The Boss Mom Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 345: Nurture Your Business: Do You Have Launch PTSD? Aug 30, 2018

Show notes

Have a failed launch in your past? It happens to the best of us, and it can make us dread the idea of launching a new product or service. How do we get to the point where we no longer need launches to generate income? What are the most common mistakes we make when we launch, and why should we avoid "soft" launches?

In this episode, I talk about why we fear launches so much and how we can build a business that doesn't rely solely on launching new products or services to generate revenue.

If you have a nurture system, then you won't be holding onto the launch. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Most of the time, the reason why businesses fail is because they believe their product or service alone is good enough so investing in marketing isn't needed.
The truth is people need to be persuaded before they buy. Even big companies like Apple have spent billions on their marketing efforts.
A successful company isn't built on perpetual launches but on constantly tweaking products and having a nurture system that consistently converts leads into buyers.

When we find something that works, it's better to improve what we already have instead of always chasing something new. This way, we get even better at what we do and we can create businesses that don't rely on stressful launches but on nurturing systems that always convert leads into sales in the background.

Episode 344: Crowdfunding with a Story and the Power of Positive Affirmation w/Anna Lozano and Lindy Sood Aug 29, 2018

Show notes

Funding is a common challenge for many of us, but how can platforms like Kickstarter get our products in front of people? How do we determine if there's a market for our products? What role does storytelling play in promoting our Kickstarter campaigns?

On this episode, the founders of Love Powered Co., Anna Lozano and Lindy Sood, share how they built a six-figure business by selling positive affirmation cards made for children, and they give insights on successful crowdfunding.

Running a 30-day Kickstarter campaign is like running a marathon. We had to strategically map out the pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. -Anna Lozano

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

More and more parents are interested in self-development (10:00-12:30)

The modern mom wants to do more than provide shelter and food for her children. There's a demand for self-improvement materials, even for children. There's also a large market out there for methods of instilling confidence in children from an early age because adults know difficult life can be without it.

The impact of affirmations on both parents and children (15:00-16:30)

Affirmations are beneficial for adults, too. Also, parents will often spread the word about the products they just purchased, giving added reach for your brand.

Your campaign has to have a message and a mission (18:00-19:30)

Successful Kickstarter campaigns are more about the brand message and less about the product. The first thing our audience sees is the solution we provide and how we want to make a small change around us. If we just promote a commodity, we won't stand out. We have tell a story of how our product can improve the lives of the people who purchase it..

A Kickstarter campaign is not a sprint, but a marathon. Many of us make the mistake of just launching the product or service when we need to map out the pre-launch, the launch, and what happens after. This usually means we need to craft an entire brand message that will be sent to our audience. It is a lot of work, but it is worth it for an impactful and effective campaign.

Guest Bio-

Anna Lozano and Lindy Sood are the founders of Love Powered Co., a card company that uses positive affirmations to empower children in their own journey. You can find their positive affirmations cards and downloadable prints here. Follow them on social media Instagram.com/lovepoweredco and facebook.com/lovepoweredco.

Episode 343: Nurture Your Business: Do You Have a Business Routine? Aug 24, 2018

Show notes

We're all aware that routines can make our personal lives easier, but what about business routines? Do you have a daily business routine that doesn't focus on just mundane tasks but also on specific steps that lead to more sales? How is a routine like this built? How can we use it to measure whether our current actions are beneficial for our business? In this episode, I talk about why successful entrepreneurs have a business routine and how we can build one for ourselves.

It's in the repetitive act of doing that we see success. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

After interviewing many successful people, I've found that the people who are most successful have a routine.
A routine doesn't always involve doing repetitive tasks.
In the end, what makes a business successful is finding actions that attract clients and make more sales, then putting those actions on repeat.

Routines can help us measure success and productivity. When we focus on the same things over a prolonged period, it's easier to find out what works, what doesn't, and where we should make some tweaks. When we don't have a routine in place, we can only guess what we're doing wrong because our actions are inconsistent. It can also help our productivity, as we're most likely to put in the work if we create a daily habit out of it.

Episode 342: How Allie Casazza Built a 7-Figure Business by Helping Moms Declutter Their Home & Lives Aug 22, 2018

Show notes

More and more people are looking for straightforward, streamlined and uncomplicated content. Is this something you can do in your own business? Are people willing to pay for content that was once published for free? If so, under what conditions? What are the steps you can take to make sure your content marketing strategy thrives?

In this episode, Allie Casazza talks about how she turned her life around by living a simpler life and how she brought this to her business, too.

