Whether working for someone or for yourself at one point in life you may have been confronted with overcoming a limiting belief. A limiting belief is just what it sounds like, a belief that limits your progress toward your goal. The objective of this show is to have a conversation about discovering and overcoming limiting beliefs. I will talk about my personal journey discovering & overcoming a limiting belief that at times I still struggle with. I also reached out to several other entrepreneurs asking what was the one limiting belief that they had to overcome and what suggestions they would have for you – the listeners of this show.

Key Questions:

What are limiting beliefs?

How are limiting beliefs formed?

How do limiting beliefs hinder me from meeting my goals?

How do limiting beliefs show up in my business?

What do you Need to do?

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

1. Acknowledge that you have a limiting belief
2. If possible, discover the why behind your limiting belief. The “why” may be linked to other belief systems that you currently hold to be true.
3. Apply the power of self-compassion. It is OK. You can and will get through the overside of this wall.
4. Make a list of things that disprove the limiting belief either from your life and experience or the life and experience of others.
5. Put into practice habits that will build the life that you want that move you closer to your goals.
6. Focus your thoughts and energy on where you want to go, not one where you have been or that has been holding you back. You want to be Future focused. 
7. If the limiting belief tries to come back remember this – You are the gatekeeper of your mind and of your body and you have the right and power to control what enters and stays in your mind!

If you have overcome or have learned to deal with your own limiting belief share your experience by answering this three question survey - Overcoming Limiting Beliefs.

Next Episode: The company you keep

Written by James Bryant

Let’s connect. Use this link to schedule a complimentary session to assess your current needs.

https://calendly.com/james-betteryou4u/ibgr

We can also connect on Linkedin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Let Your Light Shine

Part 2 of 4

Whether working for someone or for yourself at one point in life you may have been confronted with overcoming a limiting belief. A limiting belief is just what it sounds like, a belief that limits your progress toward your goal. The objective of this show is to have a conversation about discovering and overcoming limiting beliefs. I will talk about my personal journey discovering & overcoming a limiting belief that at times I still struggle with. I also reached out to several other entrepreneurs asking what was the one limiting belief that they had to overcome and what suggestions they would have for you – the listeners of this show.

Key Questions:

What are limiting beliefs?

How are limiting beliefs formed?

How do limiting beliefs hinder me from meeting my goals?

How do limiting beliefs show up in my business?

What do you Need to do?

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

1. Acknowledge that you have a limiting belief
2. If possible, discover the why behind your limiting belief. The “why” may be linked to other belief systems that you currently hold to be true.
3. Apply the power of self-compassion. It is OK. You can and will get through the overside of this wall.
4. Make a list of things that disprove the limiting belief either from your life and experience or the life and experience of others.
5. Put into practice habits that will build the life that you want that move you closer to your goals.
6. Focus your thoughts and energy on where you want to go, not one where you have been or that has been holding you back. You want to be Future focused. 
7. If the limiting belief tries to come back remember this – You are the gatekeeper of your mind and of your body and you have the right and power to control what enters and stays in your mind!

If you have overcome or have learned to deal with your own limiting belief share your experience by answering this three question survey - Overcoming Limiting Beliefs.

Next Episode: The company you keep

Written by James Bryant

Let’s connect. Use this link to schedule a complimentary session to assess your current needs.

https://calendly.com/james-betteryou4u/ibgr

We can also connect on Linkedin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Let Your Light Shine

Whether working for someone or for yourself at one point in life you may have been confronted with overcoming a limiting belief. A limiting belief is just what it sounds like, a belief that limits your progress toward your goal. The objective of this show is to have a conversation about discovering and overcoming limiting beliefs. I will talk about my personal journey discovering & overcoming a limiting belief that at times I still struggle with. I also reached out to several other entrepreneurs asking what was the one limiting belief that they had to overcome and what suggestions they would have for you – the listeners of this show.

Key Questions:

What are limiting beliefs?

How are limiting beliefs formed?

How do limiting beliefs hinder me from meeting my goals?

How do limiting beliefs show up in my business?

What do you Need to do?

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

1. Acknowledge that you have a limiting belief
2. If possible, discover the why behind your limiting belief. The “why” may be linked to other belief systems that you currently hold to be true.
3. Apply the power of self-compassion. It is OK. You can and will get through the overside of this wall.
4. Make a list of things that disprove the limiting belief either from your life and experience or the life and experience of others.
5. Put into practice habits that will build the life that you want that move you closer to your goals.
6. Focus your thoughts and energy on where you want to go, not one where you have been or that has been holding you back. You want to be Future focused. 
7. If the limiting belief tries to come back remember this – You are the gatekeeper of your mind and of your body and you have the right and power to control what enters and stays in your mind!

If you have overcome or have learned to deal with your own limiting belief share your experience by answering this three question survey - Overcoming Limiting Beliefs.

Next Episode: The company you keep

Written by James Bryant

Let’s connect. Use this link to schedule a complimentary session to assess your current needs.

https://calendly.com/james-betteryou4u/ibgr

We can also connect on Linkedin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Let Your Light Shine

Whether working for someone or for yourself at one point in life you may have been confronted with overcoming a limiting belief. A limiting belief is just what it sounds like, a belief that limits your progress toward your goal. The objective of this show is to have a conversation about discovering and overcoming limiting beliefs. I will talk about my personal journey discovering & overcoming a limiting belief that at times I still struggle with. I also reached out to several other entrepreneurs asking what was the one limiting belief that they had to overcome and what suggestions they would have for you – the listeners of this show.

Key Questions:

What are limiting beliefs?

How are limiting beliefs formed?

How do limiting beliefs hinder me from meeting my goals?

How do limiting beliefs show up in my business?

What do you Need to do?

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

1. Acknowledge that you have a limiting belief
2. If possible, discover the why behind your limiting belief. The “why” may be linked to other belief systems that you currently hold to be true.
3. Apply the power of self-compassion. It is OK. You can and will get through the overside of this wall.
4. Make a list of things that disprove the limiting belief either from your life and experience or the life and experience of others.
5. Put into practice habits that will build the life that you want that move you closer to your goals.
6. Focus your thoughts and energy on where you want to go, not one where you have been or that has been holding you back. You want to be Future focused. 
7. If the limiting belief tries to come back remember this – You are the gatekeeper of your mind and of your body and you have the right and power to control what enters and stays in your mind!

If you have overcome or have learned to deal with your own limiting belief share your experience by answering this three question survey - Overcoming Limiting Beliefs.

Next Episode: The company you keep

Written by James Bryant

Let’s connect. Use this link to schedule a complimentary session to assess your current needs.

https://calendly.com/james-betteryou4u/ibgr

We can also connect on Linkedin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Let Your Light Shine

Introduction

When you are growing up you have little or no choice in your environment. The relationships that you build start off as a product of proximity. You are more likely to become friends with people you are around and have some type of connection. As we get older, we meet more people, and we have greater control over our environment and the pool of people with whom we can select our friends. 

​You may recall the saying that our parents used that “Birds of a feather, flock together.” Our parents were trying to communicate that your friends, who you hang around matter. We tend to mimic the behavior of people that we spend the most time with. This is not any type of manipulation, but it is our innate desire to belong and to fit-in with the community that we choose as part of our identity. Love and belongingness are basic human needs. 

You are influenced by the people that you spend the most time with. You are also an influence on the people you spend the most time with. How will you yield the power of your influence? Do you even recognize the influence that you have on your world? Who are you building your community with?

Let’s get growing

Listen>Apply>Engage

Show Objectives

You have the power to change your world, even if you do not know if yet! There is power in proximity and who you influence and those that you allow to influence you. The objective of this episode is to talk about impacts of the company that we choose to keep in our lives and business. If you want to continue to grow as a person then I encourage you to be around growing people. If you want to grow your business, then find other business owners who can encourage you along your journey. The company you keep matters, not the company that you previously kept.

