The Leveraged Business: Earn More, Work Less, Grow Faster
How do I Create a Brand, Get Clients, Earn My Worth, Work Productively, Deliver Differently, Grow to the Next Level? From start up to scaling up, on The Leveraged Business podcast we talk about smart moves for mindset, marketing and money success in building your consulting, coaching or other expert services business in the digital marketplace. If you’re a consultant, coach or other expert practitioner stuck in the highs and lows of client work, slammed with work, trading time for money and experiencing the revenue rollercoaster in your business, and you want insights and inspiration on how to earn more, work less and grow faster, then the Leveraged Business podcast is for you. Hosted by Dr Jay Allyson, CEO Belanda Consulting & Education Services, author of Leveraged Consulting in the Digital Age and founder of the iSuccess Business Academy, along with some awesome guests, the podcast aims to help you achieve true freedom and independent success working smarter not harder. We share how you can to build, market, grow and scale a professional services or agency business without drama, stress or overwhelm to help you gain competitive advantage, exit the revenue rollercoaster, reclaim your work-life balance and make an impact. To continue the conversation and be part of our online community, join us at facebook.com/groups/TheLeveragedLivingClub. And for all the resources and links that go with the show, hop over to LeveragedBusinessPodcast.com.
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107 Rising Resilient Series Guest Lily Woi on Conscious Self-Management
04/12/2024
107 Rising Resilient Series Guest Lily Woi on Conscious Self-Management
My rising resilient series guest today is Lily Woi, an executive coach, leadership expert, and culture change consultant. Lily is both a published author, and international speaker. She has been a contributor to Brainz Magazine and featured on Forbes. As an ex-corporate person and a business owner, Lily understands what it’s like to be constantly firefighting endless challenges, feeling overwhelmed and without the headspace to focus on the things that matter most to you. As entrepreneurs, making positive changes that drive real value often seems like an unattainable goal. Let’s face it, that feeling of constant anxiety and frustration sucks big time. So, Lily is on a mission to change the status quo by helping people develop conscious self management skills. She is uniquely qualified to share her experience and techniques to help shift emotional states and behaviours, unlock potential, and build resilience from the inside out. Lily has made remarkable strides in our coaching work together. Her resilience shines through in her work with executive clients, as well as in her dedication to provide effective culture change solutions for forward-thinking companies. If a shift towards greater calmness, confidence and courage is something you want to see for yourself, then tune into this interview. Tune in via .
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106 Rising Resilient Series Guest Mia Sindolic on Developing Intuitive Communication, Compassion and a Culture of Adventure
03/29/2024
106 Rising Resilient Series Guest Mia Sindolic on Developing Intuitive Communication, Compassion and a Culture of Adventure
Why are professionals burning out while they give the best of themselves to help others? Addressing this question is a key driver for my guest today, Mia Sindolic. After a career as a paediatric dentist, and later after moving continents and having to resume her career as a dental hygienist, her use of self-compassion to drive her entrepreneurship is admirable. When I met Mirjana (Mia) Sindolic a year ago for business coaching, she was a women filled with passion and determination for the vision of her business and the people she wanted to help. Now, the founder of a cutting-edge coaching program for dental hygienists that leans into teaching intuitive communication for her clients, her journey is one of innovation, commitment and adaptability. She has mastered the art of staying ahead in the fast-paced digital world, continuously evolving her strategies to meet changing practitioner demands. As the founder of Blue Light Horizon, her business serves dental health professionals, contributing to education, healthcare and well-being of patients, dental teams and the community. Mia seeks to break the curse of isolation and stress that health professionals face. She helps them with communication that takes them from chaos to calm, based on an intuitive and science-backed strategy that empowers patient relationships and makes people calmer, more energetic, and more resilient than ever. Based on the needs she saw in her industry, Mia created an online coaching program exclusively for dental hygienists, but has huge applicability for other professionals and business owners alike. Popular coaching topics include maximizing your impact, creating a positive environment that will help you maintain work-life balance, strategy for teams or organizations, and leading through change. So although Mia’s programs are specifically designed and developed for dental hygienist, there is lots to be learned for any seasoned professional or business owner who’s feeling a little overwhelmed, jaded or just weary of the day-to-day. The quote on Mia’s website page sums this up beautifully: "I often wonder if the bridge was always there, or if I was building it as I walked." Come tune in to my interview with this remarkable woman – you won’t just get nuggets of wisdom, you’ll be blown away inspired. Shownotes with all the links to listen to the interview or read as an article/transcript available at: where you can also find her very popular free eguide: 3 Communication Styles that Transform a Long Day into a Great Day.
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105 Rising Resilient Series with Guest Margo Mansfield on Emotional Mastery and Healing from Trauma
03/15/2024
105 Rising Resilient Series with Guest Margo Mansfield on Emotional Mastery and Healing from Trauma
In this episode, I interview Margo Mansfield, an internationally known speaker, master trainer, mentor, and organization development consultant. Margo is a leader in emotional mastery, helping individuals and companies transform the way they improve performance. She has spent the past 45 years specializing in the development of emotional literacy in the transformation of stress. She supports organisational leaders to excel by humanizing their approach using her 6-step breakthrough roadmap. Margo’s story is powerful. She’s overcome a tremendous critical car accident, a traumatic event that resulted in her going through numerous surgeries, a mental health crisis and recklessness, leading eventually to physical healing, spiritual growth, more formal education, contemplation, and life-changing decisions. In this episode, you’ll hear insights from her journey that enabled her to rise resilient and bring her gifts to both individual leaders and the business world. Margo is dedicated to bringing about transformation by helping people discover the secrets of becoming “secure under stress”. She’s a firm believer that people can learn to use stress as an experience of unleashing their greatest potential in ways that they never understood was possible. And, as a contribution to their health and well-being rather than at a cost. She works with individuals and business leaders to engineer organizational transformation through understanding personality differences and building skills to address those differences using her proprietary Reality Security Inventory. Deep trauma is not an uncommon experience, yet it is very individualised one for any of us. Margo’s personal evolution essentially built her business. When working with leaders and their team members who are facing a future of changes, known and unknown, that are wrought with stress, she says her gift to them is the magic of her combined knowledge and experience that fosters life-long skills. If you'd like to connect with Margo and explore her approaches, you can find her on LinkedIn or learn more about her work at mytransformingself.com. More in shownotes here: including Margo’s free Mindful Mastery video training.
