Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

December Pop Culture Round Up

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December Pop Culture Round Up‘Tis the Season to consume pop culture! The holidays means festive movies, time to catch up on TV shows, binge new things with family and maybe even read. (maybe). Here’s a few things that have kept me jolly this season…

Reading

I finally caught up with Ms. Marvel and as G. Willow Wilsons run with Kamala wraps up I am sad to see her go, but excited for what the new writer has in store for Kamala.

I also caught up on Nancy Drew – a great comic series by one of my favorite writers, Kelly Thompson (also a Portland author – huzzah!). This take on Nancy Drew was really fun and brought her original sensibility and smarts to the 21st Century. Bonus – yay the Hardy Boys!

I head to a warm location for a week of vacation shortly and can’t WAIT to overload my suitcase with books to FINALLY get caught up!

Listening

December was the month of listening to a lot of crazy and new podcasts. A few weeks back my friend texted me about The Dream. And I devoured it in a week. The Dream is about networking marketing/direct sales/MLM/pyramid schemes – whatever you want to call them. I happen to have a lot of friends who are involved to varying degrees of success with this business model and this podcast was fascinating. The show is very one sided, but still I found it fascinating!

Then I read about Unerased which is a short podcast series (4 eps) about Conversion Therapy. It’s a topic I knew a little about but have been fascinated by how terrible it is. The final episode tells an incredible story…

Somehow I discovered Standoff, another short podcast series about Ruby Ridge. Earlier this year I watched a limited series about David Koresh and the Waco standoff. They start by referencing what happened at Ruby Ridge. I went to college in Spokane so was familiar with the white supremacy community but didn’t really know the details. This series told a story I knew bits and pieces of but finally learned a whole lot more, and what it means for us in 2018 and beyond.

Watching

Thanks to a sick day I watched the entire 2nd season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. And I loved it. I liked the first season but didn’t binge it. I think this is a binge series. You don’t need to watch them all in a day, but the more consistent you are I think it may lead to additional enjoyment.

I loved the mid-season finale of The Good Place and D’Arcy Carden deserves EVERY award for “Janet.” WOW.

The new Ellen Degeneres Netflix special is AWESOME. Perfect for the whole family (yes, grandma will laugh at Back that Ass Up) and very very funny. I hope she continues to tour and do more specials. The John Mulaney Kid Gorgeous special was also GREAT if you’re looking for another good comedy special.

Holiday Watching

Every year I watch White Christmas which I can almost completely recite. Friends may have not been aware of that on a recent viewing.

I always make sure to watch A Muppet Family Christmas – which you can only find on You Tube and A Muppet Christmas Carol. Both make my annual holiday must list.

This year while watching Love Actually I discovered that I actually don’t like the movie. I like the Pointer Sisters dance scene and that’s about it. These are the hot takes you come for, I know.

I also really enjoyed the Schitts Creek Christmas Special. The Paul Schaffer cameo was just what every holiday party needs!

Finally, I kept the John Legend & Chrissy Tiegen Christmas Special on repeat this year. It was so great. It had every 90’s TV trope and I LOVED IT!

What pop culture is keeping you sane this holiday season?

It’s Not Luck

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The other day I had a longer term client email that in the new year it’s time for a break. That’s OK, it happens and it’s always good to see what’s working and what’s not in any business. Then at the end of the day I received an email from a potential referral partner saying they needed help with the EXACT same service of the client who’s leaving. I know what you’re thinking “wow, that’s amazing luck!”

No. It’s Not.

It’s a lot of hard work. Every time I wrap up with a project or finish with a client, even if I am thinking “crap that was a good chunk of money each month,” inevitably within a week or so someone pops up in my pipeline to replace them.

Every. Time.

After 7+ years in business I have discovered that by being consistent in my newsletters and following up regularly, the right people show up when they are ready and when the timing is right. For both of us. I’ve talked about scarcity before – it’s not a thing. If you’re consistent – networking, following up, engaging, good at what you do – in time the right clients will just start showing up and the wrong clients will take their exit.

It sounds just like magic. But it’s not. Its years of hard work, consistency, amazing referral sources and DOING THE WORK. I know that’s not a fun answer. I’m not lucky on a regular basis, I have built up systems and schedules that keep my sales pipeline healthy and active. And we all know the first thing I do…

Follow Up.

As usual when something like this happens I text my business coach, because we all need a cheerleader. Her response?

“THAT is what happens when you are consistent.”

Not Lucky.

Guest Post: The Same Goals Get the Same Results

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goal without plan is just wishToday’s guest post is from one of my favorite people, and my business coach, Debbie Page. Trust her wisdom, heed her advice, she’s the real deal folks. 

It’s the time of the year where e v e r y o n e is talking about goals. Asking if you’ve set ‘em, and what’s different than last year?

Do you ever find yourself with goal shame?

You’re not alone. Many of the people who I work with come to me with goal shame and fatigue. They’ve been setting the same goals again and again because they never hit their marks. Stuck in this cycle of set – not reach – repeat they are horrified at the thought of downsizing their goals. Because you just don’t do that, right? Wrong. You can. It’s your business. Downsizing a goal to the right size is a strategic business move.

As a business coach to women one of the first things I do with a new client is ask them how they set their goals for their business. Often times the answers start with, “I picked numbers that seemed reasonable.”

Ok, and then what? (Insert cricket sound here…)

Often underestimated by entrepreneurs is the fact that goal setting is a process that requires several hours of evaluation and projection. It is a process.

These are 3 ways to get your goals right this year:

  1. Gather your data – Gather it all. All your inquiries, where they came from, your conversions your sales cycle time, your average sale, your average revenue per sale. Each of these provide invaluable information for you to understand where you’ve been in order to determine where you are going.
  2. Look for inconsistencies in execution – What are your real marketing numbers? If networking was to be one of your initiatives to grow your business, how many events did you attend and how often. If you only attend when business is slow you will not get sustained results. Consistency in marketing is a critical factor in your success.
  3. Constantly measure, review and adjust when needed – time on your calendar must be scheduled to regularly adjust and modify as needed.

Goal setting for results is possible. It’s not necessary to repeat the same goals year after year hoping you’ll get a different result. To get something different you have to do something different.

If you are ready to do something different I have two resources for you to consider:

Request access to my 6 Days to Ultimate Business Success Challenge. A challenge where you will ultimately determine what you really want in business, how to navigate your business fears and take confident action, develop a higher money consciousness and how to pay yourself first.

Join my Free Facebook Group, The Women’s Business Profit Lab where you can find a library of nearly 50 video trainings as well as access to nearly 800 women business owners from around the world who share ideas and best practices on running and scaling their businesses.

About Debbie: I’ve been a business owner and entrepreneur for more than 22 years now…and yup – it freaks me out to say that – because in my mind I’m still 26…anyhoo. I might be like you. I’m an accidental entrepreneur.  I said yes to one opportunity, and then another. I’m the leading authority on cash flow and profitability for women in business and a systems and process nut and love teaching people how to leverage and scale their business.