MicroEntrepreneur: The magic of thinking small

In episode 8 of Micro Entrepreneur: the magic of thinking small I spoke with Marianne Cantwell, the author of Be a Free Range Human and lifestyle business owner. This is an interview that I did last year when Marianne was launching her book and she had so many great nuggets to share, I felt I had to re-release as a podcast. This week's guest About Marianne Marianne is a bit of a rebel and left her old corporate life to live a life where she was able to be and do what she wanted. She now spends her time travelling all over the world working online with people who want to leave the corporate rat race and create a life built on their passion and purpose. She helps them find out what they’d really like to do with their day and work out how they can get paid for that as their own boss. Last year she wrote the book Be a Free Range Human which is a how to guide on how to leave the corporate rat race and create a business that suits you. What we covered in the show: Focusing on your unique talent in your business 1% vs 100% rule - how to attract the right client Working to your strengths Using content as a marketing tool How to test your ideas with your market How Marianne worked with her community to write her book Creating a tribe and community around brand How to deal with the the uncomfortableness of selling About the Podcast The Micro Entrepreneur Podcast is your place to come and hear me talk about all things business for the micro business owner. I speak with experts, authors and other micro business owners and what they are doing to build and grow a successful micro business. Like the show? Please tell us on iTunes! If you liked the show and found it valuable and you haven’t done so already I would love if you took a minute to leave a quick rating and review of the podcast on iTunes by clicking on the link below! It would be extremely helpful for the show and help us reach more people.

In episode 7 of Micro Entrepreneur: the magic of thinking small I have the chance to catch up with Business Superstar Lara Morgan. For those who don't know Lara, she was the founder of Pacific Direct (luxury toiletries for hotels) which she sold for over £20m about 5 years ago. Lara gives us lots of tips and ideas on how to get better at selling... something EVERY small business owner needs. This week's guest About Lara Morgan Lara Morgan is most widely known for building her own international business, Pacific Direct, over the course of seventeen years before selling a majority share 99% holding of the company for £20 million in 2008. Lara is passionate about high growth business support and motivating business-owners. She has a number of exciting new ventures including Company Shortcuts, a source of practical advice and frameworks to enable businesses leaders to achieve accelerated growth. Lara intends to be the voice for growth enterprise support encouraging investment in those whom have taken the brave steps to start to build a business. She is an Amazon bestselling author of the book, More Balls than Most which is well worth reading for both learning about Lara's story, but also getting practical advice on what it takes to grow a successful multimillion pound business. Lara has spoken at two of our conferences and is one of the most inspiring women that I have met in the last 5 years. She kicks ass and doesn't suffer fools, and she has a way of really cutting through the crap and makes a lot of sense. The audio on this podcast is a bit ropey, so apologies for that but do persevere as it is well worth listening to! What we covered in the show: How do you get started with cold calling Setting targets to get you started Refining your sales pitch Simple strategies to improve your pitch How to keep going when you get a no Should you call your best prospects or worst prospects first? How to start building rapport with the gatekeeper How she got the Dorchester as her first client How many times you need to call to get a yes..... About the Podcast The Micro Entrepreneur Podcast is your place to come and hear me talk about all things business for the micro business owner. I speak with experts, authors and other micro business owners and what they are doing to build and grow a successful micro business. Like the show? Please tell us on iTunes! If you liked the show and found it valuable and you haven’t done so already I would love if you took a minute to leave a quick rating and review of the podcast on iTunes by clicking on the link below! It would be extremely helpful for the show and help us reach more people.

In this session of Micro Entrepreneur: the magic of thinking small I have a great chat with Tamsin Fox Davies, the small business mentor for Constant Contact UK about the marketing mistakes that we see small business owners make. By no means do tamsin fox davis constant contactwe think we have all the answers, in fact both Tamsin and I share some of the marketing mistakes that we have both made in our businesses, but we have learned from some stuff over the last few years and hope you get some benefit from listening in. Here are some of the topics that we talk about: We talk about features vs benefits Big mistakes that small business owners make Do fancy names work? The problem with creating your product before you have found your customer The danger of becoming too attached to your product Dealing with negative customer feedback Dealing with perfectionist tendencies Mistakes that people make at exhibitions

In episode 5 of Micro Entrepreneur: the magic of thinking small I chat with my good friend, best selling amazon author, entrepreneur, blogger and professional speaker Joanne Penn from theCreativePenn.com and Kindle Book writing trainer Cathy Presland from CathyPresland.com about what it takes to write and market a business book. What we covered in the show: How to decide what to write about How do you consolidate all that you know into a book Why should you write a book? What if you don't feel that what you have to write about is unique How to get your book out of your head and onto your computer How long should your book be? What are the self publishing options that are out there Tips for focusing on writing a book How to stay motivated while you are writing your book How to deal with writers block How much does it cost to write and digitally print your own book