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104 How to Use Positive Psychology to Build Self-Confidence and Achieve Career Goals - Interview with Life Coach Linda Lalicata
03/01/2024
104 How to Use Positive Psychology to Build Self-Confidence and Achieve Career Goals - Interview with Life Coach Linda Lalicata
As entrepreneurs, we're highly driven, we're committed to the impact that we have, we push ourselves. And we beat ourselves up a lot. It's what drives us, but it also can cause a lot of burnout and stress and anxiety when things don't go quite to plan. In our Rising Resilient interview, I spoke with life coach Linda Lalicata on spotting the signs that your life or career isn't where you want it to be, and getting the right support and accountability to work on the kind of personal growth and self-confidence that builds our resilience. Join us as we dive into the inspiring narrative of Linda Lalicata, a vibrant figure dedicated to guiding women to achieve career goals that bring professional and personal fulfilment. Linda brings to the table a unique blend of neuroscience, educational acumen, and coaching expertise to help her clients achieve their career and life goals. A staunch advocate for nurturing self-belief, self-confidence, and self-esteem, she has transformed her own experiences into a catalyst for change. As a teacher at Bronx Community College New York, she goes beyond academic issues, addressing the deeper struggles that hinder student success, proving her commitment to holistic development. From battling the shadows of self-doubt and her own family turmoil, Linda has emerged as a beacon of personal growth, her life a testament to the transformative impact of positive psychology and education. Linda doesn't just coach; she awakens her clients to their innate strengths and values, equipping them to navigate life's hurdles with openness, grace and determination. In our interview for this Rising Resilience series, we explore the essence of resilience through Linda's lens - what it signifies to her and the lives she touches. This episode is an invitation to those yearning to unlock their potential, to feel empowered, and to celebrate their innate talents, propelling them towards greater success. For those moved by Linda's story and eager to harness their inner confidence, the pathway to building career resilience awaits you. Visit our episode shownotes at to connect with Linda, and don't miss the opportunity to sign up for her complimentary Self-Confidence course.
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103 Rising Resilient Series Guest Melanie Hussell on Building Resilience through Courage and Self-Belief
02/16/2024
103 Rising Resilient Series Guest Melanie Hussell on Building Resilience through Courage and Self-Belief
My guest for Rising Resilient today is Melanie Hussell, founder and CEO of Melanie Hussell Communications. Melanie's brilliance is in helping business leaders create and deliver powerful presentations. Melanie’s story of resilience is inspiring to others venturing into the world of entrepreneurship. She started out in her business offering in-person Business English classes, then made the courageous decision to shift to online training and coaching, despite lacking technical and marketing skills. Investing in business coaching and with the help of done-for-you services, she’s created a comprehensive suite of online video-rich courses, a full Persuasive Presentations program, including feedback through the use of an AI app. An amazing transformation, both for herself and her clients who are just blown away working with Melanie. Her testimonials are just incredible. Melanie quickly pivoted to working more with senior executives who have a lot riding on their presentation skills and improved the consistency of her outreach, her marketing and the consistency of her follow up process. She started turning networking conversations into $5-15k coaching proposals with a 75% close rate, and made almost $25k revenue from 3 new 1:1 clients and 4 pre-sales from releasing an ‘essentials’ early splinter offer from the full program. However, while there are peaks where all her hard work comes to fruition, there are still many dips that Melanie has had to navigate, both in her mindset and in her marketing and sales… so rising resilient is an ongoing endeavour for her. In this second interview for the Rising Resilient series, Melanie shares her resilience journey and talks about how courage and self-belief have been the pillars for her as an entrepreneur, and how she channels this through to the clients she coaches too. Come join us. For more information, go to http://melaniehussell.com or find links on the episode show notes page at .
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102 Rising Resilient Series: Coping and Empowerment - Guest Interview with Dr Carmen Morrison
02/02/2024
102 Rising Resilient Series: Coping and Empowerment - Guest Interview with Dr Carmen Morrison
My first guest for this special podcast series Rising Resilient is Dr. Carmen Morrison. Specialization: Parenting, Brain Health, Relationships, Mind-Body Nutrition, she has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, an M.A. in Theology and M.A. in Education, and is a Certified Integrative Mental Health Practitioner. Carmen has been licensed as a psychologist for almost two decades and also set up an online dimension under the umbrella brand of Alli.health to reach more people who are ‘stuck’ and looking for the Ultimate Brain Reset – the so-called magic wand. In this interview, when you hear how she speaks about resilience and the neuroscience underneath it, bear in mind, she and her husband also run a significant non-profit operation working in developing countries afflicted by trauma. Her work is far-reaching, and highly impactful. Getting to know both Carmen and Bob as their business coach, I often wonder how they sustain such in-depth and demanding work. So I was very keen to get her on the show to talk about it with you. What I love about her mission – is that she LOVES coaching – maybe less so all the marketing and sales part of growing the business, but as her husband Bob often remarks in our business development sessions, Carmen comes alive and does her best work when she gets to come alongside you and help you discover ways to get unstuck. And that, for her, is one of the most thrilling things that empowers her. On their website alli.health – where you can find out more about the work - she explains this brilliantly: I love to take things that seem really complex and break them down into small pieces. I’m a certified brain health professional in addition to being a licensed psychologist. At Alli, I want to help people who don’t really need therapy, but just need help knowing how to take the next step. In her Rising Resilient interview here, you’ll want to listen in to her insights on coping and empowerment. She talks about resilience and how to work with your brain's hard-wiring in some very practical and profoundly helpful ways. As a non-profit and health care therapist, and as an entrepreneur, Carmen has made significant strides in her business, through resources, courses, and coaching, especially in creating user-friendly digital interfaces to complement and extend her clinic work. Her resilience is evident in her ability to navigate the highly competitive health industry while juggling the demands of a high potential non-profit in third-world countries. For more information, go to http://alli.health or find links on the episode show notes page at .
