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Welcome to Amplify Your Authority, the podcast where innovative marketing meets heart-centered entrepreneurship. Join Marissa Shadrick, an award-winning international speaker, Ray Edwards certified copywriter, and personal brand expert. You'll gain insights into the external strategies for business growth and how to navigate the internal journey of entrepreneurship. Now get ready to amplify your authority in a competitive digital world. Now is your host, Marissa Shadrick.

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So this is a test. I'm not sure everything looks like it's connected, and we'll see if it is working. In any event, I'm recording. So if it doesn't show up on LinkedIn, I will certainly be able to show the replay of this with all the editing and the content. It's uh new things, right? Technology. We continue to add technology, we continue to move forward, improve what we're doing, improve our digital assets as we're growing our online business. So it looks like everything is good to go and working. I've got a special podcast today that I'm excited to share with you. At the time of the recording, this is a brand new year. Welcome 2024. And for some of you entrepreneurs and most of the people that I coach and I help are other coaches. There are service providers or people that have created courses that want to create more community, visibility, be able to share some of the products, some of the services that they have with others, and really have a transformational outcome for people. And so I love what I do, but there are some changes that are needed so that people do not burn out. There's so much in the wings right now. With AI, that was a major change in 2023. People are doing so many things. And I'm noticing that many people are just on the brink of burnout, just consistently showing up, but not having a real strategy behind it. So today's podcast is titled Three Needed Changes when Working Hard Isn't Working Anymore. And I'm going to see if I can give you some tips to tee up the new year and be able to really leverage your time, leverage the digital assets that you have, and leverage every time you're online. For example, this podcast is going to be edited and it will show up in my website. It will also be shared on social media. Some of the snippets, in fact, this podcast episode originally was an article that I had written. So you can see how you can repurpose things once you know what it is that your audience wants. So as we dive into this, I'm going to sort of look at the conventional wisdom that often tells us that working hard is inevitable in order for success. We're going to unpack that a little bit and we're going to explore some strategies that may redefine that and help you achieve some success in the new year. We want to create that balance, that fulfillment of what we do, but at the same time, we don't want to pay a price for that during our whole entrepreneurial journey. We are here for the long haul. This isn't a sprint. And so hopefully some of these tips will help you. So having an online business, sometimes people feel it's kind of a laid-back life. You know, you get your laptop, you work a few hours here, you work a few hours there, you automate this, you automate that, and all of a sudden, boom, you have a million dollars. Um, that is not true. I'll just tell you that right there. It's not true. Now, some people that have had an existing business that maybe take that to the online space and have a full team and have resources to be able to prospect with funnels and using advertisement. Yeah, they could probably do that because they have something already in place and they're just expanding from being maybe local to online. That can happen. But for most of the people that I work with, when they're starting out, they have this idea, they have this vision of what they want to do. Perhaps they got their experience from corporate life. Perhaps they've been doing what they want to put online for a long time, but they've been working for someone else. And so when we think of entrepreneurship online, we do have to be very, very strategic. Believing that success is inevitable because you're working hard can lead to a false security. Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with working hard. My dad had a huge work ethic. He worked very, very hard. He worked the night shift for Pan Am. He also was an entrepreneur by day. So he had his regular job, night shift, and then during the day, he was doing other things. He worked very, very hard. And at that time, the culture was that way. We we were probably, if you're around my age, grew up with a culture that working hard was the way for success. But we can work strategically. We have more resources, we have more flexibility now as far as how we can build a business than maybe, you know, 50 years ago. So as we're looking at this, this false security that working hard is the way that we're going to make it can often lead to burnout. So I'm not suggesting that working hard isn't important. And sometimes when we're launching something and we're working on a certain project, there are times where we have to work hard to bring it to where we need to have it, but it's not the norm. That's what I'm saying. It's not a