trudy rankin

#160 - Trudy Rankin spent a year working on a client project before being told the project wasn’t going ahead and she wouldn’t be paid for the work she’d done.  She talks about leaving a toxic workplace, the dangers of being too reliant on one client and how she stayed motivated during a big business downturn.

What you'll learn

• [2:02] The downsides of a one-to-one business model.
• [3:11] The type of businesses that can benefit from improving their online presence.
• [5:47] What sparked Trudy’s interest in starting her own business.
• [9:28] What a Chief Information Officer does.
• [12:47] Becoming a project manager by accident.
• [16:05] How to know it’s time to shift from a career to starting your own business.
• [18:25] Why start a business instead of getting a new job.
• [20:16] What life is like when you first start a business.
• [23:08] How long it takes to feel comfortable in your new business.
• [24:55] The danger of being too reliant on one client.
• [30:07] The benefits of coworking spaces for networking.
• [31:28] How to stay motivated during business downturns.
• [34:08] How to build your marketing and sales skills.
• [35:32] Talking to your partner about your small business.
• [39:33] Helping more people start and grow online businesses.

Resources mentioned in this episode (some of these are affiliate links and we may get a commission in the event that you make a purchase - this helps us to cover our expenses and is at no additional cost to you):

• Smart Passive Income
• James Schramko podcast
• Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, Amy Porterfield podcast
• Sales Maven Podcast with Nikki Rausch
• Flipped Lifestyle podcast
• Profit First, Mike Michalowicz
• Traction, Gino Wickman
• Atomic Habits, James Clear
• Work Less, Make More, James Schramko
• Two exercises to help you find career happiness

For the show notes for this episode, including a full transcript and links to all the resources mentioned, visit:

https://changeworklife.com/the-year-that-nearly-killed-my-business-and-sent-me-back-to-a-job/

Re-assessing your career?  Know you need a change but don't really know where to start?  Check out these two exercises to start the journey of working out what career is right for you!

Take me to the exercises!

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We are continuing on with the theme of being in business for yourself.

In the last episode, we talked about how to know when it is time to switch jobs. 

If that hit home and you are thinking about trying to create your own online business or your own side hustle, I have some help here for you. 

Trudy Rankin, from Online Business Lift Off, is here to talk about how to get started and how to find the help you need to do it right the first time. 

A lot of people, me included, tend to freeze when starting something new because we don’t know where to start or who to ask for help.

This interview is going to help you.

You can follow this formula and start off correctly, and save yourself a lot of wasted time and energy.

Show Notes at: howtolife.com/104

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Have you been thinking about using paid ads to help build traffic to your website, so you can build your email list?  But you’re not sure how to get started?

Or maybe you have tried ads before, but so much has changed in the world of ads, especially with Facebook, that you’re not sure it’s still worth doing?

Today’s podcast episode features Oscar Garcia.  Oscar  has run online ads for the past 7 years.  And he’s used what he’s learned about ads to grow a business past the half million dollar mark in less than a year.  He did it by successfully running ads to a $27 offer that still currently works today - despite all the targeting and privacy changes that are happening.  

And Oscar is also the host of the OMG! Show, which is a podcast that helps business owners run profitable, paid traffic funnels

In this episode we talk about:

• Oscar’s journey to a successful business, which included doing something not many people do, when they get their first client
• What he did when he discovered that his marketing degree had not prepared him for real life marketing
• Starting his own agency and successfully growing it
• The strategy Oscar discovered for running profitable low ticket offers
• Why your audience size for Facebook matters even more, thanks to recent changes
• Advice on how long to test ads before switching them up
• The process Oscar uses to optimise his ads
• Why knowing your numbers is so important
• What to have on your sales page to maximise conversions
• Tips for planning your numbers baseline
• Why an upsell is like a slice of cheesecake
• Tips around bumps, bonuses and upsells
• And more …

There is a lot of really useful information here.  So if you’re interested in using ads to grow your email list, have a listen.  You’ll be glad you did.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Having great copy for your website, your sales pages, your emails and your ads is super important for getting people to buy from you … whether you’re simply asking them to trade their email address for a digital download, or asking them to pull out their wallet and purchase something.

The tough reality is that writing great copy that converts is a skill that can take a long time to get good at.  It’s all about practice, practice, practice.

Fortunately, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.  There are some great frameworks out there that can help you learn how to write great copy a lot faster.

In this episode, I talk with Meredith Kallaher, a conversion copywriting expert.  We talked about:

• The conversion copywriting framework that she uses and how it will make things so much easier, not just once, not just twice, but lots
• Why you need to make your customer the hero, not you.  
• Shortcuts you can use to get your copy done more quickly
• The 3-step process that Meredith uses to create and optimise her conversion copy (spoiler alert, it involves testing)
• Why knowing your numbers is so important (and why you shouldn’t let your Google Analytics dashboard scare you away from tracking your numbers

If you’re wanting better copy that converts, this podcast episode is full of tips and techniques you can use to help you get that copy.

So, if you’re interested, have a listen.  You’ll be glad you did.