Writing for virality can be done on purpose. -Allie Casazza

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

People are willing to pay for curated, straight-forward content (10:40-11:20)

Just as many people want minimalism in their homes, they also want a more simple approach to information. Often, business owners mistakenly of believe that once they put a lot of content out there for free, nobody will be willing to pay for a course. However, there is additional value in having information compiled and easily accessible.

Virality is not a matter of luck (14:30-15:20)

Don't merely wish for success and increased online exposure— work for it. There are many tools like BuzzSumo that can help you find out what goes viral in your niche. You can use this information to get a grasp of what your potential clients want.

You can carve out your own niche in the industry (18:00-19:20)

Being early to the party isn't the only way you can stand out in business. There will always be competition, but what can set you apart is carving your own niche and finding what's different about your approach to solving a problem.

It's easy for us to lose out on great growth opportunities when we underestimate people's desire for simpler content. Instead of trying to churn out as much content as possible, why not curate and streamline our offering? There is so much value in curation of content and crafting a course that saves time, yet keeps the essentials. This makes it worth the money for our audience, because they don't have to go through pages and pages to find what they need.

Guest Bio-

Allie Casazza is an entrepreneur and a mother of four who started her business journey 7 years ago by blogging. Today, she runs a full-blown business with staff all over the country while helping other busy moms get more done with less effort by embracing a minimalist lifestyle.

You can get your free minimalist kit here.

Episode 341: Nurture Your Business: The 7 Story Types that Will Improve Your Social Media Content Aug 14, 2018

Show notes

There are certain types of stories that have been told for thousands of years but never get old because we relate with them so well. How can the discovery of archetypes by Jung help you create content that always resonates with your audience? What are the 7 archetypes? In this episode, I discuss why story archetypes are everywhere around us and share how you can use a template to take advantage of them.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

All successful marketers use archetypes because our subconscious connects with them, and it's easier to persuade when you help the reader relate.
The seven archetypes are: the quest, the underdog, the rebirth, the comedy, the tragedy, and the rags to riches.
Each archetypes comes with a unique, relatable pattern that can be used in a variety of mediums. For example, the quest is one of the most commonly used archetypes in the world of digital marketing.
All you need to do is to find the right archetype that fits your story and the story of your audience.

Archetypes are used by all successful online storytellers. They serve as tools to make your content more relatable. We see archetypes everywhere-- in books and movies, as well as call to actions, sales pages, and social media content. The trick is to find the archetype that resonates best with your audience and personality.

Episode 340: A Mom's Effective New Approach to Household Chores w/Yvonne Marcus Aug 09, 2018

Show notes

There's a lot of pressure on moms to keep the house clean, do the daily chores, and take care of their children. Many mothers are alone in these responsibilities. How can you break the never-ending cycle of chores that need to be done? Why is it important for your children to share chores? And how can you use calendars and Trello boards to create a system in which each member of the family contributes something? In this episode, Yvonne Marcus, shares her journey as a mom and talks about how she ended up helping women gain back their free time by creating systems to delegate home chores.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Teach the next generation about equally shared chores (09:00-13:10)

Traditionally, women were supposed to do everything around the house. This approach leads to frustration and makes women feel overwhelmed. The best way to break the cycle is to teach your kids that chores need to be shared between men and women, and everyone should contribute.

Organize chores around the house by using a calendar (14:00-19:40)

When chores pile up, it can be discouraging. A calendar helps you both prioritize and delegate some of the tasks to your spouse and children.

Trello can be used to create a system for delegating chores (21:00-22:00)

Women aren't supposed to do everything by themselves or be expected to do so. A system created on Trello that delegates the work equally is one of the best ways to help yourself and teach your children responsibility.

For a lot of moms, the feeling that we have do everything by ourselves is ingrained within us. To combat this, allow and encourage help from your spouse and kids when you need it. One of the best ways to do this is to create a system that delegates the work equally and keeps up with the changes that happen in your family's lives. For example, if something unexpected occurs and you can no longer do a chore tomorrow, you need a system that allows details to be changed and personalized to fit your day-to-day life.

Guest Bio-

Yvonne Marcus is the co-founder of Two Moms, One Podcast, a published writer, and the creative director of The Dahlia Scene, where she helps women live the life they want without feeling pressured to do it all by themselves.

You can find more about Yvonne on her social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram.

How to be good at selling AND caring about people (at the same time) Aug 07, 2018

Show notes

Promotion is a touchy subject for many of us. We don't want to sound salesy, nor do we want to get rejected. Is it possible to be supportive while selling? How can we deliver more value and promote ourselves without sounding salesy? Is selling a skill that can be learned by anyone? In this episode, I talk about why it's so important to accept rejection and focus on promoting our businesses to the people who find value in what we do.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Every business owner has to be a salesperson, unless you plan to hire someone to do it for you. This aspect of building a business makes many people uncomfortable because we sometimes doubt ourselves and our abilities.
You aren't a snake oil salesman if you offer support and deliver on what you promised.
Many moms have a hard time talking about their business. They don't want to sound like they are promoting their products and services. The truth is, we all exchange money and services.

