Interview

317: Business Building for Musicians and Rockstars: Use Your Website, Email Marketing and Social Media to Build a Following with Female Entrepreneur Musician Bree Noble

Bree Noble is a female entrepeneur musician who noticed that musicians share quite a few similarities with entrepreneurs in other niches: they all tend to be plotting/crafting/tweaking but are stuck on a path of creating new projects without finishing them. As a result, they've spent most of their time recording an album but very little time marketing, and as a result, their business somewhat half-baked.

Bree explains that musicians need to setup a real web presence, especially a homebase. That doesn't only mean posting on Facebook... it also means creating a modern looking blog with a .com domain name and landing pages. It means building an email list with a squeeze page, running Facebook ads, recording behind the scenes videos, posting on Twitter and Instagram, possibly using crowdfunding, and using Facebook Live to build that following.

Quotes:                                                                                                                                   

“They've got all these ideas coming into their head all the time—new songs, ways you can market, shows you can do. Those are cool. Those are great. I don't want to stop you from having those. But if they don't have anything to do with your 90-day goals, I want you to write them down, put them in what I call an inspiration vault, and save them for later.” – Bree Noble

“The CD does not create fans. Your fan base is your vehicle to sell CDs, do live shows, and actually make money—not the actual recording of the CD.” – Bree Noble

“They don't realize that if they don't work on the marketing side, they're eventually going to run out of money and won't be able to keep doing the thing they love.” – Bree Noble

Takeaways:

02:22 Musicians must treat their music career like a business, not just a creative pursuit.

12:09 Focus on one big goal for 90 days and create a clear plan to achieve it.

33:06 Spend 80% of your time marketing and 20% creating content to build a successful music career.

07:14 Build a fan base before expecting industry professionals to discover and support you.

17:54 Create a strong online home base with a well-branded website that represents your music and allows fans to connect.

Resources

• Female Entrepreneur Musician (Official Site)
• 19 sources of income for musicians (Website)
• NoiseTrade (Website)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:51 — 35.6MB) | Embed

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314: Day Job to Dream Job: Have a Plan B, Become Your Own Boss, and Enjoy What You Do While Making Money with Kathy Brunner

Kathy Brunner says that you must have a Plan B where you hope for the best but plan for the worst. She's an expert in helping people either change career paths or retire and become full-time entrepreneutrs. 70% of her clients end up starting a business and 30% simply need a career change. Many times, her clients initially come to her feeling burned out, a disconnect, or no way to control her work day.

Her solution is to ask a series of thought-provoking questions, such as:

• What decisions in the past have you regretted? (very few, so take the risk that improves your life)
• What decisions have you made based on the opinions or suggestions of others? (most likely ones that you're unhappy with today)
• What decisions are you glad you made? (usually, those that involved taking a leap of faith)

If you're ready to break the cycle of being too comfortable, then listen in to what Kathy has to say.

Quotes:                                                                                                                                   

“Sometimes people need to leave a job because, even if they've had expert training in it, done it for many years, and done it well, they just don't have a passion for it anymore.” – Kathy Brunner

“The number one thing that holds many people back is what their mind tells them they can't do.” – Kathy Brunner

“For many people, what someone else has already planned for them is what they've settled on for themselves.” – Kathy Brunner

Takeaways:

01:37 Always have a Plan B, as job security is never guaranteed.

07:57 Passion and skills can be transformed into successful business opportunities.

10:55 Burnout often stems from feeling underappreciated and lacking control in your work environment.

18:46 Your mindset is the biggest barrier to making significant career changes.

23:46 Identify past decisions driven by others' opinions to break free from limiting beliefs.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:13 — 26.7MB) | Embed

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313: CPA on Fire: Market Yourself, Setup the Proper Legal Business Structure, and Save More of the Money You Earn with Josh Bauerle

Josh Bauerle is the CPA on Fire. He provides accounting advice and services for many successful entrepreneurs such as John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire. Listen in as he explains what entrepeneurs need to know (choose the right business entity, don't want until tax time, separate your business and personal bank accounts and credit card) as well as how he's marketed himself online and discovered his unique hook.

