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Talk less. Listen more.

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Talk less. Listen more.

I didn’t respond… but if I’m honest I really wanted to. I really wanted to say, ‘Um, no…. you can’t add me to your mailing list and you can’t send me information about your business…. because I never asked you for it.’

And it made me realise how many businesses make mistakes like this. Assuming that people want to hear. Shouting about their latest product or service to everyone and anyone. Ramming things down people’s throats. And guess what happens? We actively ignore them. In fact, if you’re anything like me, you actually put a metaphorical black mark next to their name.

It’s what Seth Godin calls Permission Marketing.

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Understanding the seasons of yes and no

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Understanding the seasons of yes and no

Here’s what I know to be true. For most entrepreneurs, there are seasons of yes and seasons of no.

There are times when it feels absolutely right to say yes. Yes to new collaborations, to new projects, to new clients. Yes to opportunities that sound exciting & fresh. Yes to new ideas & new connections.

And during that time, work feels exciting, energetic and effervescent. It feels like someone has cranked up the dial on your business’s magnetism & new stuff is literally flying your way.

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The secret to easier sales

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The secret to easier sales

I’m not going to lie. For the first year or so in my business, selling felt HARD. I’d jump on a call with a potential client, chat for 25 minutes (recognising that they would really benefit from working with me) but in the last 5 minutes, I’d squirm around and struggle to know how to find the words to actually make the sale.

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What do you want to be known for ?

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What do you want to be known for ?

People (read: your dream clients/customers) don’t want to choose from a glut of generic, cookie cutter businesses. They want someone who is insanely passionate about fixing the problem they have. Someone who has dedicated themselves to becoming an expert in that one area.

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Knowing your why is a game changer

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Knowing your why is a game changer

Here’s the thing: Figuring out your why isn’t easy. It’s not just a case of reverse engineering and coming up with something that would look good on a bumper sticker.

But holy smokes, once you’ve nailed it? Once you’ve connected to your why? Powerful stuff happens. I could talk all day about the benefits of knowing your why and infusing it into your business. But I want to touch on just one area today, aligning your business to your why, and using it as a compass moving forwards.

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What do you want to be undeniably good at?

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What do you want to be undeniably good at?

I didn’t go to university. Well, I guess I did, but only for 8 weeks, and then I decided it wasn’t a good fit for me & left for another adventure.

I look back at that decision now and am pretty stoked with it. Proud, in fact, that at age 18 I was able to tune into my gut instincts and realise that I had made the wrong choice. I remember the 3 years that followed really well. The majority of my friends were off at uni studying and I was finding the balance between working 7 days a week for 6 months every summer (surf coaching, personal training & bartending ) with the freedom & adventure of jumping on a plane every winter with nothing more than a backpack, my surfboards and a pretty small chunk of cash to keep me going.

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What’s your secret sauce ?

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What’s your secret sauce ?

Often, when we present our work to the world (another way to describe branding), we get super fixated on how we should look. We think about what people would want to see (haha, this always makes me laugh…. who the hell are these people we think about ?!).

So we create a polished, professional brand and wait for people to come running.

But here’s the thing: I’ve yet to meet a human being who can relate to a super polished, professional, one-dimensional brand. They lack personality. And to be totally honest, those kinds of brands are pretty freaking boring.

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3 steps to becoming a smarter start-up

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3 steps to becoming a smarter start-up

I’ve written before about rigidity in business. And how it has the potential to seriously impact your entrepreneurial journey. But I also know that it can be a super tricky lesson to learn. We invest so much into our work, that it can feel impossible not to become attached to it.

But becoming attached to an idea can be dangerous. I’ve seen it happen time and time again (and I’ve been guilty of doing it myself !).