Monetize the Mic

Following the crumbs in the chaos is a full-time job. As a busy mom of three, a wife to a traveling hubby, and keeping it weird in Austin, Texas, it’s safe to say that Heather’s life is far from boring. Running a household with three young kids takes strategy and a system to keep things moving, like a well-oiled machine.

After many moms came to her asking “How do you do it? I swear you have more time in the day than anyone else,” Heather wanted to show them the way! She created Chaos n’ Cookies to help busy mompreneurs stress less and save time through helpful tools and systems to increase productivity in their lives. Heather teaches her clients to be more efficient in their homes or running their businesses, working smarter and not harder.

In addition to running her coaching business as CNC’s CEO, Heather is a certified coach for a premier virtual fitness and nutrition program helping others feel better while sustaining a healthy lifestyle. Heather gained 10+ years of experience as a Director of Marketing, building multiple court reporting companies.

Oh, and if she wasn’t busy enough, she maintains her own column called “How-to with Heather'' for a local neighborhood magazine, where she teaches her community fun hacks to be more self-sufficient with common household tasks. You can catch her weekly on her Chaos n’ Cookies Podcast, which ranked #80 in Parenting on the USA charts. Heather is helping mompreneurs chip away, one problem at a time.

Social media and Instagram became a tool that Heather started to use when she became a wellness coach. Heather had a sales and marketing background, but when she went into the online space, she knew she had to start using Instagram. At first, Heather didn’t know anything about it!

She sat down and decided to learn all the ins and outs of Instagram so she could use it well. Eventually, people started asking Heather for help with their own social media, so now Heather teaches mompreneurs and entrepreneurs how to best leverage social media, especially Instagram!

Jess first asks Heather about Instagram reels. Reels are funny, entertaining, and can be of such great value to a business. How can entrepreneurs be using them?

Instagram reels are king right now. When these platforms roll out something new, it’s like their new baby, and the algorithm really favors it. Heather explains that if you’re not using reels, you need to be. Heather knows that a lot of entrepreneurs feel intimidated by reels. She sees a lot of pushback because it can look goofy. Entrepreneurs will say, “That’s not me, I’m not going to do that.” But Heather explains that Instagram reels are getting pigeonholed. You don’t have to do goofy dances to leverage Instagram reels.

As an entrepreneur, you could use reels to show a demo or tutorial that demonstrates your value!

Heather goes on to explain the differences between stories, reels, and IGTV. Stories are 15-second clips that stay on Instagram for 24 hours. Stories are for your nurture sequences. They help nurture people who are already following you.

Reels are between 15 and 30 seconds. Reels are more of a viral strategy to get new followers. Reels tend to convert people to become your followers. If your video is between 30 seconds - 1 minute, it goes on your grid. If it’s over 1 min, it will become an IGTV video. Reels are a strategy for video content between your stories and your grid.

Jess then asks Heather what she can tell us about the algorithm. How do you get more of your followers to see your story?

Heather emphasizes the importance of hashtags! You can use hashtags on both your grid posts as well as your stories. Hashtags will extend reach with your stories because hashtags are basically neon signs saying, “Look at me, check me out over here!” Hashtags don’t create engagement, but it gets people to your content. Content is what will get your followers to engage.

Jess asks Heather, how do you choose what hashtags to use?

Heather recommends searching a hashtag to see who is using it and get inspiration that way. Use ones that are specific to your brand. Then you’ll want to use ones that are specific to your niche. In addition, you’ll want to do a series of relevant hashtags just to the post itself.

You can add hashtags in the comments or in the post. If you have a really long post, you’ll need all that character space. If you don’t have space, add the hashtags to the comments. Other people put it in the comments to make it look cleaner. The other strategy of putting hashtags in the comments is that FB or IG doesn’t know it’s you, but it knows that you’re getting a comment. They see it as engagement. It gives it a little bit of a one-up!

Heather reminds us that we have between 10 to 30 minutes ...

Jess and Margy are the co owners of Interview Connections, the first and leading podcast booking agency. This is the podcast where you will learn all about podcast guesting and how to leverage podcast interviews to grow your brand awareness.

In this week’s episode, Jess and Margy give you five strategies to best prepare for your podcast interview. Starting with getting the right equipment, including the exact microphone Jess & Margy recommend! They also discuss listening to the show you’re interviewing on and researching the host and their business.

You’ll also learn the importance of topics & questions on your one-sheet, and what one Interview Connections client did to master his interview questions. Plus, Margy shares a bonus tip that focuses on your mindset for delivering a great interview.

https://interviewconnections.com/preparing

Today is a special client feature episode of Rock the Podcast with finance expert Tracey Bissett! Tracey is on a mission to redefine the world's economic future by increasing the financial literacy of entrepreneurs, also known as financial fitness. With over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, Tracey can help entrepreneurs in all industries, both on and offline.

As the founder, President, and Chief Financial Fitness Trainer at Bissett Financial Fitness, Inc., Tracey helps her clients understand and improve their level of financial fitness with a goal of increased confidence using their financial skills so they can be successful in their financial life. In addition, Tracey is a professor at Centennial College’s School of Business program and regularly leads speaking engagements to increase financial fitness awareness.