  Key Concepts:

• The people that are closest to you have an impact on who you are and how you are
• You can intentionally choose the relationships that you want to build
• You are not limited by your past relationships

Key Questions:

• There are people in my life that I feel are holding me back, what can I do?
• I feel like I am leaving my friends behind. I am working and spending more time toward achieving my goals and have less time to spend doing the things we used to do. When I share the vision of what I am building with my friends and some family members, they just don’t understand and think that I am taking things too seriously. Do I leave them behind or continue to try to pull them up with me?
• How do I find my tribe? 

What do you Need to do?

Find Your Tribe(s)

1. Give Yourself Permission to Grow
2. Give Your Family and Friends the Permission to stay where they are
3. Surround yourself with people who challenge you to be greater today than you were yesterday. People who love you and accept you for who you are. People who want what you want, not just what they want for you.
4. Be intentional about who you choose to spend time with.
5. Be intentional about the books that you read, the videos that you watch and the podcasts that you listen to.
6. Find Your Tribe to help you build your business
7. Find Your Tribe to help you achieve your goals

Next Episode: Why your Why Matters?

Complementary Resources:

Dismantling Your Limiting Beliefs Email Series: 

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Limiting-beliefs

Webinar on The Power of Positive Affirmations:

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Positive-Affirmations

Business Growth Accelerator Newsletter:

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Newsletter

Written by James Bryant

Let’s connect. Use this link to schedule a complimentary session to assess your current needs.

https://calendly.com/james-betteryou4u/ibgr

We can also connect on Linkedin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Let Your Light Shine

Introduction

When you are growing up you have little or no choice in your environment. The relationships that you build start off as a product of proximity. You are more likely to become friends with people you are around and have some type of connection. As we get older, we meet more people, and we have greater control over our environment and the pool of people with whom we can select our friends. 

​You may recall the saying that our parents used that “Birds of a feather, flock together.” Our parents were trying to communicate that your friends, who you hang around matter. We tend to mimic the behavior of people that we spend the most time with. This is not any type of manipulation, but it is our innate desire to belong and to fit-in with the community that we choose as part of our identity. Love and belongingness are basic human needs. 

You are influenced by the people that you spend the most time with. You are also an influence on the people you spend the most time with. How will you yield the power of your influence? Do you even recognize the influence that you have on your world? Who are you building your community with?

Let’s get growing

Listen>Apply>Engage

Show Objectives

You have the power to change your world, even if you do not know if yet! There is power in proximity and who you influence and those that you allow to influence you. The objective of this episode is to talk about impacts of the company that we choose to keep in our lives and business. If you want to continue to grow as a person then I encourage you to be around growing people. If you want to grow your business, then find other business owners who can encourage you along your journey. The company you keep matters, not the company that you previously kept.

  Key Concepts:

• The people that are closest to you have an impact on who you are and how you are
• You can intentionally choose the relationships that you want to build
• You are not limited by your past relationships

Key Questions:

• There are people in my life that I feel are holding me back, what can I do?
• I feel like I am leaving my friends behind. I am working and spending more time toward achieving my goals and have less time to spend doing the things we used to do. When I share the vision of what I am building with my friends and some family members, they just don’t understand and think that I am taking things too seriously. Do I leave them behind or continue to try to pull them up with me?
• How do I find my tribe? 

What do you Need to do?

Find Your Tribe(s)

1. Give Yourself Permission to Grow
2. Give Your Family and Friends the Permission to stay where they are
3. Surround yourself with people who challenge you to be greater today than you were yesterday. People who love you and accept you for who you are. People who want what you want, not just what they want for you.
4. Be intentional about who you choose to spend time with.
5. Be intentional about the books that you read, the videos that you watch and the podcasts that you listen to.
6. Find Your Tribe to help you build your business
7. Find Your Tribe to help you achieve your goals

Next Episode: Why your Why Matters?

Complementary Resources:

Dismantling Your Limiting Beliefs Email Series: 

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Limiting-beliefs

Webinar on The Power of Positive Affirmations:

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Positive-Affirmations

Business Growth Accelerator Newsletter:

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Newsletter

Written by James Bryant

Let’s connect. Use this link to schedule a complimentary session to assess your current needs.

https://calendly.com/james-betteryou4u/ibgr

We can also connect on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Let Your Light Shine

Introduction

When thinking about going into business initially you may have decided on What you wanted to do and maybe how you are going to do it but what often gets overlooked is Why. Why do you want to start a business? Why do you want to serve these particular clients? Why do you want to hire these types of people for your workforce? Why Why Why. I could come up with hundreds of why questions and it would not diminish the impact of these three letters W*H*Y.  

Your WHY is the heart of your company (or the company that you want to start), what you stand for, and ultimately it will determine your success. Your WHY provides meaning for What you do because it defines WHY you do it. Your WHY is a fundamental belief that inspires vision and drives actions. Your WHY has an impact on everything you do in your business. It is bigger than the products that you sell, the services you provide, and drives the profits that you reap. It gives meaning and value to your business. 

  Key Concepts:

• Your WHY is the fuel that keeps you and your company going
• Many people and companies know what they do. People and companies know how they want to do what they do. The key to sustained growth is knowing WHY you do it.
• You set yourself and your brand apart by being able to communicate your WHY.
• Internal Clarity vs external clarity

Key Questions:

• Why Start with WHY?
• I have no strong concept of why I started this business. I was good at it, and I enjoy it but beyond that I really don’t have a WHY? How does this show help me?
• I have a WHY but I think there may be something deeper just underneath the surface. How do I move a (lower case) why to a (upper case) WHY?

What do you need to do?

1. Identify your unique WHY

What interests do you have?

What is the one thing that you really love to do?

What are your natural talents?

What are your strengths?

When do you feel you get the greatest sense of value?

What gets you excited?

2. Develop You WHY Statement

Your WHY statement serves to encapsulate your purpose and your mission in one brief, all-inclusive sentence. A successful WHY statement should be simple, clear, actionable, and focused on how you contribute to others. Examples

“To engage and inspire people, so that people are motivated to do something creative every day.”

 “We create online courses to provide everything you need to know to grow a business and become a more confident professional” 

“We create financial and time freedom for our members through providing a community and learning platform focused on multifamily apartment investing”

3. Clarify Your WHY

Clarity is not a destination but with each step you take your path gets a little clearer.

​

​List of Acronyms to help you clarify your WHY.  

WHY – Acronyms

 What’s Holding You?

 What Hungers You?

 What Harnesses You?

 Who Helps You?

 What Honors You?

 What Humbles You?

4. Unleash Your Unique WHY on the World

This becomes the basis for your internal and external communication. This message is included on your website, your email signature, social media posts, you want to world to know what you are all about.  

Next Episode: The power of Gratitude in Business

Links and Complimentary Resources:

Provide Feedback on the Show

https://link.betteryou4u.com/show-feedback

Webinar on The Power of Positive Affirmations:

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Positive-Affirmations

Schedule a one-on-one meeting with me

https://calendly.com/james-betteryou4u/ibgr

Upcoming Events

https://betteryou4u.com/calendar-of-events

Written by James W. Bryant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/)

Let Your Light Shine

Introduction

When thinking about going into business initially you may have decided on What you wanted to do and maybe how you are going to do it but what often gets overlooked is Why. Why do you want to start a business? Why do you want to serve these particular clients? Why do you want to hire these types of people for your workforce? Why Why Why. I could come up with hundreds of why questions and it would not diminish the impact of these three letters W*H*Y.  

