. It has to be something that people are going to be like, Oh my god, that is so good, right? That is so good. Like that’s so valuable. That helped me so much if that’s what you want people to say about your content. And then another thing that you can do and you do not have to do all of these strategies, right, you need to pick the ones that match best. If you’re a coach, or you’re a writer you may have you may mix and match these different ways to get more leads. So for instance, if you have copy, you know content like chapters of a book that are going to be coming out or maybe would have come out, you might share you know, a Extra chapter or maybe a new chapter you’re working on. So that would be kind of like an exclusive content will some people right in the page at the top of that page will have where you have to enter your email address to unlock that content, right to get that exclusive content. And if the person really wants it, they’re 100%, willing to provide their email to get it. So that’s the next thing that you need to consider on your website. So there’s really a few things here to make these types of things work for you to get more leads. The first is, you have to have them, at least some combination of a pop up, alert box, in line forms, unlocking exclusive content or behind the scenes. And usually you tie that with a freebie or magnet, but you don’t have to write it could just be like, Hey, girl, Hey, friend, hey, powerful woman or whoever you reach. This is it could be so Luthers, you know, if you do mystery writing or something, but you just have to try these things. And then you have to be tracking, you know, what’s your traffic and what kind of leads you’re getting in from what source on your website, hopefully, you’re doing that. But if you’re not, which there’s plenty of people that are not, it’s never too late to start. And it can be really simple. You can start a really basic spreadsheet, or even write it down in a document, and just put the month or the week or the day, however you want to track it. But overall, you’re just trying to look for patterns or trends in which ones are working for you. Or if you’re saying crickets nothing’s happened in here, then we start looking at why one, do you have these? Or which ones do you have? Which ones are you willing to try? And then what are you offering people? Maybe it’s not juicy enough? Maybe it’s not enough value for them to be willing to give you their information, when let’s be honest, we’re all on a lot of email lists.

    And if you have, if you struggle with why do I need to grow my email list, it’s because every other platform that you’re on, especially if it’s like social media platforms, the rules are always changing, you don’t own that group, if you will, they could literally shut it down on you, or they could move it or change something. But your email, list your contact information for people, some people text groups, right. But any contact information you have for people allows you no matter if you change email providers or website hosting companies, it allows you to reach those people as long as they’ve given you permission. So that’s why it’s important. And like I said, you need to know your your information, right, your your how many, how many you’re getting in from where. And then you need to try out other things. Here’s the good news. I talked to people all the time that just say, oh my gosh, I’m not tech savvy. I don’t know how to do any of this. Well, the first thing I want to say to you is take a deep breath. You don’t have to be tech savvy. But you do have to believe in yourself that you can learn the steps to do some basic things to make your website better. And I believe you can. I promise I’ve taught people over the last 15 or 20 years how to optimize their website, how to optimize their online presence, how to manage social in the way that they could maintain. And that’s usually because they’re not trying to do everything, they pick what works best, or where they’re most comfortable and where their audience is. So the good news is, I actually want you to do less, I want you to set up and optimize things. But then I want you to do less stuff. Because none of us can maintain this, you know, this feed this effort, because I’m going to tell you even happens to me, I end up exhausted two weeks, I’d go crazy busting my tail, and then I’m worn out. It’s because I’m in the middle of this big rebrand this big transformation with my podcast in my website, my offerings. So I’m in the midst of it. But I don’t want to continue this pace. I want to be able to just slow down and focus in on what I’m revising what I’m building. And I’m basing it on what people think wanted, instead of trying it all or keep trying it off, because I’ve been there. So the next thing is, like I said, you want to track your results. You want to test new things. You want to revisit if your freebie or lead magnet is relevant to people and if it’s of interest. So of course you can get feedback from your email list or a community. You can do a poll, you can ask people what is it that they would really love from you? Go back and see you know, comments people have given you about what really resonated. And just remember, don’t ask for too much information from your users or your visitors and make sure it’s enough value that they’ll want to trade or give you their email or information or join your group. are, what you’re offering them how you’re going to help them how you’re going to save them time, or whatever it might be. So I hope these four ways to get more leads from your website can help you, I get that this is high level. And I understand that sometimes it’s hard to take these concepts and dig down to your website. The good news is, there’s other people that can help you out there. I’m someone that’s offering web dot web optimization coaching sessions to help people really understand all the steps in 30 days to optimize their website, including this lead gen. And later this month, I am going to be pre registering people for my web optimization accelerator coming up in July. So there’s a lot of ways you can get help. And of course, there’s always YouTube tutorials. But if you’re like most people, we’re tired of those. And we just want a little more help. We want someone to hold our hand, so that you reach out, check out my website, Kristin fitch.com. Because I would love to help you with this stuff. If this isn’t something you think you can tackle on your own. As we wrap up today, I just want to leave you with a little bit of encouragement for your week and tell you that even when things are tough, even when you feel like you’re walking through a season of hard things, or just a season of busyness. Just know that, you know, it’s the relationships we have. It’s the time we spend deepening those relationships. It’s the time we spend, you know, getting closer to God in prayer and meditation. That really helps us live a richer life to really live a more peaceful, fulfilling life life filled with joy. And you know, we’ve had in our house, lots of things that we are walking through right now that are, you know, a little harder, you know, it’s kind of a day by day with some of the stuff going on. And then last week, actually, my dad just fell and was injured. He’s actually doing really well this week, which is amazing. But as he finds himself healing in the rehab center, while he might not want to be there, he’s really taking this time to be an encourager in that place with his roommate, and what he’s walking through in with some of his, the other people he’s met. He’s, you know, friendly with the nurses. But But I only see that I only share that piece of his story to tell you, even in the midst of our hard things, even in the midst of our trials and tribulations, even when we don’t feel our best, we can still show up and be a friend of someone else, we can still show up and be the love in the world the light that other people need. In one thing that’s become so clear, since this pandemic started, and so many things in the world just seem upside down is that people are lonely, they feel isolated, especially on social media, we feel more lonely than ever, a lot of people get off of it and feel worse than when they got on. Reach out to your friends make a new friend, just give somebody a hug, say hello. And in the rehab center, one of my dad’s friends that was visiting him talk to a man that was across the hallway in another room who was having a really hard time, just really, really a lot of sadness, a lot of loneliness. And he spoke to him and he prayed with me. And he he gave me his phone number and he said, you know if you need anything you call me. And you know, we’re going to do the same this week with him when I can get back in there tomorrow or the next day. But I only share this to say our websites are important. Optimization is important, getting our message out to people that it should matter to our stories. They’re important because we are going to have impact in people’s lives. But more so than that we’re going to have impact in people’s lives that we show up for. And we will make a difference. And so I just wanna remind all of us, well, I want to help you get your message to more people and connect with more people for your business. I even more so want to help you connect more deeply with other people and on a faith level. So here’s to an amazing week and to just take those minutes each day to do what you can to show up and be the light in the love in the world. And I mentioned this before, but I’m feeling website optimization coaching sessions now. Do you wish there was a way to optimize your online presence so you can get more traffic to grow your writing, speaking or coaching business easily in an authentic way. I know what it feels like to be all over the place showing up online and feeling frustrated with lack of growth. Then they learned the strategy and tactics that work to grow organic traffic and leads in and out in a more authentic way. Imagine if you knew how to create and build organic traffic online to help grow your audience with ease. So your website email list and community grows and converts without being salesy, sleazy or using high pressure tactics. That’s why I created this ops this website optimization coaching will where I’ll teach you the steps to get more traffic and leads from your website. You’ll be able to stop struggling with tech and know exactly what to do to grow organic traffic and get more leads. You’ll walk away with customized recommendations and a 30 day unique online growth roadmap with the exact steps to follow to grow your online audience. I was able to grow my all time pageviews to over 38 million and reach 10 million visitors for a brand I co founded. All using simple, easy to follow time tested organic strategies I learned along the way. So if you’re ready for your ideal audience to find you online, opt in to your list and connect with you without trying every new social media trend or spending so much time on tactics that don’t deliver. Then let’s dive in together. For a limited time I’m offering a summer promo. It’s a special price for the month of June that you can get a website optimization coaching session with me, head over to Kristin fitch.com for all the deets in my summer promo deal. I can’t wait for you to learn the steps to grow your audience using your website so you can get more leads with all the fuss overly salesy salesy copy and high pressure tactics instead are easy, repeatable and will align with you and your clients. So head on over and check it out because I would love to do a session with you and help you kickstart your online presence growth. If today’s show got you pumped about building your online traffic so you can grow your business. Let’s celebrate pop over and leave a review. Tell us what you loved about today’s episode or share this with another boss who’s ready to grow next level comm network with other entrepreneurs, authors, speakers, coaches and podcasters at my Facebook group to take your business to the next level. or head on over to Kristin Fitch that calm to find out more about my online growth system