regular practice of working hard. We might sprint a few times, but it shouldn't be a regular practice because we are going to burn out and we need to have balance. We need to be with our family, we need to take care of our health. So working hard is not the panacea to a life of prosperity and happiness. Working hard doesn't necessarily, and this list is from people that I've observed in my own family and friends, but working hard does not necessarily equal freedom of time. Working hard does not necessarily bring consistent revenue. Working hard does not guarantee that you're going to have a debt-free living. Working hard does not guarantee early retirement. And working hard does not guarantee fulfillment. Working hard is an indication that maybe something needs to change and something needs to be more strategic. And then when we do work hard in those seasons when we're launching something, the non-normal seasons, right? It's not the norm. Um, it's okay because we have a reserve and we can do that. So you can fall into the trap if you're not careful of thinking that you have to do this. And I'm a type A, so I have to be really careful because I will work hard. So I'm talking from experience. You have to be really careful about this. So I do this little test with myself as a type A that always loves to have new projects and new things in the wings that you have to take this little formula that's not often seen. Uh, we understand that income minus expenses equals profit, right? But there's another hidden formula. Profit minus your time and resources. Profit minus time or resources will either equal freedom or you've created another job for yourself. So that's one that I look at a lot. It's not so much of making a profit, that's not the gold standard. Profit minus the time and the resources that you've spent. Is it equaling freedom or is it equaling to another all-consuming job? Because the snare is subtle and gradual. So we have to be very careful and we have to not only maybe periodically every quarter when we assess our analytics, we have to assess ourselves. Where are we? How much time are we spending on projects? You know, what is it that takes up our attention? And when we're not working, what can we do to focus on something else to give our brain a break, not just physically a break, our brain. For example, one of the things that my husband does is he loves to golf. That is something that will help him redirect his thoughts towards something that is not work-related. And he is in his own little world golfing. Well, I don't happen to like golf, but I had to find my own thing. And so I just got a keyboard for Christmas. I love music. I used to play the guitar and you know, building up your calluses, you know, if you're not consistent, then your fingers get soft. And so I thought, man, it would be really nice to be able to maybe have a keyboard. And so I got a keyboard for Christmas. I'm really excited. But when I'm playing those progressions and those notes and those chords, I am lost. I am not thinking about anything else but the music. And each time I get more excited because it starts sounding like music at versus just banging on keys and doesn't sound like anything. So that's what I'm talking about. We have to see where we are necessary. So three changes when working hard isn't working. That's what we're talking about today. Um, so much of what we are told to do is to build and make more. And then when we had the introduction of AI, open AI, it was wow, now we can make more, right? More content, more articles, write a book, do all these things. It's all about building, building, building more, more, more. And we're exhausting ourselves and the internet's getting congested as well. But I'm a firm believer that business really, especially in my own experience, is not so much about building yet, it's first about tearing down. And a lot of people focus on the niche of mindset. I touch on it here and there because it's so important as a foundation for your business. But I used to think long hours were needed to build a business. And I realized one day when I was journaling, I could stop building and start tearing down. And you have to look at the motivation why you're doing things. You have to tear down things like, at least for myself, this was the case, fear, right? If I don't do this, or if I don't build this, you're afraid something's gonna happen, something negative. So fear, you tear down fear, you tear down self-reliance because none of us do it alone. We need networks and we need a community. We have to tear down frustration and know that everything comes in its time. We have to tear down insecurities, and those can pop up from any direction as we're tackling something new that we've never done before. And so we have to tear down those insecurities and find our confidence and walk with courage. And all you need is 10 seconds of courage to take that next step. And you have to also tear down the thoughts that don't serve you well, any negative talk, anything that will um cause you to maybe um slow you down or not move forward, those things are the things that you need to tear down. And when you tear those things down, it's amazing. Once the fog is gone, you know what it is that you need to work on. And it's so much easier on you, and it's so much easier