Tracey starts the episode by talking to us about entrepreneurship and cashflow. Most early entrepreneurs are looking at their profit and loss, and their sales and expenses. Tracey notes that depending on your business, just because you make a sale does not mean that you necessarily have the cash in the bank. There can be a disconnect for business owners between sales and cashflow.

Cashflow is money coming in, money going out, and the timing in which that happens. If you’re in a coaching or service business, you’ll often have payment plans for your clients. As the owner, you might track the sale as it comes in, but you’ll get the money monthly. That’s where this disconnect between what the sales says and what you have in the bank occurs.

Cashflow is the lifeblood of any business. Cashflow dictates whether you keep going or you don’t. Tracey has seen companies go under in as quick as 90 days when they don’t have cashflow coming in!

Another issue Tracey addresses with her clients is billing and collection. Tracey worked with a client who had over $300,000 in sales, but lost $100,000 because she billed them too late and was unable to actually collect the money. Collection is critically important to understand in your business. Entrepreneurs need to understand what is normal for their industry, make sure they have good billing and collection practices, and that they’re actually keeping track that the money is coming in.

Jess had a similar experience starting out as an entrepreneur. After Jess’ first sales call, she told her brand new client that she would bill him at the end of the month. He gave her a great tip, which is “collect the money up front.”

Tracey encourages entrepreneurs to talk to other people in their industry to find out the best practices in billing and collection, because it varies in different industries. It’s important to find out where the boundaries are and to be transparent with your clients about your billing practices. Many business owners will offer a discount if their client pays up front as opposed to in monthly packages, which can be very helpful for entrepreneurs who no longer have to reach out every month for payment.

Tracey also notes that mindset plays a huge role in payments. The main driver if someone is going to pay you is not if they have the money, it’s their character. If they have the willingness to pay you, they will.

On the topic of mindset, Tracey and Jess also discuss the problems entrepreneurs face when they are pricing their services. According to Tracey, service providers are typically bad with their pricing-- they often don’t charge enough! When deciding on your prices, Tracey suggests factoring in expenses and profit margin as well as doing some research into your target market. You’ll want to ensure that your target market wants to pay for what you’re selling.

Tracey also recommends that entrepreneurs and business owners take a regular salary from their business, and factor that into their pricing. If you want to apply for a line of credit, you’ll have to prove that you have the money to pay it back! That steady income will also be imperative for you to meet your goals. Increasing your prices will also give you more freedom to hire a team to take on more clients and invest in marketing and visibility to help you grow even more.

Jess and Tracey agree that oftentimes entrepreneurs face mindset blocks when it comes to their pricing. Tracey believes that we get our mindset about money when we are very young, about 5-7 years old. This mindset comes from our family and our emotions toward money. People need to be observant with how they react when things pertain to money, and if you don’t like your reaction, you can change it.

The bulk of the population comes from a place of scarcity, and therefore has a scarcity mindset with money. It’s okay if you feel that way, but you don’t have to feel that way! Observe your reactions, then make some changes. It’s not going to happen overnight but one thing you can do is practice gratitude to ch...

On today’s episode of Rock the Podcast, Jess interviews client Kami Guildner, founder of Extraordinary Women Radio™ – a podcast featuring wildly successful women making an impact on the world. Kami weaves soulful-inspiration into mindful business strategies, helping her clients up-level their business. With decades of leadership, marketing, strategic planning and business growth expertise, Kami guides her clients to master their marketing, money and mindset

Kami’s entrepreneurial journey was sparked by the breath of a horse over a decade ago. This magical epiphany moment led Kami to discover her purpose of leading changemaker women to give voice to their most important messages and create a ripple effect of worldly impact. Kami’s soulful spirit leads her clients to unleash their magical manifestation powers and live out loud fueled with vitality and courage.

In this special episode, you’ll learn what holds women back from listening to their inner-wisdom, the importance of slowing down, and what aligned impact really means. Kami also discusses how she helps women raise their voices and tell a story that is uniquely their own. Kami asks her clients, “If the whole world could hear one message from you, what would that be?” so they can tell stories that separates them from a sea of online noise.

You can connect with Kami in the Extraordinary Women Connect Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1386664118079263/ or at her website, https://www.kamiguildner.com/

“If you’re willing to feel everything, you can have anything”

In this client feature of Rock the Podcast, Jess has a conversation with Tony Martignetti. Tony is an executive and leadership coach with a specialty in working with leaders and their teams to navigate through change and unlock their true potential. Tony supports leaders in gaining clarity so they can make well-informed decisions, improve their leadership skills, and ultimately increase their impact.

Throughout his career, he has gained lessons not only as a leader but also working with high-performing leaders across multiple organizations. It is his passion for helping people that fuels his inspiration at Inspired Purpose Coaching. Tony talks to Jess about the importance of human connection, and the need for ideas to be “messy” before they can be good. You’ll also hear how Tony learned the hard way that working smarter is always better than working harder.

Tony spent 25 years in the tech industry, giving him an unique perspective on the challenges facing those in the tech industry. He speaks about the immense pressure faced by those in that industry because they are relied upon to solve huge problems. Keep your eyes peeled for Tony’s upcoming podcast “Virtual Campfire: Tales of Transformation,” in which Tony interviews people on their “flashpoints,” the moment where everything in their life turned around.

You can connect with Tony on all social channels through his linktr.ee!