  • Podcast Episodes

    5 Ways to Get Inspired to Start Your Next Creative Project

    How to Get Motivated and Unstuck to Start on Your Next Creative Project

    We are going to talk about five ways to get you inspired to create or create again, and how can you feel motivated and get unstuck when you’re not completing your next project, whether that’s the next book, whether that’s the next talk, or whether you’re building a program. So I want to jump in.

    But the first thing I want to say is that so many of us during COVID In still today, we were so shaken, right our lives changed what they looked like many of us had our income sources taken away or changed, right. So if you were doing a in person event, a tour anything, those stopped. And so a lot of us really did some reassessing, reviewing, but for some of us, it was hard to get back going into the next thing.

    And for others, even one of the things that happened is, there’s many, many authors that had have published books during COVID. They were already slated to write a book, but in many cases, their book content actually changed because of the what we were experiencing. So what’s amazing about that is is I think, first we have to give ourselves permission, that whatever we’ve done in the past, surely is going to inform our future project or product. But it might be different than what we were planning on it being and I think we have to give ourselves permission for that to be okay. So what I want to do today is talk you through if you’re stuck, or you’re just not getting the project done, let’s figure out why that is. So I think the first thing though, is that we have to be honest with ourselves about what’s really going on. And I love what Mark Patterson in his book Chase, the lion talks about, there is a section that says The Art of the Start. And he basically talks in talks about and says you cannot finish what you do not start. And he shares a story of a gentleman fan Bennett who literally for I think it was 19 years, just trying to see if that’s right, doesn’t actually start the book that he feels called to write. And he says I was living in Delayed obedience, but he hears a sermon by this pastor, Mark Patterson, and he realizes, wow, I, I really need to do this. So this is what he says. They made a decision that day to give God one hour every day until the book he dreamed of writing was a reality. Oh, here it was, it took them 15 years to get to the starting line.

    It only took him nine weeks to get to the finish line, a 50,000 word manuscript. And he goes on and says, What do you need to start? First, give yourself a start date, and I highly recommend today. Second, give God an hour a day, every day, it might mean getting up an hour earlier or staying up an hour late. But that’s how dreams become reality.

    Third, give yourself a deadline. Deadlines are lifelines. Without them, nothing gets done. So the first question I have for you is what is your priority? And when you look at your schedule, is that priority actually on your schedule? So if you’re trying to finish this next thing, it could be the book maybe it’s starting a podcast after you’ve already done the book or the coaching. What is stopping you? You know? So that’s the first thing and I think the biggest reason that we aren’t creating we’re not inspired to create is because we aren’t committing to it. And we’re not consistent. So the first thing is, is we have a commitment or consistency problem in a lot of cases if we’re dealing with this if we’re struggling through it, and I’ve been there. Well last year about a year ago I started this podcast, and I have been 100% consistent with it but If I’m being honest, I have several book project started, that are just sitting there on occasion, I dabble. Because I haven’t made the commitment to myself or my schedule to finish one of those book projects. I think I said to myself, well, I’m focused on the podcast. But the truth is, I want to finish one of those projects this year. So that means I’m going to have to put it on my schedule, and keep it, you know, a time a set time each day or each every other day.

    And I’m going to have to be committed to making that time sacred for writing. And for you, it might be something else. But that’s the first thing is we have to one, look at our priorities and our schedule, do they match with the priority of creating our project and to being creative the time we need to actually be creative. So do you have time in your schedule, to do the new work that to create the new creation, because if we don’t, we’re gonna get busy, and all of the work that we have to do just to maintain our business, and we’re gonna get busy with our lives, and there won’t be room for the creation of the new thing to be creative.

    The next thing is, I think that we truly get so busy, we don’t, we don’t make time in our schedules to slow down, we don’t make time in our schedules to take more breaks, and to make space for our mind to get quiet. So that we can hear God we can hear his, the creativity, he’s giving us the idea that he’s putting on our hearts, and so that we can actually hear these ideas, and we can actually capture them, we have to get quiet, so that we can settle ourselves settle our minds, because that’s when our creative inspiration often comes to us.