Your WHY is the heart of your company (or the company that you want to start), what you stand for, and ultimately it will determine your success. Your WHY provides meaning for What you do because it defines WHY you do it. Your WHY is a fundamental belief that inspires vision and drives actions. Your WHY has an impact on everything you do in your business. It is bigger than the products that you sell, the services you provide, and drives the profits that you reap. It gives meaning and value to your business. 

  Key Concepts:

• Your WHY is the fuel that keeps you and your company going
• Many people and companies know what they do. People and companies know how they want to do what they do. The key to sustained growth is knowing WHY you do it.
• You set yourself and your brand apart by being able to communicate your WHY.
• Internal Clarity vs external clarity

Key Questions:

• Why Start with WHY?
• I have no strong concept of why I started this business. I was good at it, and I enjoy it but beyond that I really don’t have a WHY? How does this show help me?
• I have a WHY but I think there may be something deeper just underneath the surface. How do I move a (lower case) why to a (upper case) WHY?

What do you need to do?

1. Identify your unique WHY

What interests do you have?

What is the one thing that you really love to do?

What are your natural talents?

What are your strengths?

When do you feel you get the greatest sense of value?

What gets you excited?

2. Develop You WHY Statement

Your WHY statement serves to encapsulate your purpose and your mission in one brief, all-inclusive sentence. A successful WHY statement should be simple, clear, actionable, and focused on how you contribute to others. Examples

“To engage and inspire people, so that people are motivated to do something creative every day.”

 “We create online courses to provide everything you need to know to grow a business and become a more confident professional” 

“We create financial and time freedom for our members through providing a community and learning platform focused on multifamily apartment investing”

3. Clarify Your WHY

Clarity is not a destination but with each step you take your path gets a little clearer.

​

​List of Acronyms to help you clarify your WHY.  

WHY – Acronyms

 What’s Holding You?

 What Hungers You?

 What Harnesses You?

 Who Helps You?

 What Honors You?

 What Humbles You?

4. Unleash Your Unique WHY on the World

This becomes the basis for your internal and external communication. This message is included on your website, your email signature, social media posts, you want to world to know what you are all about.  

Next Episode: The power of Gratitude in Business

Links and Complimentary Resources:

Provide Feedback on the Show

https://link.betteryou4u.com/show-feedback

Webinar on The Power of Positive Affirmations:

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Positive-Affirmations

Schedule a one-on-one meeting with me

https://calendly.com/james-betteryou4u/ibgr

Upcoming Events

https://betteryou4u.com/calendar-of-events

Written by James W. Bryant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/)

Let Your Light Shine

Show Objectives

Over the past few weeks we have talked about overcoming limiting beliefs, the reason you want to find your tribe, and Why your Why matters. This week I wanted to provide some additional perspective by interviewing 3 long-time entrepreneurs and unpacking what they are grateful for and how they overcame obstacles in 2020. You will hear how two of Jerome’s client are having the best financial year of their life! Why Debbee started her latest business as a result of the pandemic. You will also hear words of encouragement from a sage entrepreneurial veteran, Sonny Smith, who was in business for himself for over 40 years before retiring.

The objective of this episode is to provide a small sliver of hope to you by highlight some positive stories that have happened in the midst of the turmoil of 2020. You will also hear a hear of gratitude expressed by each person that was interviewed. Gratitude helps to provide you with an open perspective that allows you to see the opportunities that today has to offer.

Next Episode: Taking Advantage of What Today has to offer

Links to our Guests

Jerome Myers (Part 1)

https://www.jeromemyers.co/

 Debbee Jeter (Part 2)

https://debbeeshiddentreasures.com/

Complimentary Resources:

Provide Feedback on the Show

https://link.betteryou4u.com/show-feedback

Recorded Webinar on The Power of Positive Affirmations:

https://link.betteryou4u.com/affirm

Upcoming Events

https://betteryou4u.com/calendar-of-events

Written by James W. Bryant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/)

Let Your Light Shine

Show Objectives

Over the past few weeks we have talked about overcoming limiting beliefs, the reason you want to find your tribe, and Why your Why matters. This week I wanted to provide some additional perspective by interviewing 3 long-time entrepreneurs and unpacking what they are grateful for and how they overcame obstacles in 2020. You will hear how two of Jerome’s client are having the best financial year of their life! Why Debbee started her latest business as a result of the pandemic. You will also hear words of encouragement from a sage entrepreneurial veteran, Sonny Smith, who was in business for himself for over 40 years before retiring.

The objective of this episode is to provide a small sliver of hope to you by highlight some positive stories that have happened in the midst of the turmoil of 2020. You will also hear a hear of gratitude expressed by each person that was interviewed. Gratitude helps to provide you with an open perspective that allows you to see the opportunities that today has to offer.

Next Episode: Taking Advantage of What Today has to offer

Links to our Guests

Jerome Myers (Part 1)

https://www.jeromemyers.co/

 Debbee Jeter (Part 2)

https://debbeeshiddentreasures.com/

Complimentary Resources:

Provide Feedback on the Show

https://link.betteryou4u.com/show-feedback

Recorded Webinar on The Power of Positive Affirmations:

https://link.betteryou4u.com/affirm

Upcoming Events

https://betteryou4u.com/calendar-of-events

Written by James W. Bryant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/)

Let Your Light Shine

Show Objectives

Over the past few weeks we have talked about overcoming limiting beliefs, the reason you want to find your tribe, and Why your Why matters. This week I wanted to provide some additional perspective by interviewing 3 long-time entrepreneurs and unpacking what they are grateful for and how they overcame obstacles in 2020. You will hear how two of Jerome’s client are having the best financial year of their life! Why Debbee started her latest business as a result of the pandemic. You will also hear words of encouragement from a sage entrepreneurial veteran, Sonny Smith, who was in business for himself for over 40 years before retiring.

The objective of this episode is to provide a small sliver of hope to you by highlight some positive stories that have happened in the midst of the turmoil of 2020. You will also hear a hear of gratitude expressed by each person that was interviewed. Gratitude helps to provide you with an open perspective that allows you to see the opportunities that today has to offer.

Next Episode: Taking Advantage of What Today has to offer

Links to our Guests

Jerome Myers (Part 1)

https://www.jeromemyers.co/

 Debbee Jeter (Part 2)

https://debbeeshiddentreasures.com/

Complimentary Resources:

Provide Feedback on the Show

https://link.betteryou4u.com/show-feedback

Recorded Webinar on The Power of Positive Affirmations:

https://link.betteryou4u.com/affirm

Upcoming Events

https://betteryou4u.com/calendar-of-events

Written by James W. Bryant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/)

Let Your Light Shine

Show Objectives

The purpose of today’s show is to provide some suggestions and action steps for you to use to prepare for the growth of your business now and into the future. You cannot take advantage of what you do not see or those things that you do see but fail to take action on. Let’s spend our time together today focusing on seeing beyond our cloudy days knowing that the Sun continues to Shine! (Even if we currently can’t see it) 

Key Concepts:

·      Your Energy Flows to where you focus goes

·      Plant the seeds now for the life that you want in the future.

·      Focus on Today’s Contribution to achieving your future goals

Key Questions:

·      Why would I consider starting a new business now?

·      Things are expected to get back to normal in 2021, will business pick up to where it was prior to the pandemic?

·      I know things need to change but I am have difficulty developing my strategy for the future?

What do you need to do?

·      See Past Your Current Circumstances

·      Prepare to adapt

·      Become more Customer Centric, focusing on the problems you can solve for your customers not on the problems that your business is facing.