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101 Rising Resilient Series Intro - Principles and Practices for Building Entrepreneurial Resilience
01/19/2024
101 Rising Resilient Series Intro - Principles and Practices for Building Entrepreneurial Resilience
Resilience is the cornerstone upon which success is built. As entrepreneurs, we possess an unwavering commitment to making an impact in the world. We push ourselves relentlessly, working tirelessly to achieve our goals. But the burning question that often arises is how to sustain this level of commitment while navigating the myriad challenges life, work, and our careers throw at us. How do we avoid burnout and instead, thrive while continually rising resilient? This series is not just about hype or quick fixes; it's about serious discussions on the profound challenges and changes that every business builder faces. Join us as we embark on this enlightening journey with these extraordinary female entrepreneurs. For this first intro and overview episode, I kick off with a framing for rising resilient. I’m going to be talking about the Essence of Resilience, Resilience in Practice, and Entrepreneurial Resilience – is it any different than any other resilience in your life or work… Then we’ll turn to finding your resilience pillars… and what’s coming up in this unique series where you'll have the opportunity to hear from a diverse group of women entrepreneurs, each with her own perspective on resilience and success. Through their experiences, you'll discover how to navigate the turbulent waters of entrepreneurship while maintaining your sanity and endurance. Go to http://jayallyson.com/podcast/rising-resilient-overview/ for show notes and to get my free Rising Resilient Success Pillars cheat sheet.
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100 Fostering, Celebrating and Leveraging Success in Entrepreneur Resilience
12/22/2023
100 Fostering, Celebrating and Leveraging Success in Entrepreneur Resilience
It’s the 100th episode and three-year anniversary of the show. And we are celebrating. For 2024, we’re launching a fantastic new series for the podcast – all about one of the key cornerstones of success in business – resilience. I’ve been collaborating with a whole group of strong women entrepreneurs on this to put this together for you. In today’s episode, I set the scene for what entrepreneurial resilience means, what’s coming in guest contributions on the subject, and how to develop resilient practices that fuel and sustain your business success. Through a series of interviews with 14 of my amazing ACES business acceleration clients, we bring you a collection of inspiring and insightful ways you can foster, celebrate and leverage success in entrepreneurial resilience. There is so much passion, talent and commitment to the work they do, in reaching their respective audiences and being of true service. But importantly too is how they show up. Collectively, these business owners all have demonstrated an uncanny ability to deal with resilience, personally and/or in how they help their clients. And together they illustrate what “success” takes from many different and interesting and valuable angles, and different lenses that stem from their own journeys, as well as the work they do with clients. Rising Resilient is all about tackling challenges and change in your life and business with confidence, compassion and courage. A frequent theme that emerges in coaching small business owners is the rollercoaster journey of entrepreneurship. And the growth that happens is not solely because we put great marketing or sales strategies together. It’s the inner growth too, the mindset piece. Best way to ensure you don’t miss this exciting new series is to subscribe to the show. Please share too with all who could benefit from an uplifting listen. Happy holidays!
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099 Survive and Thrive in the Age of AI PART 3 How to Future Proof Your Online Courses
11/24/2023
099 Survive and Thrive in the Age of AI PART 3 How to Future Proof Your Online Courses
For the third part of this series focused on surviving and thriving in the age of AI, we address the proliferation of online courses created using Artificial Intelligence (AI), the impact of AI on education, our writing and digital literacy more broadly, and how you can future proof online courses that sell. AI technologies, and generative AI in particular, such as ChatGPT, has led to inevitable change in the labour market as well as the marketplace for online education. The increase in course production is leading to greater saturation and competition, which makes it more challenging than ever to stand out. The pressure is on more than ever to differentiate real education and transformation from information and knowledge delivery. In this episode, we will look at how to future proof your online courses, exploring how creating profitable e-learning courses is actually both easier and harder with AI, and how you can position yourself for success. Join me as we embark on an exploration of how AI is reshaping the very foundations of education, from the way courses are meticulously designed to how they are dynamically delivered to learners around the globe. The future of learning is being shaped by the boundless potential of AI, and I’m here to guide you through this transformative journey so you can position your offerings in a distinctive way to gain competitive advantage. This three-part series is a prelude to my forthcoming book, The AI Advantage - a short monograph to accompany the larger desk reference, Leveraged Consulting in the Digital Age. The aim is to highlight both possibilities and pitfalls of AI, which I hope will give you pointers to many of the genuine ways you can accelerate your own business’s profitability and growth. If you’d like an advanced copy and are happy to provide me with feedback and possibly a review when it’s published, go to to register your interest.