    It might be, you know, a sentence, it might be an idea for a Chapter, it might be an idea for a podcast episode or a chapter or not a chapter a part of your next talk. But whatever it is, this is often when we get those, you know, those creative downloads, this is when we have time to partner with God, to really step into what he’s calling us to do in our work. So I think that’s the second way that we can be inspired to create and to get those creative ideas.

    The next thing is that, I really think for me, one of the biggest things is I have to keep filling myself up. And I think all of us do in order to tap into our creativity and to actually commit to getting the work done. So what I mean by this is, how do you fill yourself up for me, it’s getting around creative people that are doing things, right, that are talking through what they’re working on. And they’re exciting. And then it’s getting, putting creative content in front of me.

    So filling myself up. So that could be words that inspire me in books, which I buy all the time. It could be sayings or quotes, could be a Bible verse, it could be a beautiful visual, a photo that just just makes me feel amazing. It’s just beautiful. There’s nothing else I can say about it, but it just captures me. So how can you add more things into your day into your week that fill you up. So whatever it is that make you feel creative, that make you feel inspired, add more of that kind of content into your week. And the next thing is, I think we have to be willing to try new creative forms.

    If you are a let’s see, if you are a nonfiction writer, try writing just for yourself a short story or a poem. If you’re a podcaster. Try doing a video instead of just audio. If you are a coach, you obviously you know, words are so important to you as well, just like the writer and the speaker. Words are important. So what lifts you up a lot of times it’s seeing other motivational speakers, do a talk, maybe go listen to a TED talk. But find something that inspires you and then be willing to try some new creative form. You know, maybe you’re a coach, you know, business coach, but maybe you write down an inspirational blog post, you know, or something like that, but just be willing to do something outside of your wheelhouse.

    Be willing to tap into your own creativity. And surely it could be going in coloring in a coloring book or it could be going outside and I like to say I take creative detours. So when I go on a walk, what I do is I look I try to be aware of the things I might not have noticed as I walk if I’m listening to a podcast or music, so I’ll turn the music or the podcast off. I will go along my walk in I’ll notice something a beautiful purple flower. So then the rest of the walk, I will look for those lovely, you know, there’s lovely shades of all the shades of purple in it, I’ll be amazed, I might see 15 different shades of purple on my walk. Or I might notice on a tree that the the leaves are shaped like hearts, then you know, I’ll just be enamored with that. And then I will continue to look for the shapes all around me. But this lets me, you know, be creative and see all the creativity that’s actually offered to us in the world. It’s, it’s quite amazing and astounding, I think.

    And then the next thing is, I think we have to continue to be open to hear those creative thoughts and then capture them. So either, and most of us probably do this, but keep a notebook with you, or some of us on our phone type into our notes, you know, ideas, we have inspirations that hit us ideas for, you know, content. So just make sure you’re capturing those though. And I think also take time to go back and look at all of your ideas that you’ve written down.

    Because sometimes when I’m lacking inspiration, when I don’t feel I have something to create something new to come up with. When I go back and look at the many ideas I’ve written down about so many different topics that will start to let me process it and then come up with the thing I want to talk about or the thing I want to work on. And so for me, it’s so important. And the next thing is, I think we just have to be willing to sometimes change or change or scenery. Many of us work, you know, in the same office.

    And for most of us, there’s probably a home office, no, I’ve worked in a home office, for the most part for the last 15 to 18 years. And while there was a stint in there, where I did go into an office about two or three times a month, when I actually wasn’t working for myself when I was working with a company.

    Other than that always worked on the box all the time. And so sometimes even that office slipping at the same things can get a little monotonous or it can get a little boring, and most of us have been stuck at home so much. So we’re here even more than before. So the other thing you need to do is change your scenery. If you like the hustle and bustle, go into a coffee shop, or sit outside of coffee shop, comfortable. go the beach and bring your ideas or you know, jotting down things. No one read a book, you know, eh, or go to your favorite place.

    I know author Bob Goff, he would have meetings to stay on to little treasure island there. And I think that’s amazing. And I love that your meetings on Treasure Island, not in a stuffy office. Because he’s a lawyer. I mean, who wouldn’t want to have a meeting. So change your scenery. And you do change your perspective. And we do this. So if you’re not feeling inspired, do change your scenery. And the last thing I’m gonna leave you with as far as ideas on how to get inspired to create create, again, is something regularly I’ve been talking to with friends and people. And it’s this when you’re feeling uninspired when you’re feeling like you can’t create or you’re even stuck, not sure what the next is how to move forward. You need to follow your joy. You need to slow down instead of trying to push forward you know what it is going to be that you’re going to create. Follow your joy. So what I mean by this is each day, stop watering the main ask yourself, what I really enjoy doing right. And I get sometimes we have schedules that where we can’t do it during that time. I want to there’s time where you could do this. It could be less than the in the evening. It could be early morning. When you take a break. What would I really enjoy doing? It might be going sitting up. I know I do that most acidifier for me. It’s relaxing.

    It’s cathartic. And it just lets me clear my mind and just, you know, I just love sitting outside and so for me that’s a way that I can follow my joy and really feel about you know for seeing friends and getting to the beach for me are things that bring me joy. The more we listen to ourselves, and we do the small things for ourselves that we actually want to do instead of saying I have no time I can actually start to get work. 30 becomes worth listening to ourselves. And we can actually do a lot more clearly. So follow your joy. And before I wrap up and just give you the, the different ways in which you can be inspired again and to create, I just wanted to share with you a quick story that’s in the book, that the E is talking to a woman that’s a author, she’s written one book, and she’s working with a publisher, another book, but she’s finding herself not able to.

    So I gave talks to her and says, you know, hey, let’s see what’s going on. So they talk through, like what per day looks like. And as they talk through it, you know, he says, oh, so your, your highest priority is your family, to really get ready is your housework and infrastructure. And your third is writing and she says, writing is much higher to me than the housework. When she explained her schedule, for Hallford always came before she ever committed time to writing, what this created what she’d never get time to write into, therefore, the practice wasn’t done. So they talk through, if truly writings, her priority, and what was holding her back from putting that ahead of culture. And they worked through it. And they determined, you know, the reasons, one of the reasons was deep down, she truly was afraid that if she made this, he says big commitment to her creativity, she might fail on a bigger scale.

    If she stayed small, she could avoid the possibility of rejection. So sometimes we haven’t prioritize this next project, or this next book, or this next podcast episode or even starting one. Because we’re afraid of failure. We’re afraid of the rejection that might happen. If we show up in a way that even more people see us. What if they don’t like what we produce? What if they don’t, and he also says something in that same book, he says, instead of Ready, Set, Go, they say, ready, go set, because we’re never ready. We’re never ready to take the next step, you know, in our personal lives, in our businesses, with our creative work, called to. So in other words, just get ready and go for it. Just start, take a step, take an action, to paper, voice to video recorder, just get and then set, then key, then go and figure out the strategy, then put it on your schedule, consistent and make it a priority.