Quotes:                                                                                                                                   

“Anytime you can show people exactly how it's going to correlate to their money and put more money in their pockets, that gets people interested.” – Josh Bauerle

“You have to constantly be willing to fail. You have to constantly be willing for people to say no to you. And every once in a while, it's going to work—and when it does, it makes up for all the no's and all the failures, and more.” – Josh Bauerle

“You need to have those numbers. You should be able to go at any point in the year and say, ‘Okay, year to date, I've made this much, I've spent this much. This is what I can do to improve.” – Josh Bauerle

Takeaways:

06:01 Separate your business and personal finances to track expenses accurately and maximize tax savings.

10:07 Choose the right business entity based on your income level to potentially save thousands in taxes each year.

19:20 Build your business by providing value to other entrepreneurs' audiences through podcasts, blogs, and strategic partnerships.

21:53 Understand your business numbers to make smarter financial decisions about reinvestment and personal income.

24:45 Always be willing to fail fast and test new business ideas with minimal upfront investment.

Resources

• CPA on Fire (Website)
• Four Finance Lessons Entrepreneurs Can't Afford to Miss (Free Report)
• Contact Josh: josh@cpaonfire.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:01 — 28.4MB) | Embed

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312: Create a Magical Solution, Entertain Your Prospects to Make Sales, and Build a Huge Online Influence with the Ultimate Weight Loss Coach Nagina Abdullah

Nagina Abdullah from Masala Body is a weight loss coach who lost 40 pounds through an interesting weight loss method (replacing sugar and other unhealthy substances with spices such as cinnamon and turmeric). Listen in as she explains her journey to monetize that passion with an online bootcamp and coaching program.

Quotes:                                                                                                                                   

“Weight loss is 80% food, so you don't really need to exercise in the beginning—it just comes off.” – Nagina Abdullah

“Instead of telling people everything, tell them one thing they can do. Simplify it, break it down, and give them one simple thing.” – Nagina Abdullah

“People actually listen when they're paying money for something. They don't listen to free advice as much.” – Nagina Abdullah

Takeaways:

02:02 Simplify complex advice into one actionable step to help people take initial action and build trust.

15:35 Charging premium prices creates client commitment and increases likelihood of achieving desired results.

26:49 Develop multiple income streams while maintaining job stability to reduce financial risk.

30:42 Build genuine media relationships by showing authentic interest in their work, not just seeking personal exposure.

33:47 Continuously refine your business offering based on client feedback and market response.

Resources

• Three Recipes to Banish Late Night Cravings (Gift For Listeners Of The Robert Plank Show)
• Masala Body (Nagina's Official Site)
• Spice Yourself Skinny (8 Week Program)
• Food 2B Fit (10 Week Jumpstart)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:11 — 34.0MB) | Embed

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311: Disruptive Advertising: Boost Organic Search Engine Rankings, Master Pay-Per-Click Ads and Optimize Your Site with Chris Dayley

Chris Dayley from Disruptive Advertising is an expert when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and conversion optimization. Many SEO agencies are short sighted and simply look for a "trick" to provide their clients, such as ranking them in Google.

However, Chris and his agency like to make data-driven decisions. A "great" looking website is an essential ingredient, but they also run A/B tests, think about what the customer is expecting to see on the page, improve load time, and use the data from heatmapping software (HotJar) to change navigation.

Additionally, Chris says that every website needs to have: a value proposition (identified by the audience), a call-to-action (that they can identify in 2-3 steps), content (watch how much they're consuming), clarity/conciseness/readability, removal of all diversions/distractions (such as banner ads), and handling any anxiety people have when visiting that website.

Quotes:                                                                                                                                   

“The hardest part for a lot of businesses is, number one, actually doing it, and then number two, it can kind of be a blow to the ego.” – Chris Dayley

“When there are a lot of offers, people can get really overwhelmed, and it's much less likely that they will click on the one thing they want.” – Chris Dayley

“The hardest part for a lot of businesses is, number one, actually doing it, and number two, it can be a blow to the ego.” – Chris Dayley

Takeaways:

03:21 Traffic without conversion is pointless for business growth.