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098 Survive and Thrive in the Age of AI PART 2 Using AI Tools to Boost Sales and Marketing
11/10/2023
098 Survive and Thrive in the Age of AI PART 2 Using AI Tools to Boost Sales and Marketing
Whether you're a small startup or a large corporation, understanding the disruptive technologies of Artificial Intelligence and generative AI tools like ChatGPT and how they are infiltrating our world, is crucial for staying competitive in today's market. In this second part of 3, we unravel the transformative potential of AI in reshaping the way we market, sell, and engage with customers. We embark on a journey that uncovers the power of AI tools in redefining marketing campaigns, enhancing customer engagement, and propelling sales growth. From predictive analytics that decode consumer behaviour to the conversational prowess of AI-powered chatbots, businesses are experiencing a paradigm shift in their approach to marketing and sales. It's a digital revolution fuelled by data, and AI is at the helm of this transformative voyage. And I’ll be sharing use cases and specific AI software of how AI-powered solutions are enabling businesses to make marketing campaigns smarter, customer interactions more personalised, and sales processes more efficient. Prepare to be inspired by the possibilities that AI unlocks for businesses of all sizes. Grab an early peek at The AI Advantage, Jay Allyson’s forthcoming book, details in the show notes at .
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097 Survive and Thrive in the Age of AI - PART 1 Opportunities Limitations and Business Use Cases for AI and ChatGPT
10/27/2023
097 Survive and Thrive in the Age of AI - PART 1 Opportunities Limitations and Business Use Cases for AI and ChatGPT
There's no ignoring or denying the power of AI in business. It's an incredible way to help with many of the operational parts of running a business including content, copy, processes, customer support, and more. Those burying their head in the technical sand, will lose the AI competitive advantage. Over the next three episodes, you’ll get my leveraged business perspective on all things generative AI and how small businesses and entrepreneurs can use ChatGPT and other AI tools to get more done in less time without necessarily outsourcing or hiring anyone. Artificial intelligence is not going to replace you anytime soon. Because your business is all about leveraging YOU. Your energy, perceptiveness and insights are what makes you and your business stand out from an increasingly competitive marketplace and become seen, respected and successful. But AI and the likes of generative AI tools like ChatGPT for textual output and Midjourney for images, can take a big chunk of the heavy lifting off your desk. AI is more than just a buzzword; it's a strategic imperative for businesses of all sizes. It empowers organisations to tap into the wealth of data at their disposal, extracting valuable insights that drive innovation and competitiveness. From automating routine tasks to offering predictive analytics, AI has the potential to revolutionise business. There’s also a huge impact on the production of content, on the writing of copy, and on creation of courses, which we’ll look at in the later episodes. As we delve into the intricacies of AI in business, keep in mind that this is your gateway to understanding the limitless possibilities that AI presents. The world of entrepreneurship and consulting is on the cusp of a technological revolution, and by embracing AI-driven strategies, you're not only future-proofing your business but also positioning it for sustained growth and prosperity. In this first episode, we'll unravel the multifaceted world of AI applications, from customer service chatbots to data-driven marketing strategies. Then in parts 2 and 3 we’ll tackle more specifically the risks and returns of particular tools like ChatGPT to help you write content, copy and course materials. Join us as we explore how small businesses are leveraging AI to stay ahead in the ever-changing business landscape. You can find all the resources and links mentioned in the episode on the show notes page at .
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096 Harmonising Content and Copy to Drive Sales Across the Customer Journey
10/06/2023
096 Harmonising Content and Copy to Drive Sales Across the Customer Journey
When you're looking at content and copy in your marketing, have you ever really thought about the job each is doing to drive sales across the customer journey? Defining the purpose, audience and occasion for everything you communicate is super powerful for connecting with your target audience and building trust. Ever wondered what’s the difference between content and copy? And how to use them in harmony to build authentic and effective customer relationships? Now you might already be creating content in a very intentional way - see previous episodes 93 and 94 on elevating your content marketing - but in my experience many businesses (maybe MOST businesses in fact) are not necessarily getting leads and sales from all that effort - which is pretty demotivating to keep on doing it, right? The reason is that most businesses are not creating content in a way that drives the flywheel of their customer journey. There's very little copy running through all that content. Let me put that another way, most business are not following a strategy where their content loops back to what they're selling. And they're not creating a strong demand narrative to move people from consuming content to following you, engaging with you and taking action towards working with you. Instead of just posting content whenever you feel like it, think of your content and copy working in harmony to get people engaged, educated and then enrolled into your program or service. And you're in luck :-) This episode (and its accompanying blog article) is intended to help you do just that, so you can drive sales across the customer journey more effectively. Don't forget to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts via . And finally, if you're finding the content valuable, I'd very much appreciative if you' would leave me a review. (Because I get messages with lots of lovely feedback, but even better if you'd hop over to iTunes (Apple podcasts or wherever you listen) and write a review - a great rating and one sentence is plenty.)
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095 Ten Seasonal Living Strategies to Cope with the End of Summer Blues
09/22/2023
095 Ten Seasonal Living Strategies to Cope with the End of Summer Blues
If you’re feeling the end-of-summer blues, I hear you – I’m noticing my mood is lower than usual. It can be challenging with our social and work interactions to rise above it. The end-of-summer blues is a real thing. The change in temperature, light going from summer into fall (autumn) can affect us more than we realise. It marks the end of a season filled with warmth, sunshine, and outdoor activities and the start of shorter, darker days and more time indoors. As you might be feeling a little of this too, I thought I’d drop you an impromptu checklist to share some ideas on how to cope with the end of summer blues - prevention and treatment :-) Here are some strategies you can use to cope with the end of summer blues and transition smoothly into the new season. For those interested in understanding our 5 element personal archetypes and how to embrace seasonal living to feel good all year round, I fully recommend this six-week online program with practitioner mentor Jo Hafey.