    So here are here’s the wrap up that you can take with you into your day and try to apply maybe one or two of these in part already do. So the first is ask yourself, are you committed? And are you consistent to make your creative work happen? And the reason why we can find out if this is true, is review your priorities with your schedule. Is that priority of creating this next thing on your schedule regularly? Is it on there daily in a time that you can stay undistracted with the rest of your life? Or is it on there? Have you set a deadline. So start your project and have to be humble share the project in the deadline with someone else.

    And on that note, I would just share there are many products, online platforms that have deadlines you can put into them so they can keep you accountable to your writing or podcasting or whatever it might be. Or you could just put up a Google Calendar not only for your times, but what deadlines Do you want to hit in chunks. Next thing I shared about how to be inspired to create is take a break and make more space so that you can hear your own. And you can hear what God wants to share with you as far as how you show up in the world with your creative gifts.

    And then third, round creative people fill yourself up with creative, creative visuals or words. Try new creative form, do something different. It can be in your same area if you want it to be, but make it something you aren’t currently doing. Make it simple. There’s no expectation or this has to be something great. This is just to let your mind flow in your hand the creative next area for creative thoughts and inspiration. Another thing that you can do is change your scenery. Get out of your home office or your home wherever you do your work. And then follow your joy. How can you add more things into your day in a week that bring you joy?

    Because truly the more joyful we are the more relaxed and joyful we are more creative. We will be. It’s just a fact just how it is. I really like what Eric Maisel says, he says, to create, you must quiet the mind so that ideas will have a chance of connecting. And I think that’s true.

    We’ve got to allow ourselves for this peace,and to do things that bring us joy. And I want to leave you with these words by author Bob Goff and his new book undistracted. In case like so many of us you just felt stuck, distracted or having a hard time finishing your creative work. He says, don’t feel bad about all the things that have been grabbing your attention. We all become distracted at some point. It is somehow built into our operating systems. We become distracted from our goals and greater purposes, by or temporary circumstances. We can be distracted by each each other and even away from God and what we really believe to be true. Sadly, the boatload goodness we do the world as being scuttled by the many things that carry so far away from us. We can no longer make leaps to the shore.

    We get stuck in the past, worried about the present or the future. We no longer lean into our lives, right where we are. But instead we become individuals. little resemblance to the people God. And friends, I would just say to you, how can you incorporate more things that let you do the creative work that you’ve been called to do and step into, so that you can serve more people with all of the goodness that you have to do? Thanks again for listening. And we would love it if you enjoyed the show if you could subscribe on Apple podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    And also it helps us so much if you could leave a rating and a review on Apple podcasts because it helps more people like you find the show so that we can serve even more people as they’re stepping out into what they’re called to do. And if you’re interested in working with me, head on over to Kristin fitch.com To find out how we can really optimize your online presence to grow your business.

  • Podcast Episodes

    4 Ways to Get Booked on More Podcasts, Lives and Virtual Events

    4 Ways to Grow Your Audience & Leads using Podcasts, Lives and More

    We are going to dive into four ways you that you can get booked on podcasts, live and virtual events as an online entrepreneur. So I can’t wait to dig into this with you. And I hope that just becomes a monthly or weekly goal for you to get more exposure.

    Let’s dive right in. What I love about these tactics is that if you’re looking to grow your business to grow your brand, one of the best ways you can do that, and that doesn’t cost you really any money is to get in front of other people’s audiences where you can bring value, but you’re not known to them. Okay, so that is why we would be doing this.

    So once again, we’re going to talk about four ways you can get booked on more podcasts, or on Facebook or Instagram lives. Or you can be a guest or a speaker at virtual events. So here we go, let’s dive right in. The first way that you can get more exposure and get in front of more people, is to start off with creating a one shooter to be a podcast guest or to be a speaker.

    And you want to do that and send it to people as you promote yourself and these different groups we’re going to talk about and then also as you network with people, and I have examples of one cheaters that I will post on my website, Kristin fitch.com. But you can also go to canva.com, where you can create lots of graphic, you know, PDFs or JPEGs and things like that, of, you know promotional things. And you can also do one sheet or they’re they have examples that you can just take and make your own.

    Or you can look to other people’s sheets, and then come up with a style and design that you like. So that is the first thing that is needed, you don’t want to just post you know a little bit of copy about you, you want to have a easy for them to access, PDF and graphic that they can just look at, and it has your contact info, it has kind of what you cover what you’re an expert at a photo of you.

    And you know, basically like maybe some topic suggestions. So that’s the first thing that you really need if you want to start getting booked on more podcasts in lives. And like I said, it’s actually really easy to create. And it’s something that over time, as you hone your business, as you come up with new ideas to talk about, or you find which ones really resonate with people, you’re going to update this one sheeter.

    And then that’s what you’ll use moving forward. So it’s, it’s like most of our business, you’re gonna keep making little tweak to the things that you send out to people. But first of all, you start off with this one feature that you send to people that makes it super clear.

    What your quick highlight is, and then what you can speak to their audience about and what value are you going to bring to them? And then how can they contact you? So that’s the first thing and it’s so important. And I will tell you in the past, I even had two different one cheaters, which that can be okay, the issue is, I was diluting who I was and what my brand and what I can really speak to is because I was not sure how to bring the two things together.

    And if you find that’s the case for yourself, you just really have to get clear on who are you reaching out to to be on their shows or their podcast and what which of those would really resonate with them. So don’t make it about what you do so much but make it about what do you do that they would want you to talk about? Okay. The next thing is, you really want to join some groups that allow you to post that you can be a guest on shows that will let you tell about yourself and you’re focused.

    I’m going to give you a couple suggestions that I think are really great and that I’m members of and I’ve gotten guests and I’ve been a guest on podcast because of this The first one in Facebook is called podcast guest collaboration community. And I have, it’s a big, big community.

    I mean, I think it might be something like 20 or 30,000 people, but it’s super active. And honestly, I have gotten guests, and I’ve also been on other podcasts as well. So that is a great community. Another one that I am a member of that’s very active.

    And really, you know, good quality is called pod match. And then dash podcast guest interviews. Now, both of these free communities also have paid websites that you can join so that you’re featured, and you get emails with kind of summaries of the people that are in the group for that week. So that’s definitely an option. And if you’re really trying to book a lot of these, you know, podcast interviews and shows, that’s something to consider, you know, at least for a time being.

