How do you start writing if you keep staring at a blank page? Are you in your own way? In this episode of the second season of the Launch With Words Podcast, Bridget is joined by marketer and coach Jen McFarland for an insightful conversation on why small businesses should put their audience first with their website content.

"You just have to get started." Jen McFarland

Follow Jen on Twitter

https://twitter.com/jensmcfarland

Jen's Blog Post on ClickFunnels

https://womenconquerbiz.com/clickfunnels-review-2022/

Take an Ephipahy Course and Stop Decision Fatigue

https://epiphanycourses.com/

More Episodes
https://launch-with-words.castos.com/

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https://wordpress.org/plugins/launch-with-words/

Episode Transcript

00:19 .23
Bridget Willard
Hey hey thanks for joining me on this latest episode. I'm here with the Jen Mcfarland. Welcome! I am doing fabulous.

00:26 .61
Jen McFarland
Hey hey how are you doing, Bridget? How you doing listeners?

00:33 .64
Bridget Willard
And so we're we're talking to our small business owners. You and I have worked with a lot of clients and what's like so something that you kind of wish I feel like you wish they had an epiphany about?

00:49 .16
Jen McFarland
Ah I feel like all of us as consultants give our clients small epiphanies every single day and that's one of the reasons why I started a new business called Epiphany Courses -- because it's our job as consultants to do that. But then there are people who can't afford us as. Consultants. So Why not give them little epiphanies? And that's my new business called EpiphanyCourses. They are courses based on business decisions, so in in an hour or less, you can make some exceptional business decisions on things that often confuse a lot of people. Like I am a total tech Nerd. We've just spent the last.

01:25 .62
Bridget Willard
Um.

01:26 .80
Jen McFarland
What hour talking about all of our tech nerdiness? And so a lot of things that I am passionate about people get really confused about. And so that's kind of my focus whether it's on my podcast or my website or now with courses is to just help people untangle the techie bits that seem to really keep them from taking action on things.

01:47 .95
Bridget Willard
Yeah, um, with the Launch With Words starter pack the whole point of it is that it gets imported as a blog draft and so they know how to use the Draft Folder in WordPress. So just write. You know? A lot of people wanted it to be complicated, like a course, I'm like no -- small business owners don't have time for this crap. They just need to get in there write a blog post.

02:11 .56
Jen McFarland
Yeah, and well what I love about what it is that you've done is it's like you're giving them drafts and you're giving them prompts. Like so many people hate the blank page and I'm one of them. And I've actually sometimes hired people just to help me keep the blank page from staring back at me. And when I see somebody else start it then I'm like oh okay now I got this. Now I can do this because I love to write; I hate the blank page. And that's what is so powerful about Launch With Words, I think, in the people that I work with they're like: I don't even know how to get started. So now I can be like well actually here's the thing.

02:45 .69
Bridget Willard
Yeah, the blank page is anxiety's best friend and in small business owners. We sometimes forget that we have so much to talk about and I suffer from the same thing. I would just open Google Docs and and go oh this person keeps asking me this question. That's my next blog post. This is my next blog post. This is my next blog post. Or even brainstorming with friends. You know? Um, but I always recommend that small business owners have some kind of journal or something where they collect those things all in one spot so that when they sit down on Friday afternoon to write their blog posts.

03:08 .81
Jen McFarland
Yeah, yeah.

03:24 .23
Bridget Willard
for the month or the week -- depending upon how often they want to publish --they'll just have that those headlines. But I know there are other tools and methods. For example, you're doing a lot of podcasting, which can be transcribed into words on your website. So like how is somebody start with.. Do you like do you think that it would be easier for some people and their personality types to start with making videos?

03:50 .55
Jen McFarland
You know it's interesting when I work with people I tell them? Okay, This is so easy. You can start with a notebook -- just a little piece of paper next to your desk and you can start taking notes and if they look at me and they're like I don't know. I'm like okay. Or you can start talking on video, you're doing videos to your group or you're doing all different kinds of things and then we just transcribe it and put that on your website. And they're like okay or they get even more freaked out, you know? And the point is I'm like -- look figure out the thing that you like to do and do that.

04:25 .20
Bridget Willard
Yes.

04:29 .12
Jen McFarland
And that's all that needs to happen. Like I used to make Facebook Lives and then I'd be like, "I went live!" And I'd always said it to like "only me." Only me -- like I would practice. I practiced for years just doing it the first time with nobody, no risk, and then doing it the next time to everybody and.

04:43 .19
Bridget Willard
Yeah.

04:48 .65
Jen McFarland
It it just you just have to get started.

04:49 .83
Bridget Willard
Yeah, getting started is tough because of our inner critic. Um, some people don't like the way they look, or they don't like the sound of their voice, or, or, or, or. Um and the thing is they I think a lot of us think that we're gonna be criticized. But it's our business. So what I encourage people to do is to tap into their passion like what is it they wish -- like one of the prompts is what is that you wish people knew about your industry? What is a common misconception? Like I'll never forget my neighbor when I lived in in Dana Point. I lived at the top of the stairs and she would see me I mean she would walk by my front window by my desk when she um when she went upstairs and she she asked me one day -- she said, "Bridget what exactly are you doing when you're sitting at your computer all day?" And I finally just said, "I put words on the internet."

05:44 .18
Jen McFarland
Exactly. It's like how I talk to my relatives were like I have no idea what you do and I'm like that's fair and I explain it. And I'm like oh or yeah I just help people be on the internet and they're like okay.

05:55 .40
Bridget Willard
Yeah, and then if they have more questions. Right? So it's like I know when I was working in construction, there were so many things that we wanted people to understand. You know? ah that you know. If you have a crack in a concrete panel, it's not cosmetic. It's going through all 6", you know? There's always something in your industry that you wish somebody would understand. When I was working in a travel agency. They're like travel agents are still relevant? Travel agents are not paid by the person booking the travel. They're paid.

06:15 .82
Jen McFarland
Right.

06:31 .37
Bridget Willard
From the wholesaler. They're um, they're paid from the travel. And that there are deals you can get with the travel agents that aren't even available to the general public because they're literally wholesalers. So. Unless you. Yes unless you tell them! and that's the whole thing.

06:31 .85
Jen McFarland
Right.

06:41 .74
Jen McFarland
Exactly and people don't know that unless you tell them? ah.

06:50 .49
Bridget Willard
It's like do something and like to me I'm like almost channel that rage. I I was talking to somebody and they're like all into Thenagram or anagram or what what aneogram and um I was like I think I'm a 5 or an 8

07:02 .45
Jen McFarland
Enneagram yeah.

07:09 .27
Bridget Willard
So I decided to take the $20 test last night. and I'm I'm not any of those. I'm a 4 or something like that. No I'm my 6. I'm a six. I'm a 6. I don't know what? No I'm a 6. I think I don't know I can't remember but I'm know I'm one of the ones that's fueled by fear.

07:17 .24
Jen McFarland
I'm a 3

07:28 .32
Bridget Willard
Think it's a 6 but all these numbers could you just give it a name like at least I know ISTJ but like what enneagram people need to you know, come up with a name for each number. I know and I as a math person but you know, but but it was like it's all fueled by fear.

07:38 .14
Jen McFarland
And make it easy.

07:45 .87
Jen McFarland
Yeah.

07:47 .40
Bridget Willard
Like my all my motivations are fueled by fear. And then I'm pretty heavy in like 8 and 9 or something that are like really into anger and anger comes from fear. So obviously there's a lot of fear going on. And that self-awareness you know, it's just like oh I kind of didn't realize that about myself. But I've you always used that to fuel you know people see it as passionate. That I see