12:56 Always test website elements scientifically before making major changes.

17:30 Small website changes can dramatically improve sales performance.

20:27 User behavior data matters more than personal website design preferences.

28:40 Mobile websites should be customized, not just made responsive.

Resources

• A/B Testing Starter Guide (Website)
• Disruptive Advertising (Website)
• HotJar (Website)
• Visual Website Optimizer (Website)
• Google Optimize (Google Optimize)
• Diesel Power Gear (Website)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:21 — 29.6MB) | Embed

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309: Fail Less and Grow More: Focus on Your Marketing, Discover Your Buyer’s Journey, and Use Both Tactics and Strategies with Growth Partner Chris Deardorff

Chris Deadorff from The Market Compass (contact him at info@themarketcompass.com) is a marketing professional from Boulder, Colorado. His business model is to become a "growth partner" with startups who need a more strategic approach.

Chris noticed that many startups are focused too much on tactics (i.e. a case study or video) and are missing the strategy side. Startups need to know their objectives, find their target audience, and understand the buyer's journey. They can start that process with a simple 2-page marketing plan.

Quotes:                                                                                                                                   

“Marketing is about truly growing your business by telling a compelling story about why your product or service will make your customers' lives better.” – Chris Deardorff

“I can't emphasize enough the importance of being strategic about marketing. It doesn't have to take a lot of time, but it will save you a ton of time and money, and make your marketing more effective.” – Chris Deardorff

“If you want to have good marketing, you have to provide some sort of incentive. To really get their attention and to get them to engage, you have to provide some sort of incentive.” – Chris Deardorff

Takeaways:

00:30 Startups need to view marketing as a growth engine, not just advertising.

02:59 Strategic marketing matters more than random tactics for startup success.

07:13 Create a simple two-page marketing plan that outlines clear objectives and quarterly goals.

18:23 Pay for quality market research to truly understand your customer base.

23:43 Build marketing systems that can run with minimal manual intervention.

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308: How to Quit Your 9-5, Motivate Yourself, Experience the Entrepreneur Lifestyle, and Take Action with Ryan Grant

Ryan Grant from the Online Selling Experiment decided that working for someone else (as an accountant) simply wasn't for him. In order to make "the jump" from a corpoate 9-5 to becoming a full-time entrepreneur, Ryan decided he needed to have the following in place:

• $500-$1000 per month income from 10 hours per week (which he could 4X if he had to in an emergency)
• A cushion of money (savings)
• A stream of real estate income (Ryan occupied one end of a duplex, rented out the other end, and found a roommate to share his unit as well)

Since going full time, Ryan has built and scaled a business (with employees) with Amazon FBA. He started with retail arbitrage, then expanded to wholesaling and private labeling. Listen to what he has to say about system thinking, self motivation and avoiding bright shiny objects.

Quotes:                                                                                                                                   

“Ideas are only worth something once they're executed, and you won't really know what you're capable of or what's possible until you try.” – Ryan Grant

“The only person to keep you motivated and to keep you going is yourself.” – Ryan Grant

“Most people tend to bite off more than they can chew. I've taken that approach and found that it doesn't actually lead to results in very many places. It leads to doing a bunch of things at a fairly low level.” – Ryan Grant

Takeaways:

04:03 Start planning your business exit strategy while still working your day job to ensure a smooth transition.

16:51 Proactively manage potential isolation in entrepreneurship by intentionally creating social interactions and networking opportunities.

18:28 Systematize one business method completely before adding new income streams to prevent spreading yourself too thin.

22:45 Avoid chasing multiple shiny objects simultaneously, which leads to doing many things poorly instead of excelling in one area.

25:36 Take small, concrete actions to test a business idea, like scanning product barcodes with a free app and investing $50-$100 in initial inventory.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:02 — 25.7MB) | Embed

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