    There’s many other Facebook and LinkedIn groups, and things like that, but just pick a couple. And they can be super specific to it doesn’t have to be so broad. There’s other groups that might be for, you know, podcast guests, that are coaches, or just for speakers. Or maybe if you are an expert in a certain area, like a doctor, but you want to get on more shows, you know, find one that’s niche down like that. Okay, so that’s number two.

    But it’s really important, because that’s how you start getting in front of people that might be looking for a guest just like you. And actually, while I’m at this, I do want to mention, when you email somebody, which we’ll talk about in a minute, or you post in these groups, don’t just post your PDF, of course, post a little bit of copy about, you know, what’s your name? What do you do? What can you speak to, and then how should they reach out to you so that if they don’t see the graphic, especially in an email, and they don’t have to click the PDF opened, they can decide super quick if you would be a great guest.

    Or if you’re a maybe guest, or maybe you’re not a good fit. Also, when you contact somebody to direct directly, don’t just be generic and don’t, you know, send it to 50 people, you need to be super specific, you need to know the show, it needs to be a show you’ve listened to several times at least. And you need to tell them what it is about the show that really resonated with you. And why you think you would be a valuable guest to them.

    Don’t go on for you know, paragraphs and paragraphs, because they’re not going to read it all. Just make it clear to the point and concise and then attach that PDF or that graphic as well.

    The next thing is you have to network with people, and let them know that you are wanting to you know, be a podcast guest and that you’ve been a guest on other shows, once you’ve done that. And some ideas for that is of course, LinkedIn, you know, that’s a great place to network with people. And there’s lots of groups in there that are super specific.

    Also, if you are already podcasting, most podcast platforms have a community for their podcasters, where if they allow it, you can post and just say like you’re looking for a guest or you’re wanting to be a guest, you know, make sure you know the rules. Also, if you’re in professional groups, or you’re in paid memberships, where people are doing similar work, often there’s places within those where you can post opportunities to work with other people. And I’ve done that before.

    I’ve gotten great podcast guests by posting in those types of groups that I’m in, I’m in one group that’s for Christian or faith based speakers and writers. And that is not a Facebook community. But it’s a it’s another community. And I have definitely made great contacts from there and actually started some friendships from people in those groups, after I had them on as guests. So that’s the next way you’ve got to network. And of course, you can network in person, too.

    If you’re part of a business or professional group. Some you know, a lot of times in your own communities, there’s already people podcasting may be in your focus area, you know, so if you’re in business, I know locally, there’s plenty of podcasts, even here in my area. And then number four is, once you’re on a podcast, and if you really feel like it clicked with a guest, and it was a really good fit, you know, the content you’re providing.

    Ask that guest that podcast if you if they have any suggestions for you, or connections that they think would really enjoy having you on. So you have to ask people, you have to tell people what it is that you’re wanting to do. Otherwise, they’re not necessarily going to think to make that connection for you. You know, and make sure you follow up. You know, you can also ask people later, it’s just so important. And like I said, so many people I talk to maybe you’ve never done a podcast interview yet. Well, that’s okay.

    You know, when you first do it, if you join these groups, just make sure you’re ready to go and know that if you haven’t practiced or done radio interviews or podcast interviews or been a speaker at event yet, you have to be careful because a lot of times what happens is, you’re not ready for your responses. And you might go, you might kind of go on and on and on with your answers, which sometimes that’s okay.

    But if every answer is really, really long, sometimes you’re not really getting to the point of what it is you wanted to share. So it just makes it a little less effective. So you can practice by just doing, you know, getting someone you know, to talk with you, and maybe ask you, you know, hypothetical questions, and just having that kind of an interview style conversation so that you get comfortable with it, it’s really important, because you’ll do better if you haven’t done this, even if you’re a seasoned author, speaker, contest, or coach, so you’ve done lots of interviews in the past, maybe you’ve taken a break since your last big thing came out. And so maybe you’re just not as polished as you had been.

    Or maybe you’re talking about a different subject matter. Now, the once again, it’s really great to just practice a little bit. And then, as you do more shows, of course, you’re gonna have, you know, better content. And what I want to say about virtual events, often, if you’re in these groups, someone might post about that they’re putting together a virtual event. What’s cool about that is as you if you’re ready to go, especially with your one tutor, you can reach out to them and say,

    Hey, I would love to be a guest, or follow the events that you would love to be a guest at in the future. And so maybe it’s too late right now, for instance, if it’s a summer event this year, but follow them now. And then at some point they will, they’ll put out a call for Speaker submissions or proposals.

    Well, if you have that tagged, and you’re following them, you’re going to see that and you’ll be ready to submit your idea for the topic. For a group, you know, of speakers like a, what do you call that? Like a round table or something like that. But if you if you start having these goals now, you know, like, what would you love to be a speaker at so if you’re a podcaster, there’s there specific podcasting events, maybe for this fall, or next year, you want to be a speaker at some of those events, we’ll start following them now. So that, you know, when they announced that they’re looking to get speakers, so that that goal of yours can actually happen the next time, they have an event.

    And of course, I just want to say don’t feel defeated, if you submit to some of these things, and you don’t get it right away. You know, they have a lot of people submitting for especially the bigger the more exposure these events have, normally, the more established of speakers they’re gonna get. And that’s okay, just keep trying and start developing those relationships with people. And you will get there. And then also, your goal might be for this amazing, huge event that you want to speak at.

    But until you’ve done other speaking gigs in that same area, that same genre, or industry, you may not get that big gig, that’s okay. So what you need to do is also have a list of the smaller events that you can submit to you can reach out to the promoter or the you know, the person running it, and try to get a spot in there.

    Another thing that I’ve done in the past is, let’s say you’re not speaking at the event that year, but often they have positions where you can be a volunteer, and maybe you emcee a room, you know, and but you start making connections, you start getting to know people at this events. And often in that case, you wouldn’t if you’re a volunteer, you may not even have to pay for the ticket, of course, you’d have to pay for your, your hotel and your flights and stuff.

    But that’s a great strategy to start to get people get to know people that are running the event, you know, they’re the ones picking the speakers or people coming to present.

