Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

The day I became willing to sell used cars was the day I realized that I could sell my music services. How many creative people will gladly take on jobs in retail and in selling other people's stuff instead of selling what they make? It's more common than you might think. The business plan for a creative is simple but not easy - Make it. Show It. Sell it. For most of us, the making is the best part. It can be difficult but it was the reason we decided to go in this direction. We wanted to spend most of our time making the things we love to make. For some of us, the showing and sharing of our work is not a bad experience. We find ways and places to show people what we've made and we may even generate some sales this way. With technology, there are now more ways than ever to give people an experience of what we do. But selling, for many, is the sticking point. There's a self-consciousness that goes with selling our creations that stops us from acting and is our rationale ...

Two minutes of silence in solidarity with peaceful people everywhere. (There is nothing wrong with your volume. Sound will return momentarily.) #Ukraine

I looked at the forecast for next week and saw high temps in the 60s starting to show up again. Spring is getting closer! I'm ready to have shoveled my last snow for the year. It also feels like I've come into a Springlike season in my life. The last several years have had a lot of change and grief, along with a lot of reflection and introspection. Some of my limiting beliefs and habits have surfaced and I've been able to put them to rest, for at least a little while. What that leaves me with is a lot of energy, a lot of ideas, and a feeling of fresh optimism despite what else is going on in the world. There are a lot of new seeds being planted in my life - new directions, new clients, and new ideas that capture my curiosity. I don't know where any of them will lead for sure, but I will follow them where they go. I'm ready to tend my own soul more carefully and that's mostly what this Coffee Break is about. Finding ways to honor my own divinity and expressions o...

▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below!▼▼▼ For the self-employed entrepreneur, a sabbatical might be the last thing you think about doing, and if you were to take one, it would probably have an agenda attached. We don't usually just decide to take time off for just being. After the launch of her book, Bursts of Brilliance for a Creative Life, author and publisher Teresa Funke was shown by her assistant that she was juggling the management of eighteen projects. Then when the Covid Pandemic started, her three streams of revenue all simultaneously ended. She tried to pivot just like everyone else was, but ultimately found that she was really ready for something else - but what? Finally, in June 2021 she landed on the idea that what was happening could be called a sabbatical, and it wasn't the kind of sabbatical we typically associate with that word. This wasn't going to be a time of focused production, it was going to be something else. Here on Your Own Best Company Teresa tells us the res...

I've been called the king of the one-liners and my humor tends toward the sarcastic and dry side. I'm surprised I haven't been beaten up more. I've also been called hard to get to know and Mister Mystery.  For someone who feels like a good communicator, I still end up making a bad first impression a lot more often than I'd like. This habit of trying to get people to laugh at my sarcastic wit is one I probably need to retire.  The most recent story of why is in today's Coffee Break. For anyone who doesn't know me very well, I never intend to mean any harm to anyone. If we both can keep from jumping too quickly to conclusions, we might just have a shot at being good friends. #misunderstanding #communication #miscommunication Today I recorded and produced this Coffee Break and tomorrow's Your Own Best Company Podcast. It's a good one featuring my friend, author and impresario Teresa Funke. And if you have been thinking about starting a podcast and would...

A couple of recent conversations have me thinking about the nature of self-discovery. Our individual observations and perceptions are uniquely subjective, even in measurable situations. We each have our own experience of life that can't be easily duplicated or completely understood by anyone else.  This isn't to say that self-discovery doesn't benefit other people. In discovering the 10,000 ways not to invent the light bulb, Edison found the one way that we all have used to interrupt our circadian rhythms. I'm just struck by the fact that my aha moments may only be for me and that yours are only for you, but there is pleasure in sharing them with each other. I'm also curious about how discovering one thing also uncovers the opposite. In finding out something that is a good fit for my personality and preferences, I also find the things that aren't necessarily so. My life will be nearing its end when I no longer want to discover new things that I didn't know b...