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094 Elevate Your Content Marketing – Part 2 Best Content Planning Practices that Increase SEO, Drive Organic Traffic and Generate Targeted Leads
09/15/2023
094 Elevate Your Content Marketing – Part 2 Best Content Planning Practices that Increase SEO, Drive Organic Traffic and Generate Targeted Leads
In this second episode focusing on content marketing, we explore ways to elevate your content performance, moving onto the heavy lifting part, and that's to use content planning practices to increase organic traffic and generate targeted leads. Content planning is where we take the goals and objectives of your strategy, the why and the who, your aims and the intended audience to inform what types of content to create, how, where and when it should be published or posted. In part 1, I talked through the process of getting clear on your ideal client avatar, your message pillars, and your content platform choices. Now, it's time to get the process and logistics planned out, and start creating content. There’s a huge opportunity now with new AI tools like ChatGPT to produce content faster, have the technology do much of the heavy lifting for you. Assuming you have a relevant and compelling lead magnet, both updating and re-promoting existing content, and creating and publishing new content, will significantly increase your digital presence and visibility as well as drive organic website traffic and generate targeted leads. What we cover: Choosing what content to create and where to share it Repurposing and retargeting existing content to boost search rankings Using technology to create, automate and schedule content Best content creation practices for getting noticed in the ocean of internet material. How the efficacy of your content marketing plan can be tracked or measured. Download my free Content Hacks printable from the show notes at .
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093 Elevate Your Content Marketing - Part 1 Creating Customer Centric Content that Converts
09/01/2023
093 Elevate Your Content Marketing - Part 1 Creating Customer Centric Content that Converts
In this two-part series, we are tackling a very big area of our business development endeavours, and that is developing your content marketing strategy. There's a lot I want to share with you about creating content that converts, so I'm doing it in two parts. The focus for part 1 is about being strategic about content marketing, so you’re creating content that drives engagement and sales for your business, not just churning out content in the hope it gets attention and generates leads. Content's such a big part of our lives, and I'm not sure we're always strategic ourselves as consumers, but as business owners, the job of content can feel like a lot. So you want to be sure you're spending your time and energy doing the things that really make a difference in your business, hence the strategic part. With a content marketing strategy, sometimes people get a little bit lost, and they start to create their online presence and start pushing out a load of content without fully being mindful of what's working and what's not. Because when you come to create content to attract and build your audience, you need to be strategic and intentional about Elevate your content marketing from vision to execution • Navigate the pressure to get visible Think about content marketing across 7 dimensions of success Produce content your audience wants to devour Be consistent by showing up where you love to be Align your content with your audience’s questions Adapt to shifting market environments. For visuals, links and support, go to .
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092 Leveraging the Power of an ICA - Part 3 Using An Avatar to Improve Marketing Success with Customer Centric Content Planning and Resonant Copywriting
08/18/2023
092 Leveraging the Power of an ICA - Part 3 Using An Avatar to Improve Marketing Success with Customer Centric Content Planning and Resonant Copywriting
In this final part 3 of 3, we turn to using your ideal customer avatar (ICA) work to inform your content strategy and create customer centric content and copy. This helps align what you write about, when and where to write what, and how to connect and nurture your audience in a way that converts clicks to clients. We've already talked about an ICA as a key blueprint for your business and really started to build out relevant details that help you write or speak to a specific target audience in a way that truly resonates. Now, in this episode, you’ll learn how to harness that avatar for content planning and copywriting. And it's going to bridge us into my next planned topics where we’ll dive deeper into how you create content and write great copy, but looking at it from a more strategic angle. Using avatar driven marketing and sales strategies, and thinking about all your marketing from your ideal customer’s perspective, will help you understand more clearly what is the intention of each piece of content or copy, where it fits into the customer journey, and how to move people towards action. If you need help in this aspect of your business, book a strategy discovery call with Jay via http://jayallyson.com/contactme/ These calls are often transformational and will save you years spinning around with fuzzy marketing that doesn’t engage or connect with your ideal customers.
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091 Leveraging the Power of an ICA - Part 2 Creating a Buyer Persona as Your Ideal Customer Blueprint
08/04/2023
091 Leveraging the Power of an ICA - Part 2 Creating a Buyer Persona as Your Ideal Customer Blueprint
In the second of this two parter for defining your ideal customer avatar (ICA), we will walk through easy-to-use frameworks and an exercise to create your buyer persona. Whether you work with individuals or organisations, you’ll come away with clarity and confidence in who your ideal client is and how to find, connect and sell to them. Building a devoted, engaged following — as well as enlisting individuals in your offers — will be much simpler and a lot more enjoyable when you pinpoint precisely who your ideal clients are and what matters most to them. You’ll learn how to: • Identify your avatar clearly in order to attract and sign up more of your ideal clients (this advice applies to all business owners, whether they are just starting out or seasoned veterans) • Use these essential demographic and psychographic filters to identify and communicate with your best-fit prospects • Stay away from time-wasting traps and misunderstandings that are typical of avatar work and will make your outreach and marketing ineffective • Develop avatar-based marketing and sales methods that really cater to your target market to increase your self-assurance and success • ...and a lot more! To help you workshop your way through the ICA exercise to create a buyer persona, download the free step-by-step ICA worksheet, available in the show notes and .