    So that’s what I would say as well. But you do have to start with like, what is the goal in mind, you know, and some people say, Oh, this year, I want to be on X podcast, or every month, I want to get in front of you know, for new audiences that I’m not in front of before. But start off with the goal in mind. And then decide how often you need to be submitting to different podcast or pod podcast groups, or different speaking events. So once again, like for me, if you just put it on your calendar to do it, you know, consistently. So if it’s bi weekly, you’re going to spend two hours and just submit to some of these podcasts in these events that you’ve been following, and that maybe you have some notes about what you really enjoyed about the show what resonated with you, you know, so maybe that’s your things, keep a spreadsheet of the things you’re the people or the podcast or the events that you want to reach out to in the future.

    And as you think about it, as you come across stuff, save that into that list, so that you can very easily and quickly get back to who you want to reach out to and then what the you know, when did you reach out to them and then what’s been the response so far? And so that’s it. Those are the four tips for how you can book get booked on more podcasts lives and virtual events as an online An entrepreneur. So let me just summarize those for you real quick again. The first is you have to have a one sheeter so that people know who you are, what you do and how you can benefit their audience. And if it’s the right fit.

    Secondly, you have, you really want to join groups, you know, that are looking for podcast guests, or for speakers. So get in those groups and make sure you know, at least regularly you’re looking. And a quick tip there. Usually you can search the group for, you know, key words, or like, maybe if you are focusing on people with life coaching, you could search those words to see what posts come up so that you can respond to ones that might be related to what you do. Okay, the next one is network with people, okay, so get in these groups. And if they have a place where you’re allowed to post, co labs, or promotion, or whatever it is, post in those groups. And sometimes they have tags that you can use, it’ll let let them know that you’re like looking for a guest or collaboration. Do it though it does work. I’ve done it so many times.

    I’ve gotten some great guests, both in the Facebook groups. And then in some of these networks and these memberships, I’m in as long as you know the rules, make sure you know the rules.

    Number four is, once you get on some of these podcasts or your speaker at an event, start asking people for suggestions of who you might reach out to or what podcast might be a great fit for you to you know, get on, especially if they know the other podcaster or the other promoter of the event. So that is it for today. And I promise you if one of your goals is to get more exposure for your business, for your brand, to get in front of more people, so that you can grow your audience. This is one of the most straightforward strategies that does not cost you any money and will really help you over time as you get into these bigger audiences. Bring some more people over to you to learn more what you do when it’s a fit for that person.

    So good luck, I would love to hear from you. Which of these are you going to implement? And as you implement them, I would love to know where are you getting traction and what’s working for you. And if you have another tip, besides these four for how to get booked on more podcasts and lives, send me a message or email me I would love to hear it.

    I want to wrap up today’s episode with an excerpt from the book Dream Big by Bob Goff And the reason I want to share this is I think we are always constantly changing both how we’re tweaking our business, how we’re serving people how we’re showing showing up in our lives. And so this excerpt spoke to me about that. He says,

    “The reason I’ve had lots of careers and done many things is that I’m constantly changing. You are as well, you can have several ambitions materialize at the same time, or they can happen in a row. There’s no wrong way. There’s just a wrong time. Get Current with yourself. Don’t be who you were, be who you’re becoming, figure out how God wired you and then go do lots of that. Only strangers will remember you for your job titles. The bad jobs can get us ready for better for the better ones. And the better ones can prepare us for the best ones. Don’t lament your bad ones. Just don’t stay in them. Our lie, our legacy will be the amount of love and hope and encouragement we release into the world, our self awareness in our other awareness and our willingness to adapt and to adopt new approaches as we evolve. What we do isn’t who we are writing a book doesn’t make me an author. It doesn’t even mean I’m a guy who can spell. It simply means I’m a guy who tried. I’m sweet Maria’s husband and a dad to Lindsay, Richard and Adam and now John and Ashley to if we call ourselves speakers or writers or writers or knife throwers or sword swallowers. But then some night we do a lousy job of speaking or writing or throwing knives, or get the hiccups. It’s not just a bad night. It’s an identity crisis. identity with your family, your friends, and Jesus. If you load up your job, with your sense of purpose, you are in some danger, some dangerous territory, it’s not wrong, just be careful that you don’t put all your eggs in that basket with a hole in it.”

    I think that’s so good. And I think as the world has changed, and as we have to pivot what we’re doing or how we do the things we do in the world, we have to remember, we’re just we just need to show up being the best person we can be to serve others, to spread love and just keep iterating and that’s okay. So step into your business. Don’t be afraid to pivot or to tweak when you need to make that change. And don’t be afraid to try new things. And most of all, when it’s time, get ready and get onto those podcasts and those events so that you can be a voice you can share your wisdom and your experience and your knowledge with other people. And I also want to let you know I am doing website optimization coaching, where you get a complete website and lead audit and learn how to optimize your website step by step to grow your leads. So if that’s of interest to you, head on over to Kristin fitch.com To learn how you can sign up for an audit with me today. If today’s show got you pumped about building your online traffic so you can grow your business. Let’s celebrate, pop over and leave a review. Tell us what you loved about today’s episode or share this with another boss who’s ready to grow next level comm network with other entrepreneurs, authors, speakers, coaches and podcasters at my Facebook group to take your business to the next level. or head on over to Kristin Fitch that calm to find out more about my online growth system.

     

  • Podcast Episodes

    4 Reasons Why You Aren’t Standing Out as an Author, Speaker or Coach

    4 Reasons Why You Aren't Standing Out in Your Niche

    You can either listen to this content below or read it instead.

    Are you struggling to stand out as an author, speaker coach? Today we’re going to talk about the top four reasons why that might be and how to fix it to beautiful friend. 

     Hey, hey, welcome back. This is Kristin and I am actually super pumped to talk about today’s episode, today’s topic, because I have so been in this spot throughout the years, I so much know how this feels because here’s a serious truth bomb for you. It was a couple of weeks ago, I was on a call with a small mastermind group that I’m in. 

    And it was two other female speakers and authors. And I threw out two different taglines as I rebrand the podcast to them. And as I shared them, one of the ladies in my group said, I like the second one. And she said, that’s the first time I actually got what you can do for people and that I could remember it to tell other people. It was like hello light bulb moment. 

    I’ve been in a small group with these two women, for I think about a year and maybe longer. And in the last year, I was trying things, things I was doing different things. But I was getting super broad super high level. So they really knew kind of the things I did, but they didn’t really understand how I could help someone else they might refer me to. 

    So that was my first mistake. My first pitfall was as I stepped into business for doing business for myself, again, I wasn’t willing to commit, wasn’t willing to commit to something super specific that I only could do and knew how to do versus so many other people. Because if you’re vanilla, it’s it’s not going to work, people aren’t going to remember. So let’s jump into the top four reasons. 