So you took a great idea and created a way to deliver it, then you built an offer around it and announced it to all the circles you could, tweaking your message as you went...and...crickets? Yeah, sometimes that happens, even to the best sales and marketing gurus.  That doesn't specifically mean that your idea wasn't great. It could be that there was something about the package and offer that people didn't get or resonate with. Could be that you weren't reaching the right people. Could be that the timing of your release was in conflict with too many other options targeting similar audiences. Or maybe you haven't landed on the right way to communicate about it. Sometimes I've faced this and taken a break from it to give myself some space for reflection. I still believe we're given good ideas for a reason. I want to know what needs to shift in order for people to say yes to my offer. Sometimes it helps to get feedback about all these things from someone you tr...

Do you ever wake up in a funk? I did this morning. I don't know if it was interrupted sleep, lower back pain, a case of the Mondays, or what, but I was in a low state. I've gotten away from the practice of labeling emotions positive or negative. Especially in the case of emotions that are uncomfortable or uneasy, I don't think it's helpful to add another layer of judgment on top of them. A few years ago I had an insight about the relationship between emotion and the human will. Distinct from willpower, the propensity to override our habitual tendencies and take "massive action", the human will is more like an energy management system. It monitors our energy levels and gives us data to make decisions about what we can commit to doing. Emotions are the language of will. When we have emotional states we consider low, it's because they reflect a lower level of energy. Anger is like the light that goes off when you're about to run out of gas. "Urgent m...

I believe we each have our own unique way of influencing other people. One of the benefits of discovering this way, what I call your unique marketing modality, is that it helps lower natural resistance to be more publicly visible and assertive.  Resistance is a natural protective mechanism we all have, and highly sensitive people tend to have it even more acutely than others. While it's not a problem in itself, it becomes problematic if we let our resistance make our important decisions for us. The ego is doing its job to alert us to unfamiliar and possibly threatening circumstances. In the same way we all have patterns of resistance, we also all have an inner source of wisdom that we can learn to tune into. For me, the voice of wisdom comes more quietly than resistance tends to, and I usually need to be in an open and receptive state of mind in order to hear it. One of the things I like most about the marketing modality concept is that it lowers our natural resistance and allows u...

This Coffee Break is for all of us who get to the edge of the diving board and hesitate. We think we can make the jump but there's still a voice inside that tries to convince us we're not ready, this is dangerous, and we may not make it out alive.  I bought my first home recording gear a long time ago. The thing I remember most is looking at it and then finding out that I "needed" something else to make my recordings sound more professional and polished, then I "needed" another thing to make my guitar tone sparkle, then I "needed" something else. Then when I made my first recording, it sucked - a lot and I didn't think I'd ever be able to make it sound good. But with practice, it got better and better. I spoke with someone recently who wanted to write but had been taking several courses and wanted to wait until the courses were finished before they'd start to write. My encouragement was to go ahead and start. Our minds create impossible...

▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below!▼▼▼ If you’ve been thinking about starting a podcast, you’ll get a lot from my guest today, Jürgen Strauss. Dr. Strauss is a podcaster, speaker, podcast strategist, marketing strategist and connector of Amazing Humans. His business, Innovabiz, partners with thought leaders to enable them to build sustainable visibility, professional credibility and a deep connection with their dream clients. Their philosophy is to make marketing human again!  As host of the InnovaBuzz Podcast, Jurgen has held meaningful conversations with over 500 outstanding entrepreneurs from all around the world, gaining insight into what makes them ‘tick’, what ‘lights them up’, why they do what they do and what inspiration and value they can add to the rest of the world. He also publishes the InnovaBuzz Newsletter and offers education and training resources for both podcast hosting and guesting. For more information and to receive your free copy of the InnovaBuzz Podcasting Flywheel a...

If you're a solopreneur or freelancer and you don't like marketing or promoting your product, service, or business, could that be having a negative impact on people's perceptions of you? I think so. My family and a few close friends call me a curmudgeon and it's not being used affectionately, but even I can share excitement and enthusiasm about what I do. If I couldn't, I shouldn't be doing this work. The idea of the unique marketing modality came out of my experience of not enjoying marketing my businesses. I couldn't stand networking, I dreaded the weekly email, and I didn't look much forward to blogging or posting on social media. No wonder I had a hard time getting clients. When I stepped back and allowed myself a moment of honesty, I saw that there were really only a few ways that I completely enjoyed marketing and they had several things in common - centered on talking, usually in a one-to-one setting, in a reflective role, and sharing wisdom. When...

