Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

Dear YouTube Subscriber! If you are struggling to find the right words to get people to buy stuff, you're going to want to watch this video! You're about to hear something that will change your world - FOREVER! You'll learn how to breathlessly mesmerize readers step-by-step as they progress toward the one goal - buying stuff! You'll learn these great things: ** How to sound enthusiastic about anything! ** How to use bullet points to drive home your logic! ** How to think in short, meaningless phrases! ** How to manip- er, persuade people to do things they don't really want to do! ** And how to make it all seem innocuous but exciting with the generous use of exclamation points!!! This Virtual Coffee Break is the best thing that has ever happened, ever!!!!! #communication #directresponselimitations #adspeak

Half or more of the people who contact me for career coaching are nearing retirement and are starting to plan for their next phase of work after they retire. In this Coffee Break, I share some of the most common ideas and directions they come up with and some insight into a few of them.  By far, the most satisfied and successful of my retired clients have been those who found an outlet for their creativity in the work path they chose. Many finally allowed themselves the freedom and chance to take their artistic, crafty, or musical dreams seriously. Some people have come to me asking about buying food franchises or joining network marketing programs. I have some pretty rigorous questions for people who are interested in either of those areas. They are definitely not for everyone. If you are nearing retirement but not ready yet to completely stop working, I offer a four-session coaching program to thoroughly identify and evaluate all of your work options so that your retirement years...

How is it I can take a three-ingredient recipe for pound cake and make it so difficult and cumbersome that I spoil the cake and hate the process? Three conversations today happened on the topic of simplicity. Solopreneurs, especially us creative types, have a tendency to make everything much more grandiose and extreme than things really need to be. And it's wearing us out. From the teacher with the new business model who just made herself physically sick because she felt she had to be on all the time in order to fill her class. The class didn't get all the way full and she ended up with digestive problems. And then there's the new freelancer who has so many ideas and not enough time to finish even one of them, feeling overwhelmed because she's imagining and offering more options than she can manage. And then there's me, who wants to create an online course but ends up making it include everything. Translated: the course never gets finished because it's just too ...

Four different conversations today centered on the challenge of planning for the ends of things. There's so much we can't know about our futures so we're creating a projecting an imagined future and constructing a plan for that knowing full well that life never goes exactly according to plan. In our businesses, so much energy and effort go into planning for the start of the business, and we get to the middle stages of planning soon enough, but I haven't met many business owners who plan for the end of their business, or for their exit from it. And then there are the times when we find ourselves in the midst of unplanned endings with no vision for the next stage of our lives. How can those times be planned for?  And ultimately there are plans for the ends of our lives. Some of us don't want to think about this at all. Too scary and too painful. But if we neglect these, our families are left to deal with messes that could have been made much easier had they been plann...

This morning was a low-energy morning as many of my mornings are. I used to be thwarted by these kinds of emotions. Depression and anxiety are a kind of baseline for me. Over the past few years, I've learned some valuable things about the way our psychology and physiology work that have given me some useful tools and techniques to get myself out of the morning lows and into some useful highs. The first time I read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, the part of the book that was most important for my life at the time was the section about the pain body and how to bring attention to the painful places in our being. I've worked with that ever since then and it's my first tool of choice. I believe that our attention is one of our primary superpowers.  Another helpful resource I found was the understanding of psychology called the Three Principles, articulated by Sydney Banks. In a spiritual awakening experience, he saw the relationship between three constant principles of our p...

Pretty bowled over by the news of Taylor Hawkins' death today. He is definitely too young, too soon, and yet he's made a lot of people feel better through his work here. I'm grateful for his music, his smile, his kinetic energy, and for the connections I share with my son through our mutual love for the Foo Fighters and their music. If you have a big idea or a big dream you've been sitting on, waiting for the right time, tools, or circumstances, please get over your fear and just start. Write, play, sing, create, paint, dance, sell stuff - whatever you want to do - DON'T WAIT! Don't pass up this one-time opportunity to enrich and enliven yourself and those around you. You'll create experiences worth having, and you'll be missed more significantly and deeply when you're gone. DON'T WAIT! If you need someone to talk you into it, I'll be happy to help. Get in touch and you'll be doing your thing an hour after our call is finished. #taylorhaw...