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090 Leveraging the Power of an Ideal Client Avatar Part 1 What is an ICA and Why You Need to Define Your Ideal Customer
07/21/2023
090 Leveraging the Power of an Ideal Client Avatar Part 1 What is an ICA and Why You Need to Define Your Ideal Customer
Getting super clear on your ideal client avatar will drive every aspect of your business and enable you to communicate your message and offer with total ease and authenticity. A common error I find when it comes to developing an engaged and devoted audience is not getting specific about who you’re talking with. In their desire to benefit as many people as possible, most businesses and professional service providers are afraid of focusing on one ideal client. They are concerned that if they are too detailed, you’d miss out on a whole lot of opportunities. As a result, they define their target audience broadly. If you never focus on specifics, you would miss the chance to demonstrate a true comprehension of the unique wants, difficulties, and objectives of your ideal audience. You won't experience this, though, if you tune into this three-part series on defining your ideal client avatar and how it helps drive every aspect of your business. In this series, you’ll learn how to: • Attract and enrol more of your ideal customers by first getting clear on your avatar (this is for you whether you’re just starting in business or have been at it for years)... • Find and engage with your best-fit prospects using these key demographic and psychographic filters… • Avoid time-wasting traps and misconceptions common in avatar work that cause your outreach and marketing to fizzle… • Boost your confidence and success by developing avatar-based marketing and sales strategies that truly serve your ideal audience… • …and much more! For part 1, we’ll look at the principles, benefits and process that helps you avoid the common misconceptions and traps business owners can often fall into with ideal client avatar work. Parts 2 and 3 can be found on the podcast site at: http://leveragedbusinesspodcast.com.
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089 Managing Distractions Part 2 Wrangling Email, Social Media and Household Chores
06/30/2023
089 Managing Distractions Part 2 Wrangling Email, Social Media and Household Chores
Distractions are everywhere. From the decidedly-digital like social media (it is technically work, right?) to the very-analogue (like spying on the neighbours – because you do not need to know that they’ve ordered pizza again)…there’s approximately a billion different ways we can get derailed from our work. Learning how to stop letting everything, from every ping on your iPhone to the mailman dropping off a package, derail you actually has little to do with willpower–and a LOT to do with the structures, routines, rhythms and environment you work in.
Which means, if you truly want to get your most meaningful work done in less time (and with less dings pulling you away from what matters), it is possible. Sound good? Then this part 2 episode - and the workbook that goes with this two-part series - is just the formula and antidote you need for managing distraction to boost productivity. Go to the show notes page to listen or read as an article and to download a super cool Distraction Action Productivity Booster Workbook: https://jayallyson.com/podcast/tech-tools-to-manage-email-and-social-media/.
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088 Managing Distractions to Boost Business Productivity - Part 1 Why Most Entrepreneurs Struggle with Distraction
06/16/2023
088 Managing Distractions to Boost Business Productivity - Part 1 Why Most Entrepreneurs Struggle with Distraction
One of the best things about being an entrepreneur Is that you create the rules. While that sounds great on paper, the truth is most of us don’t actually have any ‘rules’ when it comes to how, when or even why we get our most important work done. Science says it takes us 15-20 minutes to get back into “flow” state once we’re interrupted.
This means if you’re thrown off course by your phone, or your doggo, or your inbox even 4 times a day–you’ve lost a solid 1.5 hours of work (or more). Unfortunately, most people blame themselves for this. They dub themselves lazy, unmotivated, or think just need to “have more willpower.” But the truth is actually a lot less sinister (and self-blame-y). All you have to do is make a few key tweaks to how, when and where you work–and you’ll be able to tap into your brilliance in a snap, keep distractions at bay all day and finally get your deep work done and dusted. The good news is that it’s not nearly as hard as you might think. And the results are pretty incredible. Go to the show notes page to listen or read as an article and to download a super cool Distraction Action Productivity Booster Workbook. http://jayallyson.com/podcast/managing-distractions/.
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087 Mastering Discovery Calls: Sales Strategies for Effective Conversations that Increase Client Conversions
05/26/2023
087 Mastering Discovery Calls: Sales Strategies for Effective Conversations that Increase Client Conversions
If you're looking to improve sales conversions for your consulting, coaching or training business, in today's episode we'll discuss one of the most crucial aspects of client conversion - the discovery session. We'll explore effective strategies to pre-qualify potential clients, speak with confidence, understand your value, and ask for the sale. So, if you're ready to rock your discovery sessions, get more clients signing up to your program or service, and make more sales, this is a great episode to dive into! I take you through seven strategies that will really ramp up your results in sales conversations. Now if you’re selling into organisations, this is likely to be a few conversations, and not necessarily with one individual, so bear that in mind. But many of the principles, steps and forms of words I'll be covering are the same. You’ll learn how to pre-qualify potential clients, craft an effective call structure, speak with confidence and know your value. And I’ll walk you through the art of asking for the sale and my top way of asking that always gets a YES. Then we’ll go into handling objections with confidence and what to do when you get a yes, maybe or no as the outcome of your discovery session. If you want to accelerate your business journey, book a free discovery call with me via and we’ll talk through where you’re at, what you need and whether the Leveraged Business Accelerator coaching program is a good fit for you. See what I did :-)
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086 From Idea to Product Launch Strategy Part 2 - 10 Essential Steps to Successful Product Launches
05/05/2023
086 From Idea to Product Launch Strategy Part 2 - 10 Essential Steps to Successful Product Launches
This is the second of a two-part series focusing on successful product launches. In part 1, we looked at the four types of product launch strategies, where we explained how anyone can get started and test their product idea, no matter what stage of business or experience with launching, before widening into a more involved promotional campaign. Now, in this second episode, I walk you through 10 essential steps to take when launching your product. From identifying your target audience to encouraging and motivating those helping you, these steps will help you create a solid foundation for your product launch. Whether you're an experienced entrepreneur or just starting out, you’ll definitely pick up some valuable insights and tips to help you successfully launch any product. For a free checklist to support you with creating and implementing and evaluating your product launch strategy, go to http://jayallyson.com/isuccess/product-launch-checklist/.