I heard Seth Godin talk about how he was able to maintain his one blog post a day routing. He described a very simple system. He keeps a folder on his computer of very short articles on every idea that occurs to him and he never runs out of things to publish. I have another friend who writes one blog post a week and while his posts tend to be longer than Seth Godin's, the system he's developed is pretty similar. He keeps a list of topic ideas and a simple folder system to keep track of his writing and any corresponding items so that when it's time to publish, he's ready to go. I'm working on this week's interview podcast episode and am going through the editing. I remember my early days in podcasting when I would dread the editing process because it was so tedious and took so long, but over time I've come to enjoy it. It also doesn't take nearly as long because I've done it enough to evolve a good system for the task. In this Coffee Break, I've g...

I'm wondering about the invisible barriers we put between ourselves and others. Trying to have a conversation with a computer in-between us. Trying to stay focused in a Zoom call with a room full of distractions and notifications surrounding us. Are we really there? Are we really listening? Are we really present? In a training many years ago I was shown very plainly that I wasn't a good listener, though I would have rated listening as a core strength. That training was the beginning for me of learning how to become and stay present with other people, a practice that is central to my life. I've found that in business conversations that my ability to listen far surpasses in importance the ability to have a better argument. It pays off in a hundred ways in the depth of rapport I enjoy with my clients, the feeling of goodwill that presence generates, and the sense of regard that deep listening conveys.  These are a few of my thoughts for the end-of-the-day Coffee Break on a ver...

  Happy Valentine's Day! Thoughts today about love and work. Getting away from the idea of loving what you do and focusing instead on loving THROUGH what you do. It's interesting when I change the focus of work from getting something out of it to delivering a better quality of life to people through it, it becomes much more satisfying and I get all I want from it. You? Those days when I'm burned out, it seems that those are the days when I'm looking to be fulfilled rather than being generous and looking for ways to give. One of the best mysteries is how in giving we receive. Is your work a transfer of love into your close circles, your community, and your world? What would it take to make it so? If you'd ever like to have a conversation with me, the best way to set it up is to use the contact form here: https://www.franklintaggart.com/p/about.html #lovethroughwork #higherpurpose #meaningfulwork

Here I am, banging the drum of "your business is as unique as your fingerprint" again. Partly inspired by Quiet Marketing: A Calm, Minimal Approach to Business and Online Visibility for Highly Sensitive Solopreneurs a new book by Danielle Gardner, I just want to shout again from the rooftops that no blueprint is going to fit your business perfectly. It's going to take time to find the tools, processes, and practices that work for you. Be patient as you explore! A big part of your business is going to be marketing. I have developed a new workshop to help you more quickly find the unique combination of strengths, skills, preferences, and opportunities that will make your marketing easier to do with much more satisfying results. To enroll in Discover Your Unique Marketing Modality, please go here: https://franklin-taggart-coaching.teachable.com/p/discover-your-unique-marketing-modality-zoom-workshop #startingabusiness #marketingmodality #onlinesolopreneurworkshop

I only found out about Danielle Gardner in the past few weeks from a friend who heard her interviewed in Tad Hargrave's Marketing for Hippies group. I found her YouTube channel and watched several of her videos, particularly the ones on Human Design and the implications for Generator and Manifesting Generator types as they approach business. She also talked about her new book, Quiet Marketing: A Calm, Minimal Approach to Business and Online Visibility for Highly Sensitive Solopreneurs (Amazon Associate link: https://amzn.to/3oMCxES ) This is a short book that you can read in an hour, but I'm going to suggest reading it again and breaking it up into daily exercises and reflections by chapter. This book reaffirms many of my beliefs and experiences about business being as unique as your fingerprint. She describes her own process of challenging the validity of each area of her business with regard to her personality, gifts, and desires. I found her story inspiring and would have l...