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• Keyword stuffing … what’s okay and what’s not
• Which should come first, your Google Business Profile or your website?
• What kind of photos to add to your profile
• Whether you should have a Google Business Profile if you’re an online business
• Why getting reviews is so important
• How to deal with it when people give you bad reviews
• Ways of asking for reviews
• Advice re posting events on your Google Business Profile
• The number 1 thing you should do that will increase your Google Business Profile impact
• What if you want to have more than one profile?
• Other online places where people can find your business, that you should be claiming
• How to do with overwhelm when it comes to building your Google Business Profile
• Why you really, really, really need to claim your Google Business Profile

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In today’s podcast, Business and Transformation Coach, Benjamin Yeh, returns to give us Part 2 of his framework for how to start removing the barriers that stop us from achieving the success we want.

We talk about:

• The 3 things that surround us that we need to pay attention to as we work on breaking down barriers
• How gardening and community relate to what we’re talking about
• Why personality matters when building a business and in breaking down barriers
• Is it possible to leave out one of the 3 components and still get results?
• What can happen when, in doing all this barrier breaking, your worldview gets shaken
• How an old Sony Discman helped Benjamin create a winning mindset
• How training as a runner (even if you hate running) makes a great analogy
• Benjamin’s 5WG framework that’s been the secret to his success

If that sounds like it would be interesting, have a listen. And then apply the principles Benjamin shares to your own situation. You’ll be glad you did.

Want regular access to tips, techniques and advice from experts about growing your business?  Sign up here. 

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As hard-working entrepreneurs and business owners, we can sometimes be our own worst enemies. More often we just get in our own way.

And we subconsciously stop ourselves from achieving the success we really DO want.
Maybe we get so busy that we forget to look after our mental or physical health. Or we don’t examine the “unspoken rules” we learned as a child to see if they are still relevant to us today.

Or it could be a mindset that limits what’s possible. Maybe it’s that voice in your head that’s always telling you you’re not worthy. Or asking you how you could possibly think you were expert enough to help others.

Or maybe we’re simply refusing to give ourselves permission to really shine.

So many things!

And in today’s podcast, I’ve asked Business and Transformation Coach, Benjamin Yeh, to join me on the podcast and share his wisdom about how to start removing those barriers.

Benjamin also shares a bit about his own journey as an entrepreneur and why words matter when it comes to beating down barriers and changing mindset.

If that sounds like it would be interesting, have a listen. And then apply the principles Benjamin shares to your own situation. You’ll be glad you did.

Want regular access to tips, techniques and advice from experts about growing your business?  Sign up here. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• Dan’s definition of what “viral” actually means
• Whether it’s worth having a YouTube channel if you never want to be “popular”
• Why a video he made went viral after Anne Hathaway discovered the impact of her role in “Witches” and shared it.
• Why have an “About Me” page video is a really good idea
• How to use YouTube with purpose … when you DON’T want to be famous
• Why your YouTube channel analytics really matter
• What makes a good thumbnail
• And how to AB test thumbnails for free
• Working with YouTube’s search engine algorithm

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• There is a time and place for niching down and it's NOT at the start of your business - [00:06:20]
• Who her ideal client is and why she chooses them - [00:07:56]
• What an OBM is - [00:11:12]
• The difference between an office manager and an OBM - [00:12:52]
• Steph’s light bulb moment when defining her niche and business focus - [00:16:30]
• Key values and making time for family - [00:21:14]
• The myth of the superwoman who can do everything - [00:26:30]
• Plans for future growth and how to make that happen - [00:27:16]
• Why business owners don't get the most out of their tech tools - [00:30:37]
• A second lightbulb moment when the answer to the Superwoman problem became clear for Steph…and how it could become clear for you, too - [00:31:57]
• Working out how to pay for outsourcing help - [00:33:15]

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• The differences between Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and now Web 3.0
• How we have to think different about money, just like we did when we moved from paper money to debit cards and what the Wild West has to do with it all
• What blockchain is and how it’s the cornerstone for changing how we look at proving ownership of digital assets like NFTs
• Cryptocurrency and smart wallets and where to go to learn more about getting started using these things in real life
• What it could mean for small businesses … especially artists.

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• How Graeme decided to learn something new and then start another business after successfully running 3 businesses (and closing down 2 of them)

• Our new project we have coming up where Graeme and I will take an experimental website (that has been languishing from lack of attention) and seeing whether an SEO audit and action plan can make a difference to traffic numbers

• How SEO and inbound marketing are like a pizza … one part without the other parts are pointless and messy

• Graeme shares his top 3 things you should be doing with SEO to help people find you when they search on Google

• If thinking about Google Analytics makes you want to run away, Graeme’s recommendations for ignoring 99% of what’s in your analytics and only focus on organic search … and why … will make your day

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• How long it took him to go from worst to best … and what he had to do to get there
• How he moved from trading hours for dollars and what made him finally decide to get out of that particular way of dancing the rat race
• Milestones along the way as he and his business partner have built their businesses from scratch into one that generates more than $1 million dollars a year in revenue
• Why lifelong learning has been such an important part of that journey and why pushing yourself to learn new things should matter to you, too.

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