·      Take A Look within (Personally and Within Your Business)

Next Episode: Focused for Business Growth

Links and Complimentary Resources:

Provide Feedback on the Show

https://link.betteryou4u.com/show-feedback

Recording of Webinar on The Power of Positive Affirmations:

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Positive-Affirmations

Upcoming Events

https://betteryou4u.com/calendar-of-events

Written by James W. Bryant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/)

Let Your Light Shine

Show Objectives

The purpose of today’s show is to provide some suggestions and action steps for you to use to prepare for the growth of your business now and into the future. You cannot take advantage of what you do not see or those things that you do see but fail to take action on. Let’s spend our time together today focusing on seeing beyond our cloudy days knowing that the Sun continues to Shine! (Even if we currently can’t see it) 

Key Concepts:

·      Your Energy Flows to where you focus goes

·      Plant the seeds now for the life that you want in the future.

·      Focus on Today’s Contribution to achieving your future goals

Key Questions:

·      Why would I consider starting a new business now?

·      Things are expected to get back to normal in 2021, will business pick up to where it was prior to the pandemic?

·      I know things need to change but I am have difficulty developing my strategy for the future?

What do you need to do?

·      See Past Your Current Circumstances

·      Prepare to adapt

·      Become more Customer Centric, focusing on the problems you can solve for your customers not on the problems that your business is facing.

·      Take A Look within (Personally and Within Your Business)

Next Episode: Focused for Business Growth

Links and Complimentary Resources:

Provide Feedback on the Show

https://link.betteryou4u.com/show-feedback

Recording of Webinar on The Power of Positive Affirmations:

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Positive-Affirmations

Upcoming Events

https://betteryou4u.com/calendar-of-events

Written by James W. Bryant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/)

Let Your Light Shine

It is impossible to make meaningful progress if there is no destination. Many of us have had to change direction in 2020 but now is the time to plant the seeds for the future that you want for yourself and your company. The purpose of today’s show is to provide to a framework to help you develop and clarify the growth goals that you have for your business for 2021.

Key Concepts:

• Multitasking
• The Power of Your Focus
• Time Blocking
• Eisenhower Productivity Matrix

Key Questions:

• What do you mean that I need to work “on” my business?
• What are some key activities that fall in working “on” my business?
• I have competing priorities for my business, should I work on all of these at the same time?
•  How do clarity where my focus should be for growing my business?

Become familiar with the concepts of the Eisenhower matrix. Typically, this is applied to time management and personal productivity. How can this concept apply to your business. There are 4 quadrants in the Eisenhower Matrix:

a.   Do It - Important/Urgent

b.   Schedule It - Important/Not Urgent

c.    Delegate it - Not Important/Urgent

d.   Eliminate it - Not Important/Not Urgent

You can apply these concepts to help you clarify the priorities that you want to focus on in your business.

Determine how you want your business to grow in 2021.

a.   What are your business growth goals?

These can be broad goals like: Grow sales by 30%; Increase revenue by 15%; Grow the number of paying clients by x percent or increase the sale of your online courses by x percent. What are your overall growth goals for your company? It’s ok to start off broad here you may come back and refine these goals as you work through these next steps.

Determine what activities are needed for you to reach your growth goals.

This is a similar process suggested by Warren Buffet in looking at the development of your career. Here is it applied to the growth goals of your company.

a.   Make a list of activities that come to mind that are needed to reach your growth goals. I would limit this list to 25 activities.

b.   Now select the top five activities from your list

You can apply the Eisenhower matrix framework to help you determine what are those things that you need to give your attention to right now. It may also be helpful for your top five list to be guided by Gary Keller’s question: “What are the activities/tasks or goals on this list that will make everything else on this list much easier of unnecessary?”

c.    The top 5 list is where you will focus ALL of your attention.

Start Planning Your activities based on your priorities

Next Episode: Planning for Growth in 2021 a Statement, not a Question

Links and Complimentary Resources:

Provide Feedback on the Show

https://link.betteryou4u.com/show-feedback

Upcoming Events

https://betteryou4u.com/calendar-of-events

 Written by James W. Bryant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/)

Let Your Light Shine

The purpose of today’s show is to provide to a framework to help you develop your company’s growth plan for 2021 and beyond. We will discuss some general growth strategies, the key elements of a business grow plan, and take a closer look at developing a rolling annual marketing plan.

Let’s get growing!

Key Concepts:

Growth Strategies

Customer focused

Marketing

Sales

Operations

Key Questions:

What is a business growth plan?

What questions does the growth plan have to address?

What is a Rolling Annual Marketing Plan (RAMP)?

Who is my primary customer?

What are my primary customer’s pain points?

1.     Develop a growth plan for your business

Business growth plans are short-term targeted plans that outline where you see your business in the next 12-18 months. The plans also include your current thinking on the strategies that you want to use to execute your plan. The growth plan should be structured to allow for quarterly review and adjustments. At the end of each quarter, you can review your progress and adjust your tactics as needed. This also allows for the growth plan to be a living document that has the flexibility to adapt as conditions warrant. The plan should cover:

a.    Opportunities

b.    Growth Goals

c.    Strategy

d.    Resource

2.    Develop a Rolling Annual Marketing Plan (updated quarterly)

A rolling annual marketing plan is where you develop your marketing strategy over the course of the next 12-months. The plan adjusts each quarter as you execute the activities and measure and track their performance. You may have more detailed information in the first 2 quarters of the plan and allow for some flexibility in moving forward. One of the general growth strategies that we discussed earlier was hosting events. We can’t accurately predict when we will be able to host in-person events on a regular basis, we can develop a plan around on-line engagement. What types of activities can we consider?

• Webinars (Free)
• Email Marketing Campaigns
• Social Media Campaigns
•  Customer Appreciate Events
• Facebook Lives
• Lead Magnets to grow you customer list
• Being Interviewed on Podcasts
• Developing our own Podcast
• One-on-One Coaching or Consulting ($$)
• Online Workshops ($$)
• Webinars ($$)
• Group Training Sessions ($$)

RAMP Elements

Customer

Your Products and Service

Schedule of Activities

Resource Needs

Next Episode: Let Your Light Shine

Links and Complimentary Resources:

Provide Feedback on the Show

https://link.betteryou4u.com/show-feedback

IBGR Community – Better You 4U Mentoring Group

Sign-Up and Join the Group

https://ibgr.community/group/better-you-4u-with-james-bryant

 Upcoming Events

https://betteryou4u.com/calendar-of-events

 Written by James W. Bryant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/)

Let Your Light Shine

Key Concepts:

Authenticity

Uniqueness.

 Key Issues – Owners Perspective:

Why it is important for you and your business to be authentic?

 How does Authenticity and Uniqueness impact my business?

 What you need to know – The What

As a business owner you are key to your business running efficiently and effectively. As you go your business goes and it is important for you to understand those things that may be dimming your light. These things tend to zap our energy and focus away from running our businesses. There three broad categories of things that we have to look out for to maximize our light: Physical Health, Activities, and Mental/Spiritual. If you are exhausted or drained then you do not have the energy to focus on your business, to lead your employees, to help guide your team to the next “big” thing that you company will pursue. You have an impact on your business. If you are a solo entrepreneur, then you are your business and all of these things directly apply.

 Physical Health (The Executive)

• Physical Fitness
• Lack of Sleep
• Lack of Rest

 Activity (The Executive and The Business)

• Busyness/Overextension

 Mental – Authenticity and Uniqueness (The Executive and their Imprint on the Business)

• Limiting Beliefs
• Worry
• Doubt
• Lack of Self Confidence
•  Lack of Self-acceptance

Steps you can take the light your light shine – The How

Undimming your Light – What are some things that you can do?

 Understand that you have a unique light that the world must see.

Who you are and what you have to offer is needed in this world!

•  Be Authentic in who you are, which will be reflected within your company.
•  Embrace Your Uniqueness and allow you light to shine
• Understand that as you go your company goes
• Take inventory of those things that may be zapping your energy and focus
• Take action to add or eliminate things in your life that will help provide the energy needed to let you light shine.

Show Objectives

Today is the season 3 finale of Better Your 4U An Entrepreneurs Journey. We are going to review 2020 along with the topics that we covered in season 3.