and more effective because you're focused and you're not letting these things slow you down. So, what that's the first thing that I would suggest as a change is to realize that it's not all about building, it's about tearing down and you make space for what you're going to build. The the second tip I have for you too, as far as changes, and a lot of these I've learned the hard way, right? The change is realizing that there's power in one. There's power in less than more. Now that sounds counterproductive, doesn't it? There's a movie that it's a comedy, an old one called City Slickers. And uh Curly, who is played by Jack uh Polance, he understood the power of one. And in this movie, he was an old cowboy, right? One of the last cowboys, and with a real gruff exterior. And uh he was the uh trail guide for tourists, and one of them was Mitch Robbins, who was a tourist played by Billy Crystal. And Mitch was uh going through a midlife crisis, and Curly reminded him to find his one thing to help him move forward. Mitch had to discover what that one thing was to make his life feel valuable again. The one thing for your business is gonna be different for everyone. Sometimes it starts with your why, why you want to do it, and you come back to that when you feel like you can't take another step forward or you feel like this is never gonna work. You think of why you want to do it, but also it becomes it becomes one of the ingredients that shapes your brand, your personal brand, becomes part of your brand story, and that's important. We're gonna talk about story here in just a second. And that becomes your edge of influence. And so you figure out your one thing, like why is it you want to be online? What's the one thing you want to do? What's the one thing you want to share with people? What's the one thing you want to change? There's a lot of power in that, and there's a lot of clarity with that when you think of the one thing. It's creating a clear representation of who you are. And as you begin to look at an audience that would be interested in that and listening to what people are saying, you begin to align yourself with an audience that is seeking that. So there's a lot of research involved in building a brand, but it starts with you. Your work is an extension of who you are, it starts with you. What is it that you want to say? What is that one thing? So some people figure, oh, well, it's not just one, it's a whole lot of things. Well, you have to realize if all your knowledge, all your wisdom, all your experience was like a library, a multi-level library, like one of these huge libraries that had volumes of books, that had small paperbacks, that had textbooks, that had all kinds of books there. Your life experience, your knowledge, your education, all of that is like a library. You can't just stack a bunch of books and throw it at somebody and say, here, here's all of it. But you pull that one book that that person needs, and you share a concept, a process, a blueprint, a strategy. You share something with them. And then you have more information you can pull and share with them, but you've got to realize that people can only consume so much too. And that's good news for you because you don't have to create it all, right? All at once. Some people say you only need to um know 10% more of the people that you want to serve. Well, what is that? What is 10%? How do you calculate that? I always wondered about that. So I have a simple formula. You need to be about two to three years ahead of those people that you want to serve. That is clear to me. 10%, I'm going, how do you how do you figure that out? 10%. But be two to three years ahead of other people. Sometimes it's the person you were maybe three, five years ago. So you figure out who it is that you can help with that. So as you pull this knowledge and you realize that you have experience and you have knowledge, you begin to shape it into your brand message. So it's all about the power of one, having one brand, one message, one audience, one media platform. Now, what do I mean by that? The content that you create that establishes you as an expert, what is that gonna be? Is it gonna be in writing? Is it gonna be in audio? What is it gonna be? Are you going to be an article writer? Are you going to write our articles for magazines? Are you going to blog? Are you going to be a speaker? Are you going to be a podcast guest or podcast host? Are you going to create little snippets on social media? What is it that you're going to create? Or do you want to do videos and be on YouTube? But pick one. Pick one where your content, your wisdom, that's what content is. You're sharing some type of wisdom, some type of of um helpful support in some form, and decide what that one is. And you should have one media platform. It doesn't mean you can't share it in other platforms, but when you focus on one, it makes it so much easier. And then you can repurpose and share it in other places, but focus with the intent of one, one media platform, and then one social platform. Trying to learn all the things on all the social media platforms is exhausting. You can share it on one, and if you want to repurpose it, you can repurpose it and put it out on other social media platforms. But share it on one. And then from there, that could end