    And of course, I’ll tie back in what I just shared with you, the top four reasons why you aren’t standing out as an author, speaker coach in the way you want to that maybe you’re not getting referrals, or you’re not getting enough people signing up for your program, or maybe you’re not getting booked in enough speaking paid speaking gigs or not selling enough books. And there will be other episodes where we’ll dig into the specific challenges, whether it’s about books, or speaking gigs, or coaching programs. 

    But for today, we’re going to be a little more broad in our answers. Because this really applies to any type of subject matter expert or focused person that you are in your business. So as I mentioned, my the first top reason why you’re not standing out in the way you want is because you aren’t willing to specialize. 

    Because you’re too broad, and people really don’t know that you’re the go to person for something super specific. So usually it’s because we’re, we think by getting really specific, we’re gonna lose possible business. But the opposite is true. And there’s so many people that share the stories, their own stories with you, when they got super specific about exactly what they do. They were able to get more business. 

    And think about it this way. If we’re looking at restaurants, and a friend of mine says, Oh my gosh, what is the best Italian restaurant you know, we have a special dinner coming up and I want to pick the best Italian restaurant. Well, if I’ve ever been to an F tion restaurant or multiple ones in my area, I’m probably going to say oh my gosh, yes, you have to go to Altos, or whichever restaurant I would I would tell them and I would tell them why it’s so amazing for Italian. But if my friend said what’s the best restaurant in the area? Usually, I’m not going to pick the restaurant that has 600 things on the menu and they have Americana and they have a little Italian and they have burgers. Because the experience you’re going to get there is you’re not even sure what they specialize in. So you’re not going to even probably pick their best dishes.

     It’s the same in business. Do you want to be a restaurant that serves everything, but they’re known for nothing or do you want to be the standout restaurant that serves the most amazing burgers with you know, toppings that you could barely even fathom. But the combos are so delicious that people can’t help but tell other people about this experience they had at your burger joint or whatever kind of thing you have. 

    So that’s the first thing, you have to be willing to specialize, you have to be willing to niche down even more than you are now. And years ago, a woman I worked with on one of our boards for for our business that we had, she was, you know, America’s nutrition expert. But it was it got really specific, right, like she got drilled down exactly who she helped. That’s what we’re talking about. So you really have to go further and deeper and be specific, you know, that you help somebody to certain level with a certain thing. 

    So the next thing is, what’s your one message, what’s the one transformation that you can help people with more so than other people that might be in your similar industry. So we might be able to help them in more ways. But there’s usually one message that really stand out for your prospect or your client the most in that’s the message that you want need to be really clear on, but getting feedback from your current clients and your prospects, that then you have to hit that message home over and over, again, on your website, and on your social, you know, the way that you’re speaking to your audience. 

    So that’s the next thing is it has to be one message, one clear thing that you’re telling them that they can get from you, you know, either you’re going to help them get to a point in their business sooner, or they’re going to have a transformation from understanding your framework, or whatever it might be. But we can’t try and have six different things, when we’re just trying to really keep expanding and growing are one thing, we have to stay focused on it. The next thing is, you’re not, you’re not getting more exposure, you’re not standing out because you’re not getting in front of more or bigger or newer audiences. So in other words, you’re doing the same thing you’ve always done, and you’re not doing collaborations with other people, you’re not being a guest on shows or on podcasts. 

    So in other words, your audience is stagnant, or it’s just not expanding, because you’re not getting in front of new listeners, or readers or prospects. So what do you do about that, you go and start getting booked on podcast or shows, or in Facebook Lives or you become a speaker at bigger events. Because you have to be able to get in front of more new people in order to grow your your business. 

    Then the last thing is, you’re not engaging with your audience in a deep way. In other words, you’re not growing super fans. And in Pat Flynn’s book, super fans, he talks about, we take our listeners or readers or users or website visitors to this place where they start out with a casual, you know, visitor, they’re just kind of checking things out. We, we build, we make them into more active participants. And then as we do we have more connection points with them, we make them more of a connected fan or connected user. 

    But the end goal is to make them into super fans, right? That’s the highest level. A lot of us, though, are just busy, busy posting and putting things out there. But we forget to keep having touch points with our the people that are engaging with us, you know, so on social or on our website, with our email list, maybe by giving them special sneak peeks and smash special content that only they get.

     But then it’s interacting with them. Are you emailing them back? Are you posting and responding their comments on social thanking them? You know, making sure that people know a little bit more about you that you’re you don’t have to be an open book, but they do need to know how you guys connect in different ways. You know, if you’re a mom, that’s great, but do you have only are you a boy Mom? Are you a faith based? Mom?

     

     

    Are you into dogs? Or no, you’re a cat person. But people like to know that information because some of them are going to see themselves in you, you know, and who you are and what you represent. The other thing that Pat Flynn says and I actually say something very similar to this is people want to feel like they belong. So are you engaging with them? Are you connecting with people, you know, your listeners, your readers, or your clients in a way that they feel like they belong? They’re part of your tribe, and they love it so much that they want to bring other people into this community into your tribe. 

     

    That’s another mistake we sometimes make is we get so big As you head down working on the next talk or the next chapter, or you know, the people working right now that we don’t put in the extra effort to send a individual direct message, or to send a quick email to somebody to say, I really appreciate you taken the time to do that review, or to connecting me with this person. So it’s that a go above and beyond. 

     

    Because as you do that, from the right place, right from that servant heart from that place where you’re doing it, because you truly care about this, this community you’re building, people will notice they’ll know the difference, right? If it’s authentic or not. And they will want to be a part of that, because you’re showing up in this most amazing way, fully authentic, fully vulnerable and fully present. So it is so important. 

     

    And so I just want to add a couple tips for how we can do a better job so that we do stand out. So we do build our audience. And we do build superfans. So the first is, when you meet someone, or there’s people that you’ve you’ve already worked with, if you ask them, and you can send them an email, or you can do a poll, or you can get feedback from them. It can be a phone call, Hey, what is it that you think I do? And how would you describe that to someone else, and then write down or capture or record what they say. Because while you might think you’re clear, and you’re super specific about what you do, and who you help, you might be surprised to find that it’s not as clear to other people as you think. 

     

    So that’s the first thing I would say is a quick exercise is to talk to 10 people, and ask them to tell you, you know, Hey, what is it you think I do? And and how might you refer someone? Why would you refer someone to me? And what is that? What would you tell them about me? You can obviously say that in your own words. But that’s the gist. That’s the first thing I would say to do. So they get really clear, if you are super specialized and specific in that people understand exactly what you do. The next thing is your message? Is your message clear? 

