Fear Less, Brand More

I spend a lot of time playing Legos with my 5-year-old daughter.  Recently, with some advice from my coach Pia Silva, I had the realization that service providers should build their packages like Lego houses. Some clients just need a little shack, and they would need your "small" package.Some will need a farmhouse, and they would need your "medium" package.Some will need a castle, and they would need your "large" package.Definitely list your prices on your website, but don't box yourself in or exclude potential clients by making an exhaustive list of every service included in each package.  Every project will look different, but you can think of it in terms of how many Legos you need.Schedule your Clearbrand Interview here: https://jenniferanastasi.com/services/#clearbrandA Subito Media production

When building and running your business, it's important to understand why you're even doing it.  But often, people will stop at wanting to make more money as their reason for running a business.Is that really the reason, though?  What will that 6-figure income allow you to do?  What do you hope to get out of it?  Why don't you want to be back in the corporate environment?I promise, it's not all about wanting more money.Clearbrand Interview Information https://jenniferanastasi.com/services/#clearbrandA Subito Media production

One of my favorite topics is software tools.  As a software engineer and brand and website designer, I live and breathe software.  It's easy to get excited about new, shiny tools, but before making the leap, think about a few things first:Does it fit into your budget?  If the tool costs more than your revenue, don't get it!Are you going to use most of the features? Is it going to make your experience better? What about your client's experience?How is the tool when you use it?  Is the interface intuitive to you? This is when it's a good idea to use the trial to get a feel for it.How's the support system? There are going to be issues. Do they have helpful documentation?How well does the software integrate with other software?Take the time to write down your flow, your customer journey map, and map out where you would use which tools.  It's also a good idea to audit your tools occasionally, when you have time to look at them and try out some new things without critical client deadlines.  Is your current tool stack working? Or does something need to change?There's no one tool that's going to solve all the problems in your business.  There's no silver bullet.Clearbrand Interview Information https://jenniferanastasi.com/services/#clearbrandA Subito Media production

How many coaches have you hired to help you in  your business?  Coaching is HUGE right now and I've hired a few coaches myself, but I've noticed some disturbing trends in coaching.There's a major focus in marketing, growing, and scaling - which is an important part of running a business - but many business coaches are really just marketing coaches.  They don't do much when it comes to actually running your business.  As service providers, especially when you're only working with a couple of clients at a time, marketing to more clients isn't going to help you.  If you're charging a premium rate for an outstanding service, you should be spending your time providing that amazing service to your clients rather than worrying about marketing so much. The referrals from customer experiences will do much of the marketing for you.An ideal coach for a service provider is someone with real world experience who understands your particular service-based needs and what is going on in the current climate. Clearbrand Interview Information https://jenniferanastasi.com/services/#clearbrandA Subito Media production

Do you remember when you first got into your own business and the excitement that came along with it? Mine started with custom crafts on Etsy.  Then, I stumbled on Dotcom Secrets by Russel Brunson and I felt like with the right funnel, anything was possible.Now that I've had some experience with funnels as a service provider, the "standard" funnel isn't as simple as seems.  Collecting leads with a free or low cost offer then moving them through to the highest cost offer isn't the way it really works with service providers.I've found that it works much better for me to send every lead through my Clearbrand process before they can purchase an Actionbrand service.  That seems pretty linear, but they don't always behave that way.  People can be unpredictable, and your service offerings don't have to build on each other the way funnels do.You don't need the complicated funnels. There's no silver bullet.Clearbrand Interview Information https://jenniferanastasi.com/services/#clearbrandA Subito Media production

Do you ever feel this insane pressure as a service provider where you have to grow your business and the only way to do it is by creating some type of agency? I know that's how I felt for a really long time.When I started my business as a web designer, I saw all of these messages out there by coaches saying I really needed to find other people that could do the client work for me and create an agency.Rather than spending time doing client work, I should only be spending my time marketing and selling my services, which is the way to grow a service-based business. There were so many coaches and messages floating around on social media, that I felt that the only way I could be successful was to follow that route.To be honest, I wasn't really happy with the direction that things were going in, but I was told that this is the way that things are done. And then COVID-19 happened.All of a sudden, I found myself in a position that I never thought I would be in. I had no childcare. My husband was deemed an essential worker and he carries our health insurance so my business had to take a giant backseat. I had several clients I had made commitments to and I was determined to meet those commitments.So I started working every weeknight and every weekend. I hustled my behind-off, but there was no additional time for me to market my own business. I had no bandwidth to take on additional clients. Since I didn't have any money coming in, I didn't have the ability to pay these three people that were working for me.I really wanted to be working directly with clients. I wanted to be putting the websites together. I wanted to talk about more than just the websites but also about the strategy and the branding. I took the pandemic as a way to see what would make me genuinely happy day-to-day, in a way that I hadn’t been in the past.The conclusion I came to was that I needed to ditch the agency model and it didn’t mean that I wouldn’t be able to grow and scale my business.We need to normalize the idea that as a service provider, it’s okay for you to be the only person providing the service. If you’re able to get better at providing that service with more experience and with the goal of investing in yourself, the better clients you'll be able to attract.If you attract better clients, it’s easier to raise your prices. Having a higher price point means that you’re able to scale your business in a whole new way.As a result, I'm able to make a larger impact on the businesses that I work with. I'm able to see their growth and that is something that gives me a sense of fulfillment.I am so much more comfortable with this business model and much more comfortable by not having to manage a team that is working to provide services to my clients.I'm now able to be in control of the whole process, including what the client sees and when they see it.Do you need help figuring out your own business model? This is part of the clarity that comes with working together in the Clearbrand. Learn more about this service.The Agency Business Model: Is it Right For You? https://smallbusinessboss.co/the-agency-model/A Subito Media production