up being an article, and that article can end up being a podcast, and that podcast can end up being other things, opportunities to maybe create a workshop around it. But you got to start with one. You notice that some people have a business and they start with one product, and that was my next one, one offer, one product. They can always perfect that if they're focusing on one, and then later they might even have more verticals or more products. But you start with one get really good at it, and get really good at strategy and prospecting and selling, and then you can expand from that. And then, of course, one call to action. Whenever you're creating content, whenever you're speaking, you have one call to action. So it's just to review the power of one is one brand, one brand message, one audience. One type of media that you want to share, always repurpose, but you can share what is that one. And it's usually around your sweet spot, one social media platform that you like to engage in, that you show up and you comment and you DM, which one is going to be yours, right? One offer right for one audience, and then one call to action. When we simplify, we get so much clarity and we actually produce more when we're focused on less, if that makes sense. So the third is a storytelling component. As I was looking back, I realized that storytelling was a big part of my evolution, so to speak. Because I started with writing, I started with blogging, then I ended up publishing articles, then as I continued the communication path, it led me to public speaking. That was all it originated with writing, and then I ended up speaking. All of the things that I've done originate with writing, and then there was the copywriting, and then from there the coaching. So a lot of the things, and strangely enough, I haven't written a book yet. It's crazy, but I've done so much writing, but I haven't written a book yet. That's in the future. I'm not sure when, but it's in the future. But you need to realize that storytelling is going to really help grow your brand. So when you develop your brand message and you incorporate storytelling in your content, in your brand message, it's very, very effective. One of the things that I want to share is because people often think, um, well, why is story so helpful? Right. People don't hear a story, they feel a story. As you tell a story, they're not just listening, they're feeling and it depends because many of the stories can touch our emotions like nothing else can. And that resonates with people and it builds trust. And that's the first hurdle we're trying to get over is trust. And storytelling will help. And it also gives a little bit of clarity too, then just putting in text gives a little bit of clarity. But our story helps others live their story. Oftentimes they can see themselves in you and your story, your struggles, your background, your experience. Right. So it's very, very helpful. We live in a very diverse world, right? But our pain and struggles are the same. Love, fulfillment, happiness. Are universal emotions. So that's a way that we can connect because people don't just hear stories, they feel stories. And you have that heart-to-heart connection that's so important that we want to preserve and protect with all the virtual noise that's going on, all the automations that are going on, we want to protect that. And that's going to help you stand out as well. So oftentimes as I look back, I realize that a lot of this storytelling helped not only with the articles, but public speaking and winning awards in public speaking. It really was the beginning. And the copywriting kind of really moved me into, you know, the online marketing. It was very helpful. And stories, people often say, you know, when you tell stories, you want to be inspiring or educational or entertaining. And you can do that with stories. You can teach a very important lesson with some story of your background that's maybe humorous and it makes a point, and people won't forget it. So I had done a little bit of research, and uh US Berkeley article addressed the the mystery of storytelling. Storytelling simulates a large or stimulates, excuse me, stimulates a large portion, large portion of our brain when the narrative is processed. So we're very engaged when we're hearing stories. It's creating a deeper emotional connection. And storytelling helps form relationships with strangers because of that connection. And storytelling releases a series of the feel-good hormones. So again, we're we're reducing and we're lowering those barriers. And that's going to help as we engage with people as well. So when your blind brand includes stories, these hormones are associated with the brand, creating a natural connection. So look around throughout your day and find the stories that you might want to share and keep a little story file, maybe a Google Sheet, somewhere where you just document a few little stories or a funny thing that happened to you at the airport or something that happened to you when you drove to the market. Those little stories or things that you've noticed in people, things about humanity. Maybe you saw someone do some type of random acts of kindness, those stories are really helpful. And then if you just keep like a story bank, you can pull on those periodically. So