     

    Or have you gotten way ahead of who’s actually looking for your solution, your service, or your you know, your book, or whatever. And so what I mean by this is, as I’m actually building out my upcoming course, when I just did a coaching call for my program with someone, they said to me, Well, what about using, you know, SEO in the title, and I said, Well, okay, people like me and you to my coach who have been in the industry for a long time. We know that word very, you know, we hear it all the time. But for someone with a website, where they’ve put up a website, but they’re not doing much else to really optimize it to really make it the best tool that it could be for them. They may not use that word, they might have heard the word. But for them, they don’t even quite know what all that entails. And so sometimes we use the language that doesn’t actually connect to our audience. 

     

    So that one message is so important. And one way that you can get really clear to make sure your message is resonating with people is take your message. And then you know poll people ask people, hey, you know, what are you most struggling with? What do you think when you see this messaging and then see if it connects. I’ve just recently redone this, as I’m rebranding and revising the podcast. And I have to tell you, once again, I started off super broad with how I can help people in by the end, and I am so specific down to one thing I’m helping people with. So even though the podcast will have episodes that talk about optimizing your online presence, and growing your brand, and tools and all this great stuff in entrepreneurial stories, how I specifically help people is going to be so clear and specific now. 

     

    And I’m going to be honest, there was a lot of resistance for me, as I kept drilling down because I thought to myself, Wow, I was doing this kind of work 15 plus years ago, and here I am back at it, which for me was a little bit of a shocker. But as I let myself process it, you know what I realized? I can still be a consultant, a coach, a mentor, I can be an encourager, I can help people find financial and time freedom by being super specific in the thing that I know that I could literally speak about in my sleep. 

     

    So while it might not be the most exciting topic for me today, because I’ve been in this industry for 20 years, it’s the thing that I actually know so much about in just have to, you know, hone in do a little bit more digging for, you know how the things have changed today, but I only share that to say I get it you might think your message is super clear or you’re being specific. But that’s your purse. perception, your language might be higher. In other words, doctor speak, are you telling it in simple layman’s terms that someone will understand how you help them and what their transformation will be? 

     

    Or you using lawyer or doctor speak but in your industry? Is it above our heads? Because we don’t speak that way. So you need to find out. And then okay, and the next tip or thing that you can do is, are you actually booking opportunities to get in front of new audiences, this just becomes an objective of yours each month, you know, to reach out and to get on other podcasts or to, you know, get on people’s Facebook or LinkedIn or Instagram type lives, you know, video type conversations. 

     

    That’s it, you just put it as a goal of yours every month. And I have another episode that talks about how can you actually book these types of things that came out, I think, a week before this episode. So take a listen to that. And then lastly, when we’re talking about growing superfans, you need to do an audit, where all the places that you have touch points or connections to your prospects to your listeners, to your readers in are you actually answering their questions? Are you showing up in your community and responding to people? 

     

    Or do you have someone that does that for you, but you don’t want those opportunities to connect with you to beat to go on answered, because it’s literally gold each time you have that touchpoint with them, or you don’t just post something, and then they comment, and you never comment back. When you actually take that minute to actually respond to them to say thank you, or, Hey, here’s what I think of what you posted, or I love this. People feel once again, more like they belong, that they’re part of a community that they are actually truly part of not just that they’re watching you post content, even if it’s valuable, but that there’s no interaction. 

     

    That’s the other thing- you’re where you actually have touch points or connections with people that follow you or, you know, are on your email list and then make sure you respond, you know, in Yeah, it’s the beginning, it might take quite a bit of time. But those people will seriously over time, they will become from that casual to the active to more connected to you to that super fan. And do you know how we sell more things? 

     

    Do you know how we make more money? It’s because we have people being our cheerleaders who love our content, or our product or service so much our book, that they are the ones spreading the word to other people. We really can’t be super successful in business. If we can’t ever create people that literally just love what we’re doing and they really feel connected to us. We need to do that. Okay, so that is it for today. Let me just super quick rewrap back up. So one, how do we get how to stand out more in our industry? 

     

    First is you have to get super clear on your message, your one main message, your one main transformation. Next is are you really specializing and can people actually articulate how you specialize in what you do and who you serve? Because if they can’t, there is a problem. And an answer cannot be a will. You’re a life coach. What? That is way too vague, guys. Life Coach is so vague that I don’t know who you help. I don’t know if I would want to work with you. Are you a life coach for college teams that are trying to decide what college to go to? 

     

    Are you a life coach for moms that are busy, but also work full time and you’re helping them with a certain thing? You have to get super specific because otherwise, there’s too many other people in our industries. And we’ll never stand out as the one as the person to go to for the certain thing for the certain person. I wouldn’t want a lawyer that specializes in everything. If I was going through divorce, right, I’d want the lawyer that focuses in on divorce, who helps the women going through divorce when you know or get the most out of their situation in a positive way. Okay, so I’m not just going to pick a lawyer that does traffic violations, and he does wills and he does criminal cases and he does divorce or I said he but it could be a she. I want the specialists, guys and I think you do too. So if you’re picking specialists when you work with people, think about if you’re the specialist in your own business that people want to work with.

     

     

    And then put it on your calendar to grow your audience. Engagement with your with people. So that means you have to get in front of new audiences. There’s lots of ways to do that, but that needs to become one of your objectives. So write it down on your list of things Should you do every month? And then lastly, are you responding to the people that are already interacting with you, you know, online or in person, it could be via email, it can be at networking events. But it’s follow up, follow up and make people feel like they belong, that you’re building a community that they’re so excited to be a part of, that they’re going to share with other people. 

     

    I want to leave you with a Maya Angelou quote, where she says, 

     

    “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

     

    So as you step into your business, keep asking yourself, How are you showing up? How are you engaging in how are you making your listeners or your readers or your prospects feel on your website, in your social in your conversations, or lack of commenting or conversations? So I hope you’ll step into your day and into your month with that question in mind in really remembering those words. 

     

    And I also want to let you know I am doing website optimization coaching, where you get a complete website and lead audit and learn how to optimize your website step by step to grow your leads. So if that’s of interest to you, head on over to Kristin fitch.com To learn how you can sign up for an audit with me today. If today’s show got you pumped about building your online traffic so you can grow your business. 

    Let’s celebrate- pop over and leave a review. Tell us what you loved about today’s episode or share this with another boss who’s ready to grow next level comm network with other entrepreneurs, authors, speakers, coaches and podcasters in my Facebook group to take your business to the next level, or head on over to Kristin fitch.com To find out more about my online growth system.