 1. What’s Holding You Back – Discovering and Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-what-s-holding-you-back-james-bryant

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/2-what-s-holding-you-back-james-bryant

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/3-what-s-holding-you-back-james-bryant

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/4-what-s-holding-you-back-james-bryant

2.             The Company that you keep

Give Yourself Permission to Grow

Give Your Family and Friends the Permission to stay where they are

Surround yourself with people who challenge you to be greater today than you were yesterday. People who love you and accept you for who you are. People who want what you want not just what they want for you.

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-the-company-that-you-keep-james-bryant

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/4-the-company-that-you-keep-james-bryant

 3.   Why your Why Matters

• Identify your unique WHY
• Develop You WHY Statement
• Clarify Your WHY
• Unleash Your Unique WHY on the World

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-why-your-why-matters-james-bryant

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/2-why-your-why-matters-james-bryant

4.             The power of Gratitude

Interview with Jerome Myers

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-the-power-of-gratitude-james-bryant

Interview the Debbee Jeter

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/2-the-power-of-gratitude-james-bryant

Interview with Sonny Smith

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/3-the-power-of-gratitude-james-bryant

5. Taking Advantage of What Today has to Offer

• See Past Your Current Circumstances
• Prepare to adapt
• Become more Customer Centric, focusing on the problems you can solve for your customers not on the problems that your business is facing.
• Take A Look within (Personally and Within Your Business)

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-taking-what-today-has-to-offer-james-bryant

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/2-taking-what-today-has-to-offer-james-bryant

6.             Focused on Business Growth

Today’s discussion is more focused on the business side of your business and the steps that you can take as an executive to grow your company. Let’s get growing!

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-focused-on-business-growth-james-bryant

 7.  Planning for Growth in 2021 – A Statement Not a Question

This show was provided a framework to help you develop your company’s growth plan for 2021 and beyond. We discussed some general growth strategies, the key elements of a business grow plan, and take a closer look at developing a rolling annual marketing plan.

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-planning-for-growth-james-bryant

8.             Let Your Light Shine

There are many possible things that can hinder our ability to fully shine our light including doubt, limiting beliefs, fatigue, physical fitness, lack of sleep, worry, lack of self-acceptance. Your state impacts that state of your business. If your light is dimmed, then that has an impact on your business as well. The objective of todays show is to empower you with the tools that you need to recharge, refocus, and let you light shine. You are an important part of this world. Your business has an important role to play in someone’s life. You and your business are here to make a difference!

Podcast episode will be posted here – https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/

IBGR Community – Better You 4U Mentoring Group

Sign-Up and Join the Group

https://ibgr.community/group/better-you-4u-with-james-bryant

Written by James W. Bryant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/)

Let Your Light Shine

The objective of today’s show is to provide an overview of the conversations that we are going to have in Season 4. The context of the season’s shows is all about building your community. Your community of customers and brand ambassadors will help you expand the impact of your business and grow your profits. This show talks about my journey as an entrepreneur and the topics that we are covering in this season are topics and issues that I have recently or am currently implementing in my business. You will get a real-time view of putting these tools into practice as we take this journey together.

 Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

There is no question that you have to continue to pursue growing your sales, managing your expenses and increasing your profit. Building a community takes time but can be one of the most profitable ways for you to increase your customer base and your profits.

1.    Growing Your Customer Base

2.    Developing Your customer relationships

3.    Keys to successful customer engagement

4.    Your support Network

 What You Need to Know - The What

 1.    Season 4 Overview – Building Your Community

2.    Trust the Power of Relationships

3.    Know Your Customer

4.    Developing Your offer – What problem are you solving

5.    Designing the Customer Journey

6.    Packaging Your Promise

7.    Delivering Your Promise

8.    Experience is the best teacher

9.    The importance of your Call to Action

10. Building Your Brand is just the start – How will people find you?

11. Customer Referrals – Why You are not getting the results you want

12. My website has traffic but no sales or leads, what’s next?

13. Season 4 Wrap-up Understanding our customer, their problems and how we solve them.

 What You Need to Do - The How

Note the topics that you are interested in. Set your calendar, listen and apply!

1.    Build your Community

2.    JOIN the IBGR Community

3.    DOWNLOAD the IBGR Growth App

4.    Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/

5.    Interact with us!

Shows

Previous: 2020 in Rearview :https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-2020-in-rearview-james-bryant

Next: Trust the Power of Relationships – Leveraging the power of you

James W Bryant

I am extremely motivated to make a positive impact on the world by helping people strengthen their inner hero. I believe the many people settle for mediocrity, and are unaware of the greatness that lies within. It is my honor to help you realize your potential so that you can achieve everything you desire overcoming any and every obstacle along the way.

Facebook:       https://www.facebook.com/BetterYou4U

Instagram:           https://www.instagram.com/betteryou4u/

LinkedIn:           https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Let Your Light Shine

The context of the season’s shows is all about building your community. Your community of customers and brand ambassadors will help you expand the impact of your business and grow your profits. The objective today’s show is to discuss trust and its role in building the relationships that you need in order to create the community that will power your business to the next level of growth. At the end of our time together today you will have an understanding of the essential elements for building and leveraging trust to build community capitol.

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

If you are in the process of building or attracting your community, know that success does not happen overnight. Building anything takes time and you want to make sure that you have a solid foundation before you start. If you have an existing community then you will understand all the more how to leverage the trust that you have built to continue to expand your community and to covert community members into raving fans of your products and services.

• Relationships are built on Trust
• Trust is built on reliability and consistency
• Trust is built over time but can be lost in instant
• What happens after the sale it almost as important as what lead to the sale.

What You Need to Know - The What

One of the key goals in building a community is to increase your ability to help your customers. Did you know that for the average business there is a 5 to 20% conversion rate that cold prospects will become paying customer? The conversion rate on selling that same product or service to existing customers is 60-70%! It is easier to sell to your existing customers then it is to acquire new customers. This is what you want to build a community around your company, products or brand! 

• The building blocks of trust
• You attract who you are, not just who you project
• Every interaction trains your customers in what to expect
• Communication is about more than words or intent – What is the response

 What You Need to Do - The How

• Understand the difference between customer service and customer experience
• Consider the customer experience and design every interaction with that experience in mind.
• Develop avenues of entry to introduce your potential customers to your company
• Build your audience by continuously providing value
• Build a Trustworthy brand

Note the topics that you are interested in. Set your calendar, listen and apply!

1. Use this link to get the show notes directly to your inbox: https://link.betteryou4u.com/shownotes
2. JOIN the IBGR Community
3.  DOWNLOAD the IBGR Growth App
4. Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/
5. Interact with us!

Shows

Previous: Season 4 Overview – Building Community

Next: Know Your Customer

 Facebook:      https://www.facebook.com/BetterYou4U

Instagram:           https://www.instagram.com/betteryou4u/

LinkedIn:           https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Welcome to week three of our journey into building a community! The context of this seasons episodes is building the community that you need to grow your business. Companies and brands speak to your potential customers everyday and you have to find a way to cut through the noise so that your company’s message can be heard. You have to learn to speak the language of your customer and to package your information in a way that they will find appealing. Developing the right message is more than a marketing strategy. 

Episode Objectives - The Why

Understanding your customer’s needs plays an important role in keeping your company and your products relevant in your market. This is true for both your current customer base and your potential customers. Your company, product or service must be positioned to meet the needs of your target customer. If you do not know who you target customer is, then how do you know what products to offer. The objective this episode is to provide you with tools and resources needed to help you better define and understand your target customer.  

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

Who is your customer? This is one of the essential questions that you have to answer as a business owner. This helps you better target your products. Knowing Your Target Customer impacts everything that you do.