After two years in business as a brand strategist, Dre Beltrami became a mom. She tried to operate her business according to her pre-parenthood terms and the latest advice from the business gurus but found herself stretched too thin and needing a long break. Like every other business owner, Dre was challenged by pandemics and quarantines to reevaluate everything about her life and her business. Facing her existential crisis head-on, she made some critical decisions about her business model, her marketing strategy, and her online accessibility and visibility. Hear the rest of the story in this full-length interview that was inspired by an email Dre sent out just Wednesday morning. You'll want to join her weekly email list by clicking the orange button on her homepage: https://thesolopreneursociety.com . While you're there take a quiz or two to discover some valuable insights about yourself. And don't forget - The Mom Bundle will only be available next week - March 28-April 1...

Sing to the tune of Daft Punk Is Playing At My House. Yes, everything that worked yesterday is not working today and it's thrown a kink into my works. I'm hoping the tech gods smile upon us and the technician visit tomorrow afternoon will do the trick. This is an expensive service that is costing those of us who depend on it a significant loss of productivity and income. The people have been nice, but I'm ready for the promise of yesteryear that technology will be the solution to our problems to actually come true. Herein lie a few tidbit insights on customer service. People remember these experiences and talk about them. Let's see if Comcast's social listening is on point. If I hear from them as a result of this video I'll let you know. #comcast #customerservice #brandawareness

The first question to ask when you're not filling up your programs, selling enough products, or enrolling enough clients - How Many People Know? I have a client trying to get ten people signed up for a class. So far there are only three. We can assume those three found the offer attractive enough to enroll, so lets go back to the first question. How many people know? She emailed her list of 500 people and has gotten around a five percent open rate. So 25 of her email followers have heard about the class. This class is not the same thing she's been offering all along so it's new to her audience. So many of the people who have taken her classes before won't immediately understand the need to look more closely. She also has a small personal Facebook following and a dreadfully small Business page and Instagram following. She's posted several announcements there, but they haven't received enough engagement to be favored by the algorithm. Our strategy that we came up ...

Have you ever had an idea that seemed so amazing and brilliant that you just had to share it with someone, but they didn't get it?  I was listening to The Entrepreneur's Ecosystem podcast this morning and they interviewed the creators of Interact quiz software (you should try it! I'm an affiliate  https://interact.grsm.io/jboh69i54xwj ).  In the interview, they talked about their first years in business and the experience of having people not immediately see the value of the software as they sought investors and early adopters and other partners. It wasn't even an idea that the founders were particularly emotionally connected to, but they invested years of development and investment because they believed it could be an industry-changing tool. I was struck in the story by how much faith they had in the idea that it would carry them all the way through to a successful outcome. They had to believe in that validity and value of it for years while other people had to catch u...

Had a great conversation with a client this morning after returning from three days off. We were wondering why there was an emotional scorecard around taking time off. We both commented on having habits of stacking missed work up before or after a trip so that everything will continue to get done, but it seemed to both of us that didn't make much sense and it didn't make taking time away from work any easier. In this Coffee Break, I ask about some of the underlying beliefs and habits that drive such behaviors. What is it that makes us feel like taking time off without guilt is allowed? Do you struggle with this? How do you counter those beliefs and feelings/ I like Dan Sullivan's approach - schedule your time off at the beginning of the year before you schedule your work and make sure your work both gets delivered and covers your financial bases. Easier said than done, but important to consider. #selfcare #guiltfreevacation #takingbreaks

I just finished reading Small List, Big Results for the second time. Author Robbie Samuels has packed a powerful coaching process into 140 pages that will walk you from beginning to launch of a product or service that your followers will be waiting for. It will be exactly what they're looking for because you will be working with them from idea to launch. For entrepreneurs and businesses who have followings between 500 and 5000, you'll want to have this book in your collection and follow the steps for a simple way to create and deliver the products and services your clients need most.  Robbie also offers a fantastic collection of tools to help you all the way through the process. Find out more about the book at this affiliate link: https://amzn.to/37tznzR #smallbusinesscoaching #solopreneurstrategy #ideatolaunch