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085 From Idea to Product Launch Success Part 1 The 4 Launch Stages
04/21/2023
085 From Idea to Product Launch Success Part 1 The 4 Launch Stages
Launching a new product can be an exciting, yet challenging experience. You might have a great idea, but bringing it to life and getting it in front of the right audience can be a complex process. You’re going to need one of four product launch strategies that allow you to progessively build momentum and muscle for launch campaigns. For my iSuccess programs, I’ve always tended to do soft launches and enrolling a small group at any given time. For instance, the Leveraged Business Accelerator – because it isn’t a curriculum-based programme. It’s a structured process for strategic review, planning and coaching for each client, from where we create a customised 90-day action plan. Because of this format, I open up spots when I know I can give my coaching clients the time needed between other commitments. In this episode I’ll be walking you through four types of launch and talking about general good practice, my experiences of launching, supporting launches and being a participant in a launch. Then in part 2, we’ll go through ten critical steps that will help you create a solid foundation for your product launch success. Whether you're an experienced entrepreneur or just starting out, you’ll definitely pick up some valuable insights and tips to help you successfully launch any product. To learn more if The Leveraged Business Accelerator is a good fit for the business growth you’re looking to achieve and the challenges you’re facing, book a free 30-minute strategy discovery call at . Episode show notes and to read as an article, go to .
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084 Decoding the Consultant vs Coach Dilemma Part 2 Identifying Business Support for Strategic Growth
03/31/2023
084 Decoding the Consultant vs Coach Dilemma Part 2 Identifying Business Support for Strategic Growth
Identifying the right business support for your strategic growth needs is crucial to achieve a good return on your investment of time, energy and money. Here's the second instalment of my two-part series on decoding the consultant vs coach dilemma where we'll think about what professional practices attract you as the customer. In part 1, we focused on the consultant vs. coach dilemma through the lens of our own business – what to call ourselves and why it matters. We explored the notion of professional identity, where it comes from and how it shapes our values, approach to our work as well as our business brand and marketing. I gave you four practical ways to move across roles to serve your clients in the best possible manner. Another angle I want to come at this is, the focus of this episode, is to help you think through what your own needs in business are. Do you look for a coach but actually need or prefer a consultancy or thought partner type arrangement? Or are you looking to hire a consultant but actually need a bit of personal coaching to ensure you achieve your goals in the fastest, smoothest possible way? In a sea of professional identities where there’s tremendous variation in skills, experience and practice, that brings ambiguity and no ‘one-size-fits-all’, how do you perceive the different roles and value when you’re looking for who to work with? When you’re looking for support, whether it’s for your business or life or relationship or health, how do these different professional identities and labels affect how you see their expertise? How do you know which kind of support your business really needs? That’s what we’ll cover in this second episode of the two-part series. As you learned in part 1, these roles can sometimes blur or overlap. When you have a coach who’s adept at moving between roles and practices, you’ll go much faster by achieving your objectives in the most effective way. When you think about it from this angle, you may see the “dilemma” with fresh eyes – and can actually turn it into an opportunity, a unique selling point You are able to re-examine what you call yourself from your ideal customer’s point of view. Resources and further support can be found in the show notes for the episode via . Would you like to work with me over the next few months? Do you want to get clarity on your business idea and run a pilot program or service? Do you need to inject some momentum in your business game plan? Are you looking for specific ways to accelerate your growth, such as pump up the volume on your marketing, have more effective sales calls, raise your prices or scale your delivery? My 90-day Leveraged Business Accelerator is all about finding the strategy that's going to really move the needle and up-level your business and grow your revenue. Get started with a deep dive strategy call to see if my hybrid consulting-coaching-tech combo expertise matches what you want from a business partner. Book your Digital Roadmap Session at http://book.jayallyson.com/strategy
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083 Decoding the Consultant vs Coach Dilemma Part 1 What to Call Yourself and Why it Matters
03/17/2023
083 Decoding the Consultant vs Coach Dilemma Part 1 What to Call Yourself and Why it Matters
Consulting and coaching are both focused on helping to solve problems, and bringing about change and improvement. So why do we talk about the consultant vs coach dilemma? The difference between a consultant and a coach as a professional identity is not really about what is achieved, but how it is achieved. Yet, I feel there are some nuances that aren’t as easily explained by the typical distinction of a directive vs non-directive approach. Choosing a professional identity in business is not just a nuance – it can be critically important. That’s because what you call yourself predicates the approaches we take when working with clients. Deciding to call yourself consultant vs coach can significantly impact your success attracting the right clients to your business. Likewise, if you’re looking for business support, which one would you be more inclined to look for? But what if you choose to see the consultant vs coach dilemma as an opportunity or choice rather than as rigid or a tension? In this two-part series, we’ll explore the consultant vs coach “dilemma” through the lens of professional identity and what it means for your business practice and your clients’ understanding of what you do for them. In this first part 1, for this episode, I’ll be talking about choosing the right label for your brand positioning, this is something you’ll need to consider carefully. First, we will look into what the main differences are between consulting and coaching, what exactly is behind the consultant vs coach dilemma, and why it matters. Second, you’ll learn four key practices you can use in your client relationship that can enable you to move seamlessly between roles when working with a client. Resources and further support can be found in the show notes for the episode via . Would you like to work with me over the next few months? Do you want to get clarity on your business idea and run a pilot program or service? Do you need to inject some momentum in your business game plan? Are you looking for specific ways to accelerate your growth, such as pump up the volume on your marketing, have more effective sales calls, raise your prices or scale your delivery? My 90-day Leveraged Business Accelerator programme is all about finding the strategy that's going to really move the needle and up-level your business and grow your revenue. Get started with a deep dive strategy call to see if my hybrid consulting-coaching-tech combo expertise matches what you want from a business partner. Book your Digital Roadmap Session via the short link .
