243: Get Visible and Get Success with Anna Parker-Naples

03/31/21 • 45 min

Dave Lukas, The Misfit Entrepreneur_Breakthrough Entrepreneurship

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Anna Parker-Naples. Anna is he host of the #1 international podcast, Entrepreneurs Get Visible. She is the #1 best-selling author of Get Visible: How to Have More Impact, Influence and Income, and Podcast with Impact: How to Launch Your Podcast Properly.

She has been recognized as the National Businesswoman of the Year and finalist for SME’s National Entrepreneur of the Year. And if that is not enough, her audio skills have caught the attention of Hollywood and she’s been honored there.

But Anna’s story has some major twists and turns and what I love most about her is how she learned to blend strategy and mindset together to overcome massive challenges and achieve greatness. Of course, she’s not too bad at teaching entrepreneurs how to seriously grow their visibility and I can’t wait to get into all of this with her.

www.EntrepreneursGetVisible.com

Anna came into the entrepreneurial space a few years ago. 4 years ago, she was working as a voice actor receiving awards on the red carpet in Hollywood for her work. 6 years before that, she was told after a complication with a pregnancy that she would never walk again. To be fully recovered and at the top of her game on the red-carpet years later made her realize that others can do what she did and that there was a process to that success, so she started her business, podcast, and speaking.

How did you from being not being able to walk to walking on the red carpet? What was the transformation?

Anna was as broken as you could imagine.
Before having children, she was a stage actor.
She could hardly get out of bed or function with the amount of pain she was in.
She had a moment on a New Year’s Eve where she realized that she could no longer stay in her frame of mind.
She went to a therapist. They talked and the therapist questioned her views of the world using NLP.
This got her to think 2 things. What is she was in a wheelchair the rest of her life, but was highly successful and her work could still be seen all over the world? And What if the doctors are not right about your body and could heal itself?
Thinking about those things sparked a new view on her potential and started her on her path.

At the 9 min mark, Anna tells a story about she was carried into a job interview and how it was presented to her to have a home studio to do her work.

At the 10 min mark, Anna and I discuss the power of the mind what working on your thoughts can do for you.

It is a constant work in progress.
Many of the things we tell ourselves are not true and are just limiting beliefs.
What happens if you decide to think something different about yourself? You’d be surprised.
Everything is choice in our lives. It is not rocket science, but it starts with how you think.

At the 14 min mark, we talk about how everything begins with an idea, a thought in our lives.

How have you learned how to blend your mindset with strategy to exponentially grow results?

Anna uses the term “envisioning.”
You envision everything. Where you want to be. Who you are clients are. How much you are making. Who you surround yourself with, etc.
Podcasting is a great medium to get in front of the clients you want and also, as a podcaster to bring guests on your show that you want to network with and have in your world. Be strategic and deliberate about it.

Is there a process for envisioning?

Yes, it is called the 10 Pillars of Purpose and Profit.

Listen at the 18 min mark as Anna goes through the 10 pillars.

Good book called the Micro Pitch Script by Bill Slay to help you hone your message and how you connect how you impact and help others.

“Make sure you are not positioning yourself at the bottom for the heap. Strive for the top. There is much less competition there.”

Confidence is key to get visible, explain that...

Everything is a choice.
People choose not to put themselves or their content out there because they are not confident in themselves.
But you have every right to put yourself out there and share your talents.
Confidence comes from changing how you think and recognizing that is it ok and safe to fail.
Be willing to be yourself in front of others knowing you cannot and will not ever be a fit for everyone, but you will for enough.

Talk to us about gaining visibility and things people should be doing to stand out...

Podcasting is the fastest growing medium with the highest conversion rates, so you need to have a strategy.
On social media, are you communicating a consistent message and story across your different channels?
Use story to share...

www.EntrepreneursGetVisible.com

How did you from being not being able to walk to walking on the red carpet? What was the transformation?

Anna was as broken as you could imagine.
Before having children, she was a stage actor.
She could hardly get out of bed or function with the amount of pain she was in.
She had a moment on a New Year’s Eve where she realized that she could no longer stay in her frame of mind.
She went to a therapist. They talked and the therapist questioned her views of the world using NLP.
This got her to think 2 things. What is she was in a wheelchair the rest of her life, but was highly successful and her work could still be seen all over the world? And What if the doctors are not right about your body and could heal itself?
Thinking about those things sparked a new view on her potential and started her on her path.