An inside look at one of the ways I've improved my rest habits. Reading fiction at night instead of work-related non-fiction. Gets me out of my frontal lobe, problem-solving mind, and into my left brain fantasy mind. Makes for a better night's sleep and deeper rest. Calling my work habits into question at this late stage of my career might actually give me a little more time to contribute, but it won't be at the expense of my health. #deeprest #selfcare #solopreneurship

On Your Own Best Company this week I am my own guest. There was a break in the guest schedule so I thought I'd bring up a chair and tell some of my story so that you can understand the history behind this podcast. From a Wyoming childhood to first jobs, discovering passions, learning at every step, and making opportunities from hardships, this story covers a lot of ground. #whatdrivesme #mywhy #workingalone

First thing, Happy St. Patrick's Day! Thanks to my friend, Deanna for treating me to corned beef and cabbage at Henry's this afternoon.  I've talked before about the importance of celebrating as a business and marketing practice. Celebrate accomplishments, landmarks, birthdays, holidays, and anything else you can throw a party for, but I'd encourage you to start putting celebrations of every size on your computer. The reason? Because those are the kinds of things that get forgotten in the shuffle and they can mean the difference between a business succeeding and failing. Celebrate your clients, customers, partners, employees, family, friends, acquaintances, and people you don't even know. It creates goodwill and fosters deeper feelings of empathy and trust. Find at least one thing a week to applaud, raise a glass to, or recognize. People will remember and it's easy to do. I'll be my own guest on Your Own Best Company this week, telling my own story of arrivi...

Area schools are on Spring Break this week and I, for once, have scheduled three days off in a row. In this Coffee Break, I have a lot to share about how I negotiate with my extrovert family when it comes to how we spend time off. It's not always an easy conversation to have. I also talk about how personality and preferences come into play in our career and business paths. At some point, I started to get cranky with people who could live with the idea that I'm perfectly happy having a one-person business and that I never want to manage a team or an organization.  This podcast was started as a way to support and encourage people like me who want to honor their need for solitude in the work they do. I found that there were a number of people who didn't link being made to feel they were "wrong" just because they didn't do things in the same ways everybody else was. In my family, we've found ways to work with each other in honoring our personalities, strengths...

In yesterday's Coffee Break, I was spouting off about the idea of becoming an influencer being a goal. I have no problem with someone pursuing that dream, but if that's their only focus, that alone won't be enough to sustain a business. If they hit the jackpot and make big cash for a little while, I'm not going to say anything negative about it. I believe in luck, as much as I do work. The part I left out yesterday was the crucial role of community in the process of becoming an influencer. For clarification's sake, I want to say that I'm using the word influencer to identify a person who gets paid to influence their community to buy things or join things. I seriously believe that every human being has their own natural way of influencing, but I'm not talking about that here. Some of the online influencers I admire a lot are John and Hank Green. They didn't set out to become influential. They just found an interesting way to communicate with each other th...

This thing called Influencer Marketing isn't a new idea. Advertisers have been using influential spokespeople for at least a few centuries. And marketing itself is pretty much just influencing people, so this phenomenon of the influencer marketer is an interesting one. I have a client who aspires to this but has a misunderstanding about what it takes to build a following and become influential. Her question to me seemed like she was asking for a shortcut. She wanted to be able to attract a following quickly and start charging businesses to advertise their stuff. I know this happens sometimes and especially with the popularity of social media, it's becoming more and more of a thing. But I think it's important not to lose sight of how sustainable influence is created and that is what this Coffee Break is about. My answer - focus on making a positive difference and people will start to follow you. When people start to follow you you're an influencer. The rest is just a num...

Do we really need Daylight Savings Time anymore? After a night of spotty sleep, I woke up disoriented and thinking I was late for a guitar lesson I was teaching this morning. It all worked out, but I got to thinking while I walked the dog. I've let go of some old habits in recent years that used to serve me pretty well but don't now. It just became apparent that I didn't need to do things that way anymore. So I stopped doing those things and started doing some things differently. Part of the need for change has been physical. I just can't do the same things at the same pace that I did for all those years. Staying up late now pays off in being less productive during daylight hours and contributes to mood swings and irritability. But some of the changes have been made because they just make sense. I know many people personally who have been going through a re-evaluation of their lives and habits and are letting things go that they no longer need. Is that you, too? Tomorro...