you're not always starting from scratch and trying to figure out what story you're going to implement. My family loves to watch uh Lego Masters and Dancing with the Stars and America's Got Talent. And I don't always watch all the episodes, but I do watch the finales and usually just listening to their stories, because they all have stories. There's one on barbecuing, believe it or not. Um, you know, they open bar, I don't even know what it's called. It's like these barbecue experts. I just listen to the story of the contestants or the finalists, and I can tell who's gonna win with about 100% accuracy so far, because of their stories. The people are engaged with them and they want them to win. And it's all about, you know, publicity and you know, people tuning into the show. And so these stories are very compelling, and usually the people with the best stories win. So that what does that tell us, right? So we need to um also keep things very, very simple. There's another change as far as keeping things very simple. So many people feel that things have to be very, very complicated. And I'm saying that simplicity is important. Simplicity is important. Simplicity is easier to see where maybe there's a bottleneck or where something is not working well because it's simple, right? And we can check analytics, but simplicity is important to create something that is simple to not only create, but also to update and adjust as we find out more about our market. The reality of execution is something that I share about. It really is the idea how when we begin something, a project, how it swells. We don't realize how much is involved around doing something. Like if somebody says, I'm gonna do a webinar, right? They don't realize how much is involved on the front end during the webinar and then after. There's not only opt-in pages and thank you pages and registration pages and replay pages and video and connecting tech, and then at the end, you know, the promotional emails. There's a lot of emails that go on just with that alone. And most of the time, people do not give it enough time to launch, and so they're scrambling toward the end, trying to put everything together. All of these things take time, even creating a lead magnet. They think I'll create a lead magnet, and then they're rushing and they're creating something that's not the best. And these days, I will say that lead magnets, it's it's gotta have some meat, it's gotta have some type of transformation. It can't be just something we just pulled off a canva and shared it, because that's a first impression. So even lead magnets need to have a decent opt-in page and thank you page and email sequence and all of those things. And sometimes we underestimate how much time it takes, and that's the reality of execution. And then we're scrambling toward the end to get it done, and then we don't do our best. So we the unexpected complexity of integrating technology in a project and the unrealistic window between creating and making the project, you know, ready for launch. And there's a surprising amount of writing. There's so much writing involved. So the reality of execution can often cause us not to put our best foot forward. And we need to simplify as much as we can to not overcomplicate and have so much more that needs to be done in the last week of a launch or last few days of a launch. We need to keep it as simple as possible. So that's something that we always have to keep in mind. I like to have a larger window than most because I'm doing multiple things. I'm coaching, I'm also doing some copywriting. And so when I'm planning something to launch a program, I need to give myself a larger window. So I start planning three months ahead, and usually the sales page gets done or the opt-in page and thank you page and whatever resource slide deck, that's another thing you need when you're doing a webinar, you need the slide deck. And some people have handouts, it just continues on and on. But I like to give myself at least a three-month window because once it's done, then you got to promote it, right? So you need a window of time to promote it as well. So the more you can simplify it, the better. And really, when you think about it, when you're interacting with people and you're commenting and you're creating DM messages, and you have an opportunity to talk to someone, schedule something, all you really need is a scheduling tool like Calendly, and then a Zoom meeting link. That Zoom you can get up to 40 minutes for free. So you don't even have to pay for it. You can have a 30-minute call. And then all you need is a Stripe URL. You can create a Stripe invoice. Really, those three things, when you're talking to someone, all you need is to schedule a call, get on a Zoom link, and have a Stripe link. If you can help them reach that transformation they want, and you're talking to them and you're explaining and you're asking really good questions and you're finding out what it is the problem is, and you can serve them. That's really all the only three things you need. You don't even need a sales page. You can you can close right there during the call. Now, I just I'm a copywriter and I just you know gave you this tip that you know, there goes my copywriting opportunities. But it's the truth. You don't have to have all those