• You cannot serve everyone
• You don’t sell products or services, you solve problems.
• See your product through the eyes of the customer

What You Need to Know - The What

• Your Costumer is not the same as your audience
• What is an ideal customer avatar?
• Tools that you can use to help you identify their needs.
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• The Elements of Value

https://media.bain.com/elements-of-value/

https://hbr.org/2016/09/the-elements-of-value

What You Need to Do - The How

Create or Update your Ideal Customer Avatar

Structured Active Listening with Current Customer base or sessions with customers who fit your ideal avatar profile.

Innovation Session with you team – Harness the power of collective wisdom. Work with your team members and have session where you can gather your ideas on the problems that you are solving for your customers

Test your assumptions

1. Use this link to get the show notes directly to your inbox: https://link.betteryou4u.com/shownotes
2. JOIN the IBGR Community
3.  DOWNLOAD the IBGR Growth App
4. Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/

For there to be a solution there first must be a problem. Many businesses fail to clearly define the problem that they are solving for their customers. Businesses are great at talking about the technical capabilities of their products and services, but people do not buy technical capabilities. People buy solutions to their real or perceived problems. When developing a product or thinking through how you want to market or launch your product, answering this one question from the perspective of your customer is critical: “What problem does this product of service solve?”.

Episode Objectives - The Why

Over the past 3 weeks we have talked about the importance of building a community around your company, brand, or your unique ideas.  A community is important because it allows you to engage with your potential customers, testing products and concepts, to build trust, and to add value. Last week we spent time talking about getting to know you customer. This week takes an more in depth look at positioning your product as the solution to your customer’s problem. You thought you just sold products and services but in reality, you sell solutions! At the end of the time together today you will have a framework to develop and position your offer as the solution to your customer’s problem.

 Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

You are in the business of selling solutions.

Your revenue growth is directly tied to your ability to meet your target customer’s needs.

The way your product is positioned can change its perceived value.

What You Need to Know - The What

Know Your Customer

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-know-your-customer-james-bryant

The Elements of Value (Discussed in Episode 3)

https://media.bain.com/elements-of-value/

https://hbr.org/2016/09/the-elements-of-value

Have a clear understanding on what your customer’s needs are.

Understand what your customer values.

Position your offer as the solution to their problem.

What You Need to Do - The How

Formula for developing a compelling offer:

Compelling Offer = The right audience + The Right solution + The right time + The right price

1.    You need to sell what people what to buy.

2.    Market it to the right people at the right time

3.    Make you offer compelling.

 Speak the language on your intended customer – Cut right through the noise.

Learn to hear the wants behind the words. – Action Speaks louder than words

 Invite your customers into a story. Or Invite your customers on a journey. People buy products that solve their problems, from people that the know, like and trust. The relationship that you build along the way is an important factor in this journey. Do not simply sell our knowledge was the solution invite the customers on a journey to the solution.

Key Questions to Consider When Designing Your offer

What are you selling? Not what is the product but what solution are you selling?

Who is your ideal customer for this product?

What will cause this customer to take immediate action on this offer?

At what price point?

 Focus on Solutions!

What problem does this product solve for your customer?

What life transformation will this solution bring?

 Removing Obstacles

What obstacles are getting in the way of your customer purchasing the offer?

What are the objections?

How can you use these objections to talk about the benefits of your product?

Creating Urgency

Why should this customer buy this product now, today?

What value can you add to make this offer more compelling and time sensitive?

1.    Use this link to get the show notes directly to your inbox: https://link.betteryou4u.com/shownotes

2.    JOIN My Mentoring Group in the  IBGR Community

3.    DOWNLOAD the IBGR Growth App

4.    Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/

The focus of this season has been on building a community. At this point we have discussed identifying your customer, their pain points and how your product provides a solution to their specific problem. You have done the hard work of designing your offer and now it is time to take your customers on a journey from awareness to action. The objective of this week is to provide the key elements and the steps needed to design your customer’s journey.

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• A great offer is not enough you have to take your customer on a journey
• Your customer journey creates a pipeline of qualified leads
• Qualified leads streamlines your sales process

What You Need to Know - The What

Sales Funnels: A sales funnel is a step-by-step process that allows you to bring your potential customer from awareness to buying your product. It is a fundamental way for any business to model their marketing and sales systems to work together to first connect with a lead and then convert that prospect into a customer. There are several elements to a well-defined funnel but at a minimum they have to include:

Top of funnel: Lead generation phase. Increase brand awareness and attract potential customers.

Awareness & Problem Recognition

Interest & Information Search

Middle of Funnel: Information Phase where you are providing more information to help the customer make their decision.

Consideration & Evaluation

Intent & Commitment

Bottom of the Funnel: Emphasis is on a great customer experience (not just customer service). You are not just converting a qualified lead into a customer. You are converting a paying customer into a raving fan.

Conversion & Purchase

Loyalty & Advocacy

Previous Podcast Episodes that may be useful

Know Your Customer

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-know-your-customer-james-bryant

Developing Your Offer: What Problem Are You solving

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-developing-your-offer-james-bryant

What You Need to Do - The How

• Design a container for your customer
• Concisely define your customer journey
• Invite your customer on the journey
• Ethically lead your customer along the journey
• Show your customer the promise of your product

Links and Resources

 1.    Use this link to get the show notes directly to your inbox: https://link.betteryou4u.com/shownotes

2.    JOIN My Mentoring Group in the IBGR Community

3.    DOWNLOAD the IBGR Growth App

4.    Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/

INTRODUCTION

How much stock do you put into appearances? We have all had situations where we were turned off by how something is put together or how something looks. There have been times when we were proven wrong and the “hole in the wall” restaurant had the best food that we have ever tasted. In those instances where we overcame our initial objection there is usually something that is compelling us to push past the initial reaction to the appearance. Your customers have their preferences in colors, shapes, and the types of photographs that they respond positively to. Do you really want to make your customers push past an additional set of negative objections to find out that your product is the solution that they need? 

Episode Objectives - The Why

There is a lot of noise in the marketplace and your offer must be packaged in a way to be heard above the noise. You have the right product, you have the customer journey mapped out, now you must package it. You are in the business of solving problems. The objective of this episode is to provide you with the framework that you need to package your products and services to increase the number of clients that you serve, not just the number of customers that purchase your products. 

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• A great product means nothing if it is not packaged right.
• Your Packaging is part of how you communicate to your customers.

What You Need to Know - The What

1. Customers vs clients

2. The definition of Packaging - What are you talking about?

• Physical Products
• Digital Products
• Services

3. Packaging is not just Physical. 

•  The Psychology in packaging design
• The role that packaging plays in the customer experience.

4. Packaging the promise of your brand/product extends past the initial sale.

What You Need to Do - The How

1. Review your product and how the solution is framed through the eyes of the target customer.

2. Consider the design elements of every step of your customer journey.

• Do your customers respond better to simple text emails?
• What types of pictures does your idea customer respond best to?
• What type of social media posts resonate most with your idea customer?

3. Connect your how your product is packaged with the emotional response that you want from your idea customer.

• Physical Products – The look, feel, texture, color, the internal packaging, the functionality all make a connection on the emotional level with your customer. Understand that connection and keep your brand top of mind to create repeat customers.
•  Digital Products and Services – The look, the feel, the color, the font, the ease of access, ease of use and how you follow-up all play a role in creating a dynamic and well received customer experience. The customer’s experience is glue that makes your product, your brand sticky to that customer and will keep you top of mind. All these elements are designed to make a deeper emotional connection with your customers.

4. The Journey is set. The product of promise of your product is packaged. Now you must deliver on your promise (tune it next week for more) 

 Links and Resources

LinkedIn:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Business Made Simple:  https://www.hireacoach.com/James-Bryant

https://www.businessmadesimple.com

You teach your customers what to expect by your interaction with them throughout the entire customer journey. Satisfied customers are more likely to be repeat customers and will often help to promote your brand. We have stated several times in the past few weeks that you are not just in the business of selling products. You are in the business of solving solutions to your customer’s problems. Does your product and your brand deliver on its’ promises? The objective of this episode is to reinforce why delivering on your promise is so important and to provide a framework for you to identify, monitor, exceed and adjust your promises. 