At the 9 min mark, Anna tells a story about she was carried into a job interview and how it was presented to her to have a home studio to do her work.

At the 10 min mark, Anna and I discuss the power of the mind what working on your thoughts can do for you.

It is a constant work in progress.
Many of the things we tell ourselves are not true and are just limiting beliefs.
What happens if you decide to think something different about yourself? You’d be surprised.
Everything is choice in our lives. It is not rocket science, but it starts with how you think.

At the 14 min mark, we talk about how everything begins with an idea, a thought in our lives.

How have you learned how to blend your mindset with strategy to exponentially grow results?

Anna uses the term “envisioning.”
You envision everything. Where you want to be. Who you are clients are. How much you are making. Who you surround yourself with, etc.
Podcasting is a great medium to get in front of the clients you want and also, as a podcaster to bring guests on your show that you want to network with and have in your world. Be strategic and deliberate about it.

Is there a process for envisioning?

Yes, it is called the 10 Pillars of Purpose and Profit.

Listen at the 18 min mark as Anna goes through the 10 pillars.

Good book called the Micro Pitch Script by Bill Slay to help you hone your message and how you connect how you impact and help others.

“Make sure you are not positioning yourself at the bottom for the heap. Strive for the top. There is much less competition there.”

Confidence is key to get visible, explain that...

Everything is a choice.
People choose not to put themselves or their content out there because they are not confident in themselves.
But you have every right to put yourself out there and share your talents.
Confidence comes from changing how you think and recognizing that is it ok and safe to fail.
Be willing to be yourself in front of others knowing you cannot and will not ever be a fit for everyone, but you will for enough.

Talk to us about gaining visibility and things people should be doing to stand out...

Podcasting is the fastest growing medium with the highest conversion rates, so you need to have a strategy.
On social media, are you communicating a consistent message and story across your different channels?
Use story to share...

Previous Episode

242: Authenticity Wins, How to Grow Your Brand and Business by Becoming Your Authentic Self with Krista Ripma

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Krista Ripma. Krista is the founder of the digital marketing agency, Authentic Audience, which helps transform clients’ businesses by implementing innovative marketing strategies focused on authenticity, storytelling, and selling the truth. She is also the host of the Authentic Audience podcast.

Krista and Authentic Audience have been featured everywhere from Forbes to Entrepreneur and her passion for helping others tell their stories and share their truth through radically honest marketing is un-matched.

Radically honest. We don’t see that as much as we should these days, and it’s important to make sure we are being true to ourselves and our businesses, so I asked Krista to come on the show to discuss what it truly means to be authentic and honest in today’s world.

www.AuthenticAudience.co

Krista has always been in to sharing stories and sharing stories. She studied communications and film in college and went to work in film in LA. But the whole industry was inauthentic. She loved the stories, the scripts she read, but the world around her was fake. She did all sorts of jobs and learned what it meant to work hard.

From there she went to working with TV networks in health and wellness. During this time, she met a Yoga star who needed help with her brand and Krista helped her grow the brand. She loved it and realized that is she is what she wanted to do. Help people grow their brand in an authentic way.

Define Authenticity...

It is something that really cannot be taught.
It is when you are in alignment and you know when you are.
It is when you are walking your talk and being the person or brand, you want others to think you are.
It is the lack of fear or doubt – just truth.
There is a big difference between transparency and authenticity. As leaders, we have to pick the appropriate time to share things and be transparent – but we can always be authentic.
Authenticity is standing in your truth and opening your heart up so others can do the same.

How does someone transform their business through authentic? What do they do?

You have to answer the 4 most important questions.
- Who are you?
- What do you do?
- Why does it matter?
- What’s in it for me? (your dream client)
Anonymous brands are dead. People want to know who is behind the companies where they spend money.
We have to create personal brands within our bigger brands to thrive and succeed.
The X-factor that sets your product or service apart is you.
Customers want to “be seen” by you and feel like you see them.

What is working and what is not in marketing strategies and launches today?

The biggest mistake is taking someone from awareness straight to the sale.
The best part of marketing is the “consideration phase” which is the time you take to share who you are and what the value of your product or service is and establish credibility.
What is working is a longer warm-up/consideration phase where you provide a ton of value before ever giving an offer.
Consideration used to be about 7 days, now it is more like a month to do it right.
Best practice is a longer warm-up and shorter buying timeframe.

Is there a formula that you use for launches?