  There may be one or two people who noticed I released the weekly interview episode a day early. I usually release those on Fridays to take advantage of the slow days in case I might show up on a chart somewhere. This week, I was in a pinch and decided to get it out a day early. Without too much detail, our pup, Vinnie had surgery yesterday and I wasn't able to find the bandwidth to make a Coffee Break video. It got me thinking about how we manage commitments when there are challenging times. Some days we just have to push things aside and give our full attention to what in my case should be simple priorities. But it's still difficult to leave work alone. Vinnie's surgery was successful and we're grateful we were able to get help when we did. It was a serious infection. But remembering to include self, family, pet, and plant care in our list of not only things to do, but priorities is an important thing to do. My health continues to be an interesting ride. Things are s...

 ▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below!▼▼▼ Alan Heymann has a knack for coaching fellow introverts, helping them find their superpowers in an extroverted world. Alan also specializes in coaching through transitions — such as the transition from individual contributor to leader, the transition into a larger and more complex role, or the transition into a different career. He brings a warm, open and energetic presence to his coaching clients. To date, Alan has coached leaders who were born in 19 countries and work on 5 continents. Alan is the author of the book Don’t Just Have the Soup: 52 Analogies for Leadership, Coaching and Life. An expert communicator and engaging speaker, Alan spent more than two decades in public, government and nonprofit communications -- leading teams from 2 to more than 100 people who use words and images to inspire positive change in society. Inspired by a career transformation he brought about with the support of an executive coach; Alan decided to become a coach him...

Even the most talented people have to practice their craft. No exceptions. There are muscles to develop and patterns to internalize, actions to turn into habits, and mistakes to unlearn. No one is exempt from this. My clients who want to be good at business without having any business experience feel like they are failing, but they are just inexperienced. They expect to be good at sales and marketing without understanding how sales and marketing work. They want easy results with no learning curve. Hell, I want easy results with no learning curve, too, but life doesn't work that way. Even with a natural aptitude for music, I still have to practice frequently to retain any level of competence. And if I don't practice, I get rusty. If you are thinking you won't succeed because you're not good at something, you need to find a way to get good. Find a teacher or a coach, watch what the highly skilled people do and steal openly from them, and practice every day. You are going ...

Your introduction sets the tone for every connection you make afterward. What will people remember about you after you introduce yourself? Will it be that formulaic and boring elevator pitch you've struggled to write? Probably not. What if you were to make your introduction a quick delivery of something valuable that gives people an experience of you in your role and something to take with them in memory that will stay with them for a long time to come? It's not that difficult to go from a boring and lifeless and forgettable introduction to one that will inspire curiosity and allow you to initiate the next conversation that will happen after all the intros are made. This Coffee Break will give you a few ideas and if you want more, we just need to have a Zoom call. Want marketing to be easier and get better results? Join my Discover Your Unique Marketing Modality Workshop. Details and registration are here. Don't miss it! https://franklin-taggart-coaching.teachable.com/p/dis...

We all have busy times and somehow we need to carve out a little bit of time for marketing. In this video, I share a simple strategy for those weeks when I only have an hour to work with. Focus on one specific and clear offer, get the copy written for your offer first, make it short and sweet. Then to promote the offer, take advantage of a tool like Canva.com to create a simple social strategy, reuse one basic design, and schedule your social media posts to lead people directly to your offer. There are a number of ways you can use a small amount of time with a great marketing impact. The main thing to remember is that you can be very targeted with your offer and message, and you can be creative in how you draw attention to it. Discover Your Unique Marketing Modality Zoom workshop is coming up on February 25th and March 4th. Enroll here: https://franklin-taggart-coaching.teachable.com/p/discover-your-unique-marketing-modality-zoom-workshop #marketingworkshop #onlineclass #marketingstra...