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• The promises you make create your customers’ expectations.
• The promise of your brand must be part of your entire organization. 
• One of the most important components of delivering on your Promise happens after the product is sold.

What You Need to Know - The What

1. Making a Promise

• a. Stated Promises.
• b. Unstated Promises

2. Keeping Promises

• a. Internal
• b. External

3. Actions Speak louder than words.

4. Applying Continuous Improvement Processes

What You Need to Do - The How

1. Time for a Promise Review (Internal)

• What is our overall brand promise? How is it affected by the promises we make every day?
• What promises are we making to our Employees/vendors/contractors?
• How are we tracking these promises?
• How do we know which ones we have fulfilled and which ones we have fallen short on?
• What do we do we realize that we have fallen short of making a promise?
• Are we living up to the promise of our brand throughout the product lifecycle?

2. Time for a Promise Review (External Customers)

• What is our overall brand promise? How is it affected by the promises we make every day?
• What promises are we making to our Customers?
• How are we tracking these promises?
• How do we know which ones we have fulfilled and which ones we have fallen short on?
• What do we do we realize that we have fallen short of making a promise?

3. Incorporate customer feedback and integrate changes into your processes. Be agile in your approach to evolve as needed.

4. Make changes in the products, the marketing materials to reflect any updates on products, services and promises.

5. Let the customers tell the story of their transformation.

 Links and Resources

1. More information on Business Made Simple

https://www.hireacoach.com/James-Bryant

https://www.businessmadesimple.com

2. Subscribe to the podcast: 

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com

Upcoming Events

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Webinars

LinkedIn:            https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Who is in the best position to talk about your product, your promise, and the transformation that it provides? Are you the best person to talk about your products and services? What if you had people who used your products tell the story of how your product changed their life!  The experiences of the people that use your products and services build a strong narrative about your brand. Today we are going to learn how to unleash your customer stories to talk about your products and services.

Episode Objectives - The Why

Using your real-life customers to tell their story is one of the most powerful tools you can use to connect with new potential customers. The objective of this episode is to equip you with the tools that you need to unleash the power of your customer’s stories. 

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• Customer engagement takes time and is worth the effort.
• The community that you build provides a foundation for future growth.
• Negative feedback is fuel for innovation.

What You Need to Know - The What

There are many ways to engage your customers. The tools that you use engage your customers will depend heavily on what you are trying to accomplish. 

1. What are you trying to accomplish?

• Product Testing
• Product Review
• Market research for new product
• Increasing sales
• Increasing clicks on website
• Increase traffic to website.
• Get more people into your sales funnel.

2. Sample Customer Engagement Tools

• Surveys
• Reviews
• Referrals
• Testimonials
• Customer Stories

3. The difference between a Testimonial and a Customer’s Story

 4. The elements of a customer’s story

 What You Need to Do - The How

1. Determine what type of customer engagement will work the best for your intended purpose. 

• What issue are you trying to address in your sales process?
• Are you trying to overcome a specific objection that a potential customer may have?
• Do you want to highlight your customer’s real-life transformation because of using your product?
• Feedback for new product development
• Feedback for further market penetration

2. Include points within your process to specifically ask for the type of feedback that you want.

• If you want your customers to provide a review, then you must insert that “ask” into your process. Maybe this is a follow-up email campaign a few days after the product is delivered.
• You can ask for Video reviews and offer some time of incentive for those customers that submit a timely review.
• Just having a reviews section on your website is not enough. You must make the “ask.”

3. Help you customer provide the type of feedback that you are looking for by structuring the right questions.

• If you are looking to build stories, then you must ask more than yes or no questions.
• Examples:

1. Describe how receiving the product in the mail make you feel?
2. What was your initial impression of the product?
3. You have a lot of choices on what you can purchase, why did you purchase this product?
4. Please choose one word to describe how using this product made you feel? Describe why you chose that word.

4. Find ways to use your customer stories in marketing materials.

• Website
• Emails
• Brochures
• Videos

 5. Always look to leverage what your customers have to say into ways to improve.

This is not just applicable to things that are under performing. You may find the feedback useful in identifying those things that you need to start doing more of.

Links and Resources

1. Webinars:

• Upcoming: https://link.betteryou4u.com/Webinars
• Webinar Replay: Your Leadership Language: https://link.betteryou4u.com/LLReplay

2. IBGR – Profit Radio

DOWNLOAD the IBGR Growth App

3. Subscribe to the podcast: 

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/

 LinkedIn:           https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Business Made Simple: 

 https://www.hireacoach.com/James-Bryant

https://www.businessmadesimple.com

People that show up to your website or receive your emails are looking for the action that you want them to take. Too many Calls to Action (CTAs) confuse your potential customers. Too CTAs will not generate the revenue that you want to grow your business. You have to be clear in the actions that you want people to take or you may lose your opportunity to build the community that you need to create the business or your dreams. The objective of this episode is provide you with the guidance that you need to write better CTAs that will help grow your business. 

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• If you don’t ask they will not take action
• You need to be clear on the actions that you want people to take
• People scan first then read your marketing materials

What You Need to Know - The What

1. What is a call to action (CTA)?

A statement that directs your target customer to do something. 

2. The 2 Types of CTAs

• Indirect (Transitional) and Direct

3. The most common form of CTAs:

• Web page buttons
• Opt-in Campaigns (pop-ups, quizzes, etc)
• Linked Anchor text in blogs, social media posts, and online documents
• Email buttons
• Written Text is hard copy forms/documents

What You Need to Do - The How

1. Before you start, make sure that your CTAs fit in nicely with your customer journey. 

Your CTAs are part of your overall customer journey. You want each CTA to move your prospect into a happy paying repeat customer.

2. Start Your CTA with a Strong Action Verb

You want to get straight to the point. Why should I take action and what action should I take? The CTA has to be able to answer these questions almost immediately.

3. Use words that have an emotional pull

Use words that elicit a strong emotional response and create enthusiasm for your product. You want to excite you customer with the action they are about to take. You can use punctuation marks for added excited. The entire CTA should elicit this response and this pairs well with showing the prospect what is in it for them.

4. Remind them of why they should take action

What is in it for them? This is the question that you CTA has to answer. Your CTA should be tied to your value proposition. This will give your audience an incentive to take action. 

• Save time
• Save money
• Create freedom
• Stress less
• Lose weight
• Gain control of your business

5. Make Your CTA Stand Out

It should be obvious by glancing at your materials where your CTA is. This may be a button on the website or a box on the document that is a different color and really draws the attention of the potential customer. 

6. Test, Refine and Test again

Once you have settled on your CTA start putting it to the test. Review the results and make changes as needed and then test it again. Keep working until you find the CTA that will deliver the desired results.

Links and Resources

1. Webinars: Upcoming Webinar

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Webinars

2. Webinar Recordings

• Defining Your Target Market - https://link.betteryou4u.com/targetmarket
• Identifying Your leadership Language - https://link.betteryou4u.com/LLReplay

3. IBGR – Profit Radio - DOWNLOAD the IBGR Growth App

4. Subscribe to the podcast:  https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/

James W Bryant - Helping you Succeed in Business and in Life

LinkedIn:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Business Made Simple: 

 https://www.hireacoach.com/James-Bryant

https://www.businessmadesimple.com

Brand management is not reserved for big corporations with large marketing budgets. The size of your marketing budget does not always correspond to the size of the impact of your brand. As a small business owner you want to amplify the impact of your brand to create instant recognition of the problem that you solve and the value that you bring. The objective of this episode is to level the playing field by providing you with budget friendly suggestions for to amplify your brand.