In episode 4 of Micro Entrepreneur: the magic of thinking small I talk with Suzanne Dibble, one of our core team of writers and keen lawyer for micro business owners. Suzanne has a great talent for making the legal stuff interesting, so this podcast is well worth listening too - particularly if you sometimes have clients who don't want to pay. What we covered in the show: What is the single most important thing you can do to make sure you get paid How to insure your fees against your client going into receivership How to get over the fear of asking a client to sign a contract How to deal with a disagreement with your client How to recover a debt from a client What is the 1 legal document that every micro business should invest in - no matter what your business What should you include in your terms of business What is your secret weapon when it comes to deciding whether you should sign a contract or not How to choose your lawyer

In episode 3 of Micro Entrepreneur: the magic of thinking small I chat with writer, founder of Enterprise Nation, co-founder of Startup Britain and small business author Emma Jones. What we covered in the show: The easy way to really make your mark as a micro business owner Secrets of a successful franchise Emma shares lots of stories from people that she has interviewed including how long it took Pret a Manger to open their second shop! The unique advantage that micro business owners have How to grow from one product to dominating a market How to deal with Social media overwhelm What is the one thing that you need to be doing to market your business Making your business global

In episode 2 of Micro Entrepreneur: the magic of thinking small I manage to catch up with Jennifer Holloway, the founder of Spark Branding where we talk about How to manage your personal brand and your business brand. Here are some of the topics that we talk about: What is your public persona vs. what is your private persona How much personal information should you share and why What are the best relationship hooks that you should use for your brand What if someone doesn't buy into your personal brand What happens when your corporate brand and your personal brand don't match Should you tweet as your business or as yourself How to make your message or brand stand out An easy branding mistake that some micro business owners make

In this very first episode of Micro Entrepreneur: the magic of thinking small I have a great chat with Judy Heminsley, the author of Work From Home and website www.workfromhomewisdom.com and Karen Haller from www.KarenHaller.com who shared their tips and advice on how to make the most of it. Here are some of the topics that we talk about: What is the biggest challenge of working from home How to deal with the loneliness of working from home Tactics to get out of your own head How to be more productive while you are working from home How to balance work and life and deal with holidays (here I share my personal schedule) How to deal with friends, not respecting your work time How to create a decent workspace at home What colours should you have around you to be productive You can find the full show notes and links at www.womenunlimitedworldwide.com/micro-entrepreneur-1-the-challenges-of-working-from-home-with-judy-heminsly-and-karen-haller

Last year we ran this hugely popular workshop at the beginning of January, this year we decided to get ahead of the game and run it in December, so that you can really get 2013 off to a great start and set your action plan for the year. Goal setting is passe .  Action Plans are the way to go. This year, more than any other, it is time to have clarity, focus and a clear action plan to move your business forward.  So we have put together a quick and action oriented workshop to give you and your business a kick start that will help you move forward with laser like focus. [flowplayer src='http://simplywordpress.s3.amazonaws.com/fastaction.mp4' width=600 height=340 splash=' http://www.womenunlimitedworldwide.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/fastaction.png' autoplay=false] Out of this workshop you will walk out with a series of FAST action steps that will give you clarity in 2013.  Clarity was my word for 2012 and it certainly made a massive difference.  In the last 12 months we have doubled our turnover and triple our profits.  I will share with you my secrets and techniques that you can apply to your business. F = Focused A = Action S = Strategic T = Timely You will identify what you want to achieve and break it down into a series of steps that will make sure it happens. This is a kick ass session that is going to help you get killer results in your business and have a FANTASTIC time doing it! During this session we’ll share with you 6 massive success strategies that will move your business forward quickly The number one thing that is holding you back in your business today (and how you can overcome it) How to create a killer action plan that you can achieve! Clarity, focus AND a rocket on your back that will propel you into the coming months Last year, one of the delegates went from feeling frustrated in her business to landing a major contract with Tesco. With massive focus, clarity and a strong action plan, she was able to really take her business to the next level. Join us and decide what you are going to do in your business next year. Where, When and How much Where: Lumen URC (nr Kings Cross/St. Pancras  When: Thursday December 6 from 10:00 - 4:99  How much: £99.00 including VAT Sell Tickets Online through Eventbrite