things, especially in the beginning. Especially in the beginning, you can just have conversations with people and create a calendar where they can schedule a call with you, have a Zoom link, don't even need a paid Zoom, and then just have a link from uh something like Stripe that you can just share that link if they're interested in, they can go ahead. And you don't need any other special tools. Or if you want to do PayPal or something like that, but I use Stripe, I like Stripe. But here's the problem is when people are starting out is the pricing. They get a little concerned about how to price things, and again, you can't be a commodity, you have to think of how you're gonna price transformation. It's like if you especially if you're teaching something that's going to help them excel in the future and have ongoing benefit, that has a lot of value. And think of that library you talked about before, that experience, that knowledge. It took you years, maybe decades to acquire that. That has value. So we have to begin to um think differently. And as we're simplifying things, I want you to be aware of something that might cross your mind. Because sometimes if the solution isn't complicated or stacked with tons of modules, right? Tons of information, we feel like we haven't earned the revenue. And what we're really selling is a transformation. People have modules and modules and modules and modules and lessons and lessons and lessons and so much stuff, and statistically nobody finishes those, right? But if you have a way to help people either remove complexity or short shorten the learning curve or help them achieve something faster that has value. And so don't think that because it's not complicated and stacked with modules, that you don't deserve the revenue. You're you're selling a solution, a transformation. So if you believe complexity equals compensation, that's an unhealthy perspective. I I spent excessive hours complicating my back-end process and programs and services because I undervalued myself. And I don't want you to do that. As a result, you know, I hit the ceiling with a full calendar and it almost led to burnout. And that's why I ended up doing coaching and group coaching because it was something that I could do and love to do rather than these one-on-ones, because then your calendar, especially if you're service-based, it gets freckled with appointments and fulfillment, and it's it's hard to expand, it's hard to scale. So if you provide value and transformation, you've earned compensation. Compensation may vary, but the value is proportional to the transformation. It's not an hourly wage. Do not quote a price by the hour. Simplifying a process is increasing prices, doesn't mean you didn't earn it. So simplifying, if you're simplifying and you increase your price, doesn't mean you didn't earn it. Okay, it's it's all about understanding that transformation that you're doing. Your skills, experience, and knowledge have unique value, and it took you a long time to acquire those. So serve well and serve everyone well. So, in closing here, just I want you to realize that your brand, the power of one, storytelling, simplicity is really they're important changes so that you can have the stamina to keep going and grow something substantial, something that will be able to generate the revenue you need and give you that life that you want. Every person in your network, whether it's a client, whether it's a prospect, whether it's a peer or partner, deserves, you know, to be respected and to be well served. And that's all you have to do is serve your way to success. Serve your way to success. Start a conversation, think of ways that you can serve them unconditionally, go to conferences, network with people virtually and also in person. And as Rick Warren has said in his book, Purpose Driven Life, it's not about you, it's not about me, it's about the people that we serve. So nothing is more rewarding than being part of the growth and transformation of another person. And I know many of the people that that follow me believe that. And that's why I love them so much, because they they serve, it's not about so much head, it's about heart, and it's about what they want to create, but also about the change that they want to create in the world. So thank you for letting me share this today. I hope this helped with these changes. I'll have the show notes and everything all cleaned up for you on my website. Um, it'll take me just a couple of days, and I'll have that for you. So, this was my live test on LinkedIn, and I'm going to be changing the name of my podcast. It's called Amplify Your Authority. I'm also going to be having someone that's going to join me once a month, and we're going to be talking about copywriting. And that is Kathy Farah. Together, we're going to co-host and we'll be able to allow you to submit in advance some copy that you'd like to have critiqued. I'll have some more guests. There's a lot in store for 2024, and I'm glad you're joining me for this journey. I'm excited about it. Thanks so much for tuning in. And I look forward to seeing you next time. Maybe I'll be able to look at LinkedIn to see if there's any comments, but not this time. I can't do two things at once, not yet. So, anyway, stay tuned. Talk to you soon. Take care. Bye bye.