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• The power of your brand is experienced through your customers
• Branding is more that style, fonts, colors, pictures but it also includes your actions
• Our brand is not what we do but part of who we are

What You Need to Know - The What

1. You have at least two brands – Your personal brand and your Business Brand

• Personal Brand
• Business Brand

2. Your branding shows up everywhere you are 

• Website
• Emails
• Social Media
• Blog posts
• Reviews
• Comments

3. Your brand is impacted by everything that you do

• Positive Impacts
• Negative Impacts

4. Brand Evaluation

Brand evaluation refers to the measurement of the value of a brand using relevant indicators that assess the impact of the brand on customers/users. Brand evaluation includes both monetary considerations (i.e. brand value) and non-monetary considerations (i.e. brand strength and brand equity).

What You Need to Do - The How

1. Conduct a brand evaluation

• What does your brand stand for? What do you want your company to be known for?
• Talk to the source – Your customers are going to be a key source of information about the perception of your brand.
• Review your web and social media assets
• Review your sales data in the context of the customer journey
• External factors

2. Be consistent (Budget Friendly Solution)

• In your actions
• Do what you say you are going to do, when you said you were going to do it
• In the way you show-up on social media
• In the way you show-up in other venues
• If you have a style guide, then use it consistently
• If you do not have a style guide then develop one

3. Use the power of your community 

• Reviews
• Testimonials
• Referrals

Previous: Your Call To Action - https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-your-call-to-action-james-bryant

Next: Customer Referrals – Why You are not getting the results you want

Links and Resources

1. Upcoming Webinar

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Webinars

2. Webinar Recordings

• Defining Your Target Market - https://link.betteryou4u.com/targetmarket
• Identifying Your leadership Language - https://link.betteryou4u.com/LLReplay

3. IBGR – Season 5 Survey

https://www.ibgr.network/facebook-community.html or https://www.ibgr.network/linkedin-community.html):

4. Subscribe to the podcast:  https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/

James W Bryant - Helping you Succeed in Business and in Life

LinkedIn:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Business Made Simple: 

 https://www.hireacoach.com/James-Bryant

https://www.businessmadesimple.com?ref=jamesbryant1

Small Business Highlight: https://banowetzmarketing.com/

Marketing plays a key role in the growth of any business and this is certainly true of your business. Marketing helps to educate your target customer on who you are the products that you have to offer. You can have the best solution to a customer’s problem, only if the customer knows that you exist.  The use of referrals to grow your business is one of the most economical marketing strategies that you can employ.  

 Episode Objectives - The Why

There is a difference between knowing that something can be beneficial and proving its benefits through implementation. Word of mouth is still an effective marketing tool and people rely on the reviews or trusted word of a friend before making a purchase. You want to create a community of customers that are willing to spread the word about your products and services. What is the best way to get referrals for your business? This is one of the many questions that we will explore during our show today. The objective of today’s show is to provide tips for how you can use both customer and business to business referrals to grow your business.

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• Referrals are there, but you must ask.
• Referral marketing is a strategy
• Seek first to understand

What You Need to Know - The What

1. What is a referral? - 

A referral is defined as the act of telling someone about the positive features of a person or a business.

• Customer to Customer
• Business to Business
• Qualified Referrals

2. Why Referrals are not working for you? 

B2B

• You are part of a group but expect referrals to just happen automatically.
• Your are not asking the right kind of questions
• You are not clear on who you want referred
• Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up

Customer to Customer

• If You have not integrated a referral program of effort into your customer journey (the journey does not end after the sale of the product).

3. When, Where, and How to drive referrals. 

• Paid Networking Groups
• Networking Groups (If you can’t find one then create one)
• Speaking Engagement
• Community Activities
• Where you can add value. It is not just about who can be referred to you but who you can refer to others.

What You Need to Do - The How

1. Seek to refer and then be referred.

• Think of ways that you can add value to any community of group that you want to serve. 
• Work on understanding the needs and capabilities of businesses in your community.

2. Ask the right questions.

• Why did you start your business?
• What do you love most about it?
• Tell me a business achievement you’re proud of…
• What differentiates you from other that provide the same service?
• How would you like me to describe you to others?
• What goals do you have for your business?
• Tell me an interesting fact about yourself?
• Tell me the type of people that you are looking to be referred to you?

3. Be Clear on:

• What you have to offer and 
• The types of referrals that you are looking for

4. Integrate a referrals program into your post-sell customer journey and nurturing campaign. 

 Previous: Building Your Brand is Just the Start - https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-building-your-brand-is-just-the-start-james-bryant

Next: My website has traffic but no sales or leads, What’s next?

Links and Resources

1. Register for Next Webinar on April 7, 2021 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time

 The Art of Work-Life Balance: https://link.betteryou4u.com/balance

2. How to Become a More Effective Listener (Recording)

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Listening

3. IBGR – Season 5 Survey: https://www.ibgr.network/

James W Bryant - Helping you Succeed in Business and in Life

LinkedIn:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Business Made Simple: 

https://www.businessmadesimple.com?ref=jamesbryant1

You had to pivot your business practices to account for the impacts of COVID-19, the travel restrictions, stay at home orders, and limits on large gatherings. I do not think there was any industry that was untouched by this pandemic. Several companies were accelerated their plans for adding an online/e-commerce function to their business, which may have been the only way those companies survived. The consumer behavior over the past year almost necessitated that companies expand their online presence. One of the primary ways that companies maintain an online presence is through this website. It is easier than ever to purchase a domain name and go live with a website. A website is just a place holding place, a blank canvas, waiting for you to invite your customer into a story. What story do you want to tell? Who are you telling the story to?

Episode Objectives - The Why

The website you have may not be the website that you need to grow you into the future. There are many possible purposes for a website but today we want to focus in on a website designed and built for attracting and converting leads into clients. The objective of this episode is to provide an overview of the elements that must be considered when building a conversion focused website.

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• The Purpose of your website drives messaging
• Know Who you are trying to reach
• Noise only gets in the way – Stay Focused and Stay profitable 

 What You Need to Know - The What

1. Why did your build your website?

• Sell Products and Services
• Provide a platform for others to sell their products
• Reduce costs or other expenses related to marketing
• Build and Maintenance an online presence
• Showcase your authority
• Generate leads Nurture Sales
• Express Your Opinions (Blogging/newsletter)
• Build a Relationship with your Audience
• Generate Revenue (Make Money)

2. Know you numbers – Are you achieving your Website WHY? Communication is Key 

• How are you determining if your website is actually achieving what you set out to do?
• You need to pivot if you are not getting the results that you want
• Is your website, based on the response of your target audience, effectively communicating?

3. Focuses on what matters

Time for a website messaging audit

Test to see what your website is actually communicating. 

What You Need to Do - The How

 Focus on What Matters

• The controlling idea that on your website
• Tailoring your message for your audience
• Clearly state the problem that you are solving
• Design your product ladder as part of your customer journey.
• Make it easy for people to do business with you
• Give a glimpse of the transformation that your solution provides
• Make it easy 

Next: Season 4 Review: Putting All the Pieces together

Links and Resources

1. Register for Next Webinar on April 7, 2021 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time

 The Art of Work-Life Balance: https://link.betteryou4u.com/balance

2. How to Become a More Effective Listener (Recording)

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Listening

Dr. James W Bryant - Helping you Succeed in Business and in Life

James Bryant, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO of Better You 4U LLC, a boutique leadership training and peak performance coaching firm that serves key executives and business owners. James is a passionate leader that equips business owners with the tools run their business so that their business does not run their life. 

LinkedIn:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Business Made Simple: https://www.businessmadesimple.com?ref=jamesbryant1