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082 Connecting With C-Suite Executives and Selling into Organisations
02/24/2023
082 Connecting With C-Suite Executives and Selling into Organisations
The C-Suite is a group of high-level executives who are responsible for making strategic decisions for an organisation. As a business leader or sales professional, connecting with C-suite executives and selling into organisations can be a challenging task. It requires a strategic approach that goes beyond just pitching products and services. In this episode (and the article you can read as well), we will explore ten key levers for success in connecting with C-suite executives and selling into organisations. These centre around understanding their strategic priorities and tailoring your pitch to meet their needs. We will also look at ways you can avoid common mistakes that service providers and even trained sales professionals make when trying to sell into organisations and provide actionable steps for success. Grab my free Get Corporate Clients Checklist to help you build out your B2B sales process to get corporate clients consistently: https://jayallyson.com/isuccess/6-steps-client-acquisition-checklist/.
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081 Navigating the Revenue Rollercoaster to Consistent Client Flow
02/10/2023
081 Navigating the Revenue Rollercoaster to Consistent Client Flow
As business owners, we are constantly challenged to balance getting clients with serving clients. If you stop one to do the other, it keeps you on the revenue rollercoaster – that cycle of feast and famine, peaks and dips that create stress and struggle in your business and your life. If you haven’t got dependable, manageable and consistent client flow, you may be stuck on the revenue rollercoaster. In this episode, I take you through one of three scenarios, what you need to focus on to improve business growth and how to achieve success. Or maybe you’ve done TOO well bringing new clients in, and you’re working flat out and struggling to cope with delivering the work at the quality you want, and your clients expect. Before you arrive at a balanced business where marketing, sales and delivery are all leveraged and in flow, you’ll undoubtedly have to cross some choppy seas to reach calmer water on the other side. The success framework I use with my clients when we do a business diagnostic aligns with the stages of business and provides a way of looking at where the bottleneck lies as a driver for strategy and performance improvement. Grab my self-assessment workbook and my three boat scenarios exercise, available via the show notes page at http://jayallyson.com/podcast/consistent-client-flow/.
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080 Setting Boundaries Working from Home - Part 3 of Empowering Work from Home Self Organisation
12/30/2022
080 Setting Boundaries Working from Home - Part 3 of Empowering Work from Home Self Organisation
For most small business owners, self organisation working from home feels like a challenge, right?! All those distractions, people interrupting you because ‘well, you’re there’. Yet you’ll be amazed at how much more productive you are when you learn to set boundaries. In this episode, the final part of this three-part mini-series, you’re going to learn some very pragmatic ways to implement the self organisation plan you create from the first two parts. Getting good at self organisation a real game changer for protecting your space, improving your work flow and increasing productivity for your business. Let’s dive right into part 3 … and I’ll be sharing my free checklist so you’ll have a handy resource with all 21 Ways to Organise Your Life, Homeworking and Routines for More Fun, Flow & Freedom on the show notes page at http://jayallyson.com/podcast/self-organisation-working-from-home/.
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079 Part 2 Reduce Stress Working from Home - Empowering Self-Organisation for Business Owners
12/16/2022
079 Part 2 Reduce Stress Working from Home - Empowering Self-Organisation for Business Owners
Second of three parts focusing on work from home self-organisation to create fun, flow and freedom in your business for less stress and more life balance. In this episode, I take you through a whole list of practical ways you can reduce stress working from home, set some boundaries around your personal and work routines, and create a greater sense of control and life balance. Some of these may seem obvious, but are we actually sticking to them or enforcing them? If we’re able bring some order to what makes us ineffective or anxious, we can start to feel more in control of all the things we juggle, which makes us more confident in our business decisions, and more energised. We feel in control because we acknowledged the breakdowns we were having with our lack of routines. We will feel accomplished because simple changes were easy to make, and we will see immediate results. No more spinning our wheels…simple routines to the rescue. Optimising your life is about finding the most efficient way to organise yourself so you can actually enjoy life instead of feeling like you’re on the never-ending treadmill to nowhere. With systems, routines, and habits in place you can learn how to have fun again because you have faith in your plans. If you want this upcoming year to be your best ever, grab a spot working with me in our Leveraged Business Accelerator. Places are genuinely very limited. To discuss and/or apply, book a free strategy discovery call to get some clarity on your best next steps for business growth and what support you need to get you there. http://jayallyson.com/contactme/scheduler/
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078 Empowering Work From Home Self-Organisation to Create Fun, Flow & Freedom in Your Business - Part 1 Decluttering Distractions
12/02/2022
078 Empowering Work From Home Self-Organisation to Create Fun, Flow & Freedom in Your Business - Part 1 Decluttering Distractions
Kicking off a brand-new mini-series, where we’ll deep dive on self-organisation and how to empower yourself and your business, especially if you’re feel so totally maxed out you just can’t focus on high level strategic leveraging stuff. Over three episodes, we’re going deep into self-organisation: from self-management to self-care, I’m going to be sharing 21 ways you can organise your life, home office and routines to create more fun, flow and freedom in your business. We’ll look at how to set things up so you can really power through everything you need to get done, and want to get done, without burning yourself out, so that it’s sustainable. We focus on ways to de-stress your personal life so your business life isn’t cluttered with distractions. Who can relate to working from home and you suddenly remember the wet laundry is still in the washing machine? Have you ever ended your day only to realise you never pulled anything out of the freezer for dinner. What about when you’re so maxed out, you can’t focus properly? Over three episodes, I’ll be sharing a set of practical tactics to develop your super powers for self-organisation working from home, so you have space and focus for strategic planning as well as building more leverage for future growth. In this episode, part 1 or 3, we guide you through steps for solving that typical dilemma of working ON the business while continuing to work IN the business, as well as everything else you have going on in your life. For further resources and support, go to http://jayallyson.com.
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