When people are considering starting a creative career, one of the first questions they ask is "When should I start charging money for my work?" This is a great question. And I think it's worth understanding that there are some people who are so excited about their newfound talent that they rush into trying to make a living from their creative work before they're ready. In this Coffee Break, I share a perception I've had with people I work with and people I've observed over the years to help make sense of that question. The first thing I want you to understand is that getting paid for what you do is only a small fraction of the value of your creativity. And for many people, it doesn't mean anything compared to the intrinsic value of the creative experience. If people are asking you for your work, it's safe to say you can start charging money for it. How much? That's a whole other topic, likely a series of videos, but it's OK to charge something...

▼▼▼ Watch or Listen Below!▼▼▼ If you or your business were faced with an unexpected calamity like an accident, fire, or lawsuit, would you have the protection you need to get through it with the least amount of difficulty? Many business owners don't realize they need a few different kinds of insurance protection so they may be underinsured, and in some cases, they have no coverage at all. Danielle Lammon is a licensed insurance agent and agency owner in Aurora, Colorado. She's here on Your Own Best Company to share some direct advice for small business owners with insurance questions. She also has her own story to tell of starting her agency and growing the business, soon to add her third office!  One of the things I appreciate most about Danielle is her commitment to her community. She's serving a term as the President of the Aurora Rotary and she's an active volunteer in many other areas of her community. She sees her business as an important resource that allows her ...

If you're still hung up on identifying your ideal client, why don't you put that idea aside for a minute and try something different - talking to strangers. Your parents may have told you to avoid this activity when you were young, but by now you should be able to find at least one person you don't know who is willing to talk with you for a few minutes. The point is that you could be spending all this time identifying your customer avatar while real customers are crawling under your nose waiting to be found. They are literally everywhere. Even if what you're selling is a rare solution to those who have a pinky toenail fungus problem. You won't know until they tell you. They won't tell you unless you offer a space for them to tell you, whether that's by clicking a button on your website or overhearing you telling someone else about toenail fungus while they drink coffee. I think it's important to learn how to tell people the story of what we do in ways th...

Would it be easier to find Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster than to find your ideal client, customer, or audience? The trouble with ideals is that they are difficult, if not impossible to reach. In this Coffee Break, I'd like you to think differently about the people you want to make a difference for. If you're struggling to identify an ideal client, you may just not have the experience yet to recognize them. There are some other ways to start. You could always start by identifying situations where you are the best person to call. Your unique qualifications to do what you do can tell you a lot about who needs you. What about serving people who are going through the same things you went through within the past year? Is it possible they could use what you do? Maybe you could look for communities first instead of trying to imagine a perfect person. The communities you belong to are often a great place to start. When in doubt, go for the obvious. Do you know anyone personally who n...

Today I helped a couple of people build content marketing channels to support their businesses. One started a blog, the other started a combination of YouTube and podcast channels. The person who was starting the blog mentioned that she had done some Google searches about starting a blog and had been getting spammy email and social media ads that were trying to sell her a $2000 online course for starting her blog, and another $2000 for building her audience. She looked at their sales pages and was overwhelmed by everything they were proposing she needed to do. She was relieved to find out that starting her blog was a relatively easy and inexpensive process and that much of what the course included would be stuff she'll never use. It made me want to share some options for getting started with content marketing that don't break the bank but can be grown to whatever size and shape you want. I learned about content marketing initially by blogging. Writing about things that were int...

A client asked me today how she can become a better communicator in her marketing and she was surprised at my answer. Yes, there is an art and science of marketing communication. There's a reason that great copywriters like my favorite, Laura Belgray get paid a lot of money for their skill, but one of the cornerstones that marketing communication shares with almost every other kind is the ability to tell a compelling story - a story that people can't leave hanging. They have to finish it. I'll go even further with the idea. I think songwriters and poets have an even greater advantage. They have learned how to tell a story that leaves such an impression on people that they can remember it years later. These creators have a knack for getting people to stay with their tale until it's over and to want to hear or read it again. Some popular songs only have 8-12 lines in them, but with those few words, a memorable experience is created. If you want people to remember your pro...