I've had so many clients, especially at the Larimer SBDC who have come to me ready to throw in the towel on their business because marketing has been too taxing and not effective. I've had others who have worn themselves out trying to learn new communication and technical skills that they don't have time for so that they can be more visible across social media platforms. I'm not going to say you shouldn't learn new skills, but for marketing, I believe if you leverage the strengths and preferences you have in a strategic way, you'll be better off than sticking with the learning curve long enough to master it. I landed on the concept of Your Unique Marketing Modality when I realized that I and my clients had better marketing experiences and results when we combined a few things in a highly intentional direction. As we all started to focus our marketing using our strongest communication skills, our influence and arena preferences, and our communities, great things ...

Since being diagnosed with Graves Disease almost 14 years ago, I've lived with a predictably unpredictable physical condition. Rapid and steep energy fluctuations are common and metabolism or lack thereof makes exercise and weight loss seem impossible. I've learned to live with these challenges and make contributions to my community in spite of them, but there are days, like today, that are just complete down days. I have not been able to get moving and my brain is foggy no matter the mindfulness exercises or yoga that I throw at it. In this Coffee Break, I want to offer some encouragement to others who are faced with similar challenges and limitations. One-year, three-year, and five-year plans feel like exercises in futility when we don't know from one day to the next what we're going to have to work with. But I still think we can find ways to work with what we've got. In my case, I know that I will have days like today where I have to move slowly, rest more than u...

Eli Hans is a multi-passionate Renaissance man, having worked on his own for thirty-five years, reinventing his career several times, in television, special events production, as a voiceover actor, interior designer, life and business coach, holistic cancer coach, and his latest iteration as the writer and performer of his mostly one-man show: Out of The Blue, a Miraculous Musical. In 2009, he and his husband Joseph Bennett exited the American rat race by moving to an artistic ex-pat community in Mexico called San Miguel de Allende. Eight years ago, though flourishing in their new lives, Eli was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive type of cancer. That's when everything changed. Having about a 10% chance of survival, Eli focused 100% of his energy on his successful recovery. Confronting his mortality helped him realign his goals and for the past 6 years, he's been supporting others to discover their passions to create meaningful work, using their natural abilities to make a dif...

A couple of thought-provoking questions from this morning's presentation on Marketing Lessons We All Learned In Kindergarten. First, how can we make social media a more life-enhancing, enriching experience? And how can we realize the power of social media tools to bring us more together instead of driving us further apart. No easy answers, but I have some initial places to start. In this Coffee Break, I ask all of us, how can we raise the bar in our use of social media? #socialmediamarketing #unitingpeople #communitybuilding

If you're experiencing any lack or scarcity in your life or business, here's an experiment. It's based on a process therapist and speaker Barbara Sher used with encounter groups and other audiences for many years. The experiment is simple. Get very clear on the opportunity you want. Write it down or record yourself describing it in as great a detail as you can. Identify any obstacles you perceive as being in your way. Then ask your community to help you find it. I'm interested to see how this goes for you. Of course, I can't guarantee anything, but I find it remarkable how frequently this process works to help people get what they want. The opportunity I want is to help two people who have been in business for one to three years who are finding their businesses difficult to maintain and sustain. I'm especially interested in helping people if their struggle has anything to do with marketing their products and services. If you or someone you know fits this descrip...

The impending snow in Colorado has me thinking about preparedness. I'm not. I can't say that preparedness is one of my strong suits unless you count being prepared to improvise.  If the plows get the roads cleared quickly enough I'll be giving an in-person talk at Desk Chair Workspace here in downtown Loveland. My topic is Marketing Lessons We All Learned In Kindergarten. It's a call to get back to simplicity and basics in the ways we bring our businesses and customers together. We feel a lot of pressure to show up everywhere all the time and we rapidly find that it's not a sustainable business model or lifestyle. I think we can learn a lot by remembering how easy it was to start friendships when we were young. The same steps are what we use to build relationships with customers - Attract, Introduce, Share Enthusiasm, Find Things In Common, Make Invitations, Play Together, Create Memories. It doesn't have to be more difficult than that. Let's get out of our ...