Krista has an e-book called the 90 Day Launch plan which breaks it down week by week of what needs to be done.
You can get it at AuthenticAudience.co
She discusses her process at the 20 Min-mark, and it is best to just listen.

How does someone get leadflow and build a list to market to?

You don’t have to have a big list, but you need to have a way to build a list.
You will have to invest, and you need the confidence to do so.
Lead gen campaigns on Facebook work well – you have to give something of great value for free to be successful. Something that really speaks to your dream customer.
LinkedIn is another great place to get leads. It has the most opportunity.
YouTube is also a place to be if you create content.
Growing your email list is by far your best investment.

At the 31-minute market, Krista gives her best advice on selling, both online and in general..

Get your money mindset right.
Understand the abundance of money around you and be careful not to let a scarcity mentality stop you.
There is so much money out there, it’s everywhere and we are deserving of the piece of the pie as long as we work hard for it.
After money mindset is the seller’s mindset.
This is the confidence in what you are selling.
Your dream customer is why you created your product and service, how can you no...

Next Episode

244: How to Navigate and Thrive in the Transition from Employee to Entrepreneur with David Shriner-Cahn

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is David Shriner-Cahn. David is the host of the wildly popular Smashing the Plateau podcast and his business helps consultants and coaches build their business following their careers as professionals employed in the marketplace. Simply put, David helps employees’ transition to thriving entrepreneurs.

He has been features in Forbes, INC, and many other outlets and is also a popular speaker. David’s mission to help people become entrepreneurs was born out of his experience of being a highly successful employee for 28 years only to wake up one day and be told it was over. He had to go through losing his job and identity to finding a new path as an entrepreneur and his experience and what he has learned can help so many that are in the same situation, so I’m excited to get into it.

www.SmashingthePlateau.com

David has a master’s in engineering from Cornell. He worked as an engineer early in his career and then transferred after a job loss to the not-for-profit sector. He had no formal training to become a not-for-profit executive and did that for 23 years. He had plateaued in the organization and could not become the CEO as he was in the #2 position. He decided that it was time to scratch entrepreneur itch he had most of his life and became a consultant.

He had built a network that he used to start his business.

What do you think is the hardest part about transitioning from an employee to entrepreneur? And talk to use about “chicken entrepreneurship.”

The challenge with “chicken entrepreneurship” is deciding when you are ready.
You real need to be mentally ready.
The first step is the hardest piece for everyone.

What does that look like to be ready in your mind? How does someone know?

Most of the time, you don’t know.
It is when you have enough courage to jump and do it.
What most have never done is the business piece – building and running a business day to day.
The knowledge base someone has gained from their role over the years to solve a problem and set of problems is important to build your business around.
You won’t know how to do everything, but you must be willing to work to figure it out as you go and take it as it comes.

Thoughts on the mind shift that has to happen?

Its both a mindset and behavioral shift.
If you are employee and are wrong 10% of the time, you are going to hear about it and not in a positive way. If you are an entrepreneur and right more than 10% of the time, you are probably doing well. It’s a big change to get used to.
As an entrepreneur, you are going to try and fail all the time to succeed.

Is there a process people go through to manage the transition from employee to entrepreneur?

It’s very helpful to have time for reflection and take some time not focused on producing income. You need time to focus inwardly.
You can also see if you can get a role that is time limited, a short contract gig to pay bills while you get your business going.
Step 2 is getting in touch with a few things about yourself and your impact.
Understand what you love doing the most and are committed to.
Get clarity on what it is you are most competent and doing – they may or may not be the same as what you love doing. Find the intersection of them.
Then decide who you want to serve and what problem(s) you will solve for them.
Next, do a little market research to determine there is a market and potential clients. Talk to them and see if they would hire you to solve the problem(s).
You then need to test and start trying things and iterate.

Talk to us about the business side and running the business once up and going...

How much money do you want to make? Margins matter because it is almost impossible to make up low margins with volume.
You need to think about how many hours you want to put in. You can make more money, but not more hours.
How much do you want your business to be about your own personal brand or not? How much is it based on you? This determines how you design things.

At the 27 min mark, David and I talk about why most people don’t get what they want... What are some of the best resources and tools you’ve found to help entrepreneurs?

First, manage your processes with pencil and paper or typing out the steps.
Pay attention to things that are repetitive.
Once you track then, you can create systems that are repeatable around these processes so they can be handed off to others.
Once you’ve done this, it will start to show what types of solutions you need to put in place for these needs such as technology, apps, virtual assistants, or assistants, etc.