Reflections while driving home from a band rehearsal I had this afternoon. I've played with Paul Chet's bands for over seven years, one of the longest musical relationships I've been a part of in my long and often interrupted career. I was feeling very lucky to have found this group of guys to play with who are some of the finest musicians I've known. But I also realized that one of the things that made my finding this opportunity possible was that I was ready for it. I've spent thousands of hours learning, practicing, performing, and honing my own craft of music so that I can show up in a band like this and hold my own.  In my business, it's been the same. As I practice the craft and as I work on becoming not only a better coach but a better marketer, salesperson, and business owner, the level of opportunities that are coming my way is noticeably higher than has been the case until only recently. You can always be better at some aspect of what you do. And the b...

Since my video two days ago, I've had some other thoughts about what I'd do if I were starting over in business right now. Like I said in the last video, I'm not sure what exactly I'd do differently since the business landscape is so different now than it was then, especially online business.  But I realized there are a few things I would do differently based on my experience. In this Coffee Break, I share what they are and why I would approach my business with these changes. I also tell you a couple of the coaches I would hire to help me get started. I've already taken a class with Tad Hargrave at Marketing for Hippies and I think I would look to him as one of my first choices for coaching and mentoring. I admire the way his own business has evolved and we're enough alike that I think he would understand me and push me where I need to be pushed.  My second choice for mentoring would be Danielle Gardner. I have not had a conversation with her yet, but I like the...

If you're ready to expand and scale your business beyond what you're able to do yourself, the first place most consultants will tell you to start is in hiring help. The learning curve and blind spots to this process, especially the first time, can make finding and hiring help a harrowing experience. There are a lot of ways the process can go sideways and leave you and your business in a precarious place. Sophie Zollmann helps small business owners cover these bases easily and with one-stop shopping. You don't have to find a specialist for every other area of your business because she already has the team in place to do all the things you need to have done. And that leaves you with the time you need to do your own job well. Sophie is a certified online business manager, social media manager, and client acquisition specialist. She also brings years of experience as a virtual assistant and business owner to your side. She works with successful healing practitioners, coaches, c...

One of the FAQs in my world is what would I do differently if I were starting over in my business. That is an interesting question to consider because if I started over again today, the circumstances, options, and available tools I have now are very different than when I started my earlier careers and businesses. Much of what I've learned in the past twelve years has gone through several cycles of evolution. The basic tasks don't change, but the way I do them changes often. And I can't predict even in the next few months what the circumstance of my business will be. All I can really do is work with the tools I have in the present moment to reach and serve the people I can help. It's still a good thing to plan with the understanding that life will unfold in a way that we all have to adapt. Additionally, not only do our circumstances and tools change, but our interests, desires, and bodies change, too. So those changes will influence how we would start if we were starting...

I've met many people who want to make all or part of their living doing creative work but they're intimidated by the business part of it. I get it, business can seem like a very big deal with a lot of moving parts and a steep learning curve. But people aren't born good at business. Business is a skillset and skills are learned. Yes, you can have an aptitude for something. I've met people who were really great at sales early in their lives, but they still had to learn the skills associated with selling. I have an aptitude for music, but I wasn't born able to play the guitar masterfully. It took love and commitment to learning the thing before I could do it competently. Business is the same. What I usually ask people who come to me with this situation is if they are dealing with a skill problem or a will problem. Is it that they can't learn or they don't want to invest the time? We've all heard crap singers who were successful in the music business because...

I've had a few conversations lately with creative people who feel like their work is insignificant in a time when such terrifying events are happening in the world. I have joined them in this feeling. It's hard to think about and talk about things like business and marketing as innocent people fight to defend their homeland while it has been arbitrarily attacked. As these historical events and examples of exceptional courage unfold before us, it's easy to think that our small, creative output has no place, at least for right now, in the greater scheme of things. In this Coffee Break, I have a couple of thoughts to share about it. This time is another opportunity for humans who care to find greater ways of coming together both in opposition to and as a viable alternative to those who would dominate the world by force. For some of us, there are ways to bring our talents together in service to a much greater cause than our own egoic interests. For others of us, there is a call...