So what is the difference between a strategist, a consultant, and a coach?  That's what I'll be discussing today.  These terms get thrown around a lot, used interchangeably, and used wrong so that just adds to the confusion.A Strategist will help you get super clear on the plan for your business.  A strategist is always looking for an actionable plan, exactly what the next steps are, and what direction you want to move into.A Consultant will take something specific off of your plate.  This is where service providers fit in, managing one specific area very well so you don't have to manage it all yourself on a day to day basis.A Coach will help guide you and ask leading questions, but they won't give you the answers.  They work mainly with mindset, behavior, and emotions that are getting in your way, and aren't always just for your business.When it comes to hiring someone, you need to understand what your business needs. If you don't have a strategy in place, you should not be hiring a consultant or a coach. You should be getting really clear on that strategy. . And iIf you have a strategy and you're struggling with getting to that next step, but you know what the next step is, then that's usually when you want to hire a coach.RESOURCEShttps://www.stacykessler.me/blog/strategist-consultant-coachAre you a Strategist, Coach, or Consultant Quiz https://jenniferanastasi.com/quizzes/strategist-quizClearbrand Interview Information https://jenniferanastasi.com/services/#clearbrandA Subito Media production

When I started my business, I had absolutely no idea what went into running a small service-based business.  I started off hiring coaches, a business coach, a sales coach, and a messaging coach. I even hired two sales coaches.For many of these coaches, I read all of their content, watched every video, and enrolled in every course. I even hired people for a team because I needed more time to learn.I learned bits and pieces along the way and was able to eventually gain a full understanding of what my next steps were.Finally, I joined a program, about six months ago, that ended up seriously changing my business and stopped the endless cycle I found myself in.The thing about all those courses I bought, books I purchased, and coaches I hired is that when I initially found them, they were geared towards coaches, service providers, and consultants. This tends to be a group that gets lumped together.What I’ve learned indirectly through this new program is that I'm primarily a service provider and I provide a “done for you” service to each of my clients. I am not a coach.The coaches I hired were great, but because the goals of these two niches are so different, I was applying the wrong advice and going down the wrong path for a while.I got to where I needed to go eventually, but the point of hiring someone is to take a shortcut, not the long way around.Coaches and service providers are not the same. They need very different things in their businesses and I wish I’d known that at the start so that I could’ve hired appropriately for my own business.If you need help figuring out what you are, a coach or a service provider, take the quiz here!I work with service providers to help get clarity in their branding so they can easily communicate what they do to attract their ideal clients. If that's something you need help with, check out the Clearbrand Interview.ResourcesNo BS Agency Program: https://www.piasilva.com/What You Need to Know About Done-For-You vs. Coaching-Based Business Models https://smallbusinessboss.co/business-models/Are you a Strategist, Coach, or Consultant Quiz https://jenniferanastasi.com/quizzes/strategist-quizClearbrand Interview Information https://jenniferanastasi.com/services/#clearbrandA Subito Media production

This podcast is for service providers who are working with clients on a one-to-one basis. We'll be talking about branding and marketing as they apply to someone who's providing a service in a "done for you" way.We're going to cover those intimidating parts of the branding process. Sometimes they're just a little bit nerve-inducing. Other times they feel like a mountain that you have no idea how to even start climbing. Either way, we're covering why it's important to figure this stuff out, when to ask for help, and tips and strategies for overcoming. I'll be talking about the tech you can use, systems that work well for service providers, as opposed to what you see plastered all over Facebook these days, and how you can create a service-based business that's thriving. All by keeping your client in the forefront. So if this sounds like something that's right up your alley, hit the follow button and hang onto your seats as we jump into the wild world of branding.A Subito Media production