Part of being a salesperson is finding the right people, and understanding that not everyone can be helped. You also have to recognize that, like everything else, selling is a skill that can be learned. The more you know about it, the easier it is for you to communicate effectively, sound more genuine, and become better at supporting people throughout their journey.

Episode 338: How to Achieve Financial Freedom by Learning Budgeting Basics w/Allison Baggerly Aug 02, 2018

Show notes

Budgeting can be quite challenging. It has the tendency to make us feel deprived, especially when we work hard and we know we deserve a treat once in a while. How can we figure out what we should actually be spending our money on? What will our children learn from our budgeting efforts? And how can we make budgeting work for our unique situation?

In this episode, Allison Baggerly talks about how she got out of debt and made saving money second nature.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

What to do when we feel we deserve something but we can't afford it (04:21-06:25)

Cutting unnecessary costs can be tough. We feel like we deserve certain things when we work hard. We have to ask ourselves this question: Is the purchase necessary? There are many things we do deserve, but sometimes we need to make a compromise now to be financially secure later.

Your children will learn the value of work and money from you (13:00-15:00)

Your children will imitate everything you do, including your spending habits. Make your children save and work for their money. When they do end up making a purchase, they'll cherish it more because they actually worked for it.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to budgeting (18:20-19:00)

Not everyone has the same journey when it comes to budgeting, so it's important to look at your current lifestyle and ask yourself what things you can live without and what you can't. For example, if you don't have an emergency fund, you might want to cut a portion of your budget to make one as soon as possible. Once you have one, you're less likely to have to make major budget cuts when something comes up.

Guest Bio

Allison Baggerly started learning about budgeting after she found herself in debt and with a child on the way. In the past few years, she paid off all of her debt but she made budgeting her second nature. Now she writes about how to save money and pay off debt on her blog, and she put together a course for families who want to achieve financial freedom.

Episode 337: Nurture Your Business: The 6 Stages of Change & How They Can Help You Sell to the Right People Jul 26, 2018

Show notes

Business is all people, and the more we understand people, the better. How can we learn to understand the process someone goes through when making a change? What is the process we should move our clients through? How can we provide our services to people at each stage in the process? On this episode, I talk about the 6 stages of making a change and how to leverage them in your service offering.

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Sales is a learned skill, not a personality trait.
In the contemplation phase, we can provide content and resources to help our clients move to preparation mode.
Someone can be in action in one part of their life, pre-contemplation in another, and contemplation in yet another.
Our goal is to get people into maintenance mode. It means we've done our job and we can move on.

The stages of making a change are pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance and termination/relapse. When we're familiar with these steps, we can help our clients progress through the stages, moving them into action and maintenance. Knowing how people feel at each stage means we're better equipped to sell to them, making us more impactful and effective.

Episode 336: How to Move Forward During a Hard Time w/NJ Rongner Jul 24, 2018

Show notes

When life hits us with difficulty, tragedy, or loss, it can be hard to run our business at the same time. When things feel out of control, how do we decide what we have control over? How can we keep momentum, even when we don't feel like putting in the effort? How can we do good work while still processing our emotions?

On this episode, NJ and I talk about getting through the rough patches in life.

At some point, you've got to recognize that sometimes it's a long road to recovery when things happen in your life-- and that's okay. -Dana Malstaff

3 Things We Learned From This Episode

Some things are just hard because they are new (03:29 - 04:11)

Be mindful of the challenges that seem difficult as a result of being something new. Just because you've never faced a certain problem doesn't mean you're not equipped to overcome it.

We are emotional creatures, and that's not a bad thing (17:58 - 18:47)

When we get really into our business, we sometimes forget that we are emotional creatures. This is not something to ignore or repress, but to recognize and embrace. This makes it easier to engage and cope with our emotions.

Starting a business is like a modern day walk-about for women (24:13 - 25:04)

Businesses are a self-discovery engine. They force us to confront what we really want and what we're willing to fight for. Sometimes this will change the lives around us as we shift and grow.

Guest Bio

NJ Rongner is a business strategist who helps female entrepreneurs clear the clutter and get laser focused on what matters most. Known by her signature phrase "I can't sign off on that," she's not afraid to tell her clients when they're going in the wrong direction. NJ is the founder of Working Christian Mom where she provides encouragement and support to women who love their family, love their job and love their faith. You can find out more about her podcast and services by visiting Working Christian Mom.

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