Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

I use a simple framework to guide my marketing and sales activities. 1. Connect human to human - forget the technique and build a real relationship through your message. 2. Inspire imagination - Help people experience a different possibility in their mind and show how you will help them reach it. 3. Invite people to take the next step toward that outcome. 4. Deliver valuable and memorable experiences - No matter how small your message is, you have an opportunity to make a positive difference. Make it. This framework has served me well, and I recommend it to everyone. In this Coffee Break, I share a recent conversation in which the topic of delivering valuable experiences came up. I've shared the same ideas here. I offer coaching and courses to teach you how to do this. Please get in touch, and let's explore how this framework can help you. #messaging #framework #value 

In the right state of mind, every one of us is susceptible to the suggestions of others. Advertisers have been planting ideas, catchphrases, taglines, mottoes, and anything else they can slip through our mental filters for the length of human history. Every day, we witness how powerful irrational and sometimes dangerous beliefs can be, yet we constantly expose ourselves to them through the inputs we choose. Just today, I heard a well-known senator plant the seed that Americans are ready for civil war. And I know he knows exactly what he's doing. He's made a long political career out of the power of suggestion. If you hear the same messages over and over and over again, at some point, you stop questioning their validity, and they become "true" to you. After several hours of concentrated work this afternoon, I listened to a YouTube video while finishing some reports. About 45 minutes after the video had ended, there was a phrase that kept inserting itself into my awaren...

  In a recent conversation with a friend, she asked what I did to build my audience. I asked her where her curiosity about that question stemmed from. She talked about recent events she's applied to be a speaker or presenter for and how much importance was placed, not on her topic or her expertise, but on the size of her audience. While she has a respectable number of loyal followers, a large percentage who engage with her social media efforts and open her emails, it wasn't enough to satisfy the event hosts. The only metric that meant anything to them was her list size. They passed on having her present - in my mind, a huge loss for them. In answer to her question, I offered that I was fanatical about building my mailing list for the first several years of my coaching and my online businesses. I spent significant time every day strategically creating and posting content in front of new eyes, doing anything I could to get subscribers. And I got subscribers. But in the process, I...

I've had twenty ideas for what to talk about in this video, but when I push the record, I can't remember one. So here we are after 11 PM on a Sunday, and I have no idea what to say. What does this have to do with Willie Nelson? I saw Willie on VH1 Storytellers a couple of decades ago and remember him talking about how he wrote the song Crazy. Yes, the one immortalized by Patsy Cline. While in the show he talked about driving to Austin from Nashville, other accounts that made it to Wikipedia said it was an hour commute between his home and the radio station where he worked in Houston in 1958. This is the oral tradition here, so don't take me literally. In Storytellers, Willie came around to the idea of how he knew he had a good idea for a song. I'll talk about it in the Coffee Break, but it seems to me this information will be valuable to any content creator. How do you decide which ideas are good enough to make into something? Willie's idea test is one I've used...

 I've made a lot of PDF downloads for lead magnets, starting with a first guitar buyer's guide I offered for one of the first blogs I started in 2009. Free PDFs were how most online marketers built their lists back then, and it seemed to work pretty well - until it didn't. When I started to study digital marketing more intensely a few years later, I started to collect PDF lead magnets. The Google Drive folder where I keep them now lists over 600 document files stored there, and I can probably count the number I've read completely with my two hands. I've also tried to offer mini-courses in exchange for email addresses, which worked for a while, but those ultimately slowed down as the PDFs did. Finding ways to attract new customers and clients grew more difficult as people became wise to the tactics and the lead magnets' quality declined. I remember trying to find a way to use tools like surveys, and Google Forms to both gather information and deliver value, but i...

▼Watch and Listen Below!▼ A couple of years ago, I was on The Solopreneur Society website, and there was an invitation to find out my brand archetype. All I had to do was take a short quiz that would tell me some important information about my personality and how it relates to branding my business. I took the quiz and was blown away by the insights I gained from the result. I had to know how Dre Beltrami had done this Voodoo. She told me she used a quiz software called Interact. I looked it up immediately and subscribed right there. I had not seen anything like this - an interactive tool that piqued visitors' curiosity, delivered valuable information, and allowed me to be much more targeted with specific offers tailored to their needs. This was a marketer's dream! Since then, I've made several quizzes for clients and helped other clients navigate their way through the process of creating their quizzes, and I've been repeatedly impressed with the results. I've become...

Thanks to all who attended this morning's masterclass. I enjoyed the discussion in my breakout group very much and have been reflecting on it all day. We were specifically talking about what it is that people are attracted to in the work we do, whether as creative people, in business, or in the causes we support. A few answers presented themselves. First, we are attracted to people we sense have the same values as ours, or at least similar values. The qualities of life we find important tend to be important to them as well. We're also attracted to personality. I shared how many of the clients who find me tend to have a similar personality to mine and how the clients with an opposite personality often find working with me to be a conflicted experience.  Lastly, we just started talking about the quality of life people desire and how it often is a driver in finding our work. They're looking for a difference that our work delivers. Maybe enrichment, enlivenment, fulfillment, or...

A great gig tonight that may be my last, at least for a while. Gigs like this make me remember that music is worth it sometimes. Thanks for all your interest and support over the years - 43 years now. I'm always questioning how and why things work or don't work. Business is a fine laboratory for such studies. It's a mystery how something will work beautifully once, and then the next time it will sink like a stone. Even with excellent systems in place, you can still get mixed results and not have a clue why. For this reason, I find experts, expertise, and any combination of the two to be suspect. The best batters in the majors are lucky to average .300. This means that the most expert batters worldwide are successful less than a third of the time. I love to learn about business and marketing, and it's been a lifelong study that I enjoy immensely. I've had a lot of business ventures, and most of them have ended as learning experiences more than successes. As Edison sa...

▼▼Happening Tomorrow!▼▼ Even if you're not currently having any business problems, you will not want to miss out on this masterclass. It is going to be the best use of your time this year. You'll learn a repeatable, 15-minute technique to discover the core problem hamstringing your business, no matter the size of your business.    Once you discover the problem,  you'll find the solution that will have the biggest financial impact on your business today.    ... and the more impact you get, the more impact you have to give...   A 90-minute investment of your time tomorrow will pay dividends for the rest of your business-owning career.  And I mean dividends in every sense of the word... but especially dollars and time.  You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Register here! https://bit.ly/NextStepMasterclass Meet the Coaches!

 For those who have been asking if I have a template for a three-person Zoom video overlay, I have had this one for a while now.  It's a little more complicated than the two-person overlay because you have to resize your video track for the frames to align. If you want the template for the frames, click here: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFKGYSzvRA/-EEvc4xVF2GVWXBMyPC-hA/view?utm_content=DAFKGYSzvRA&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink&mode=preview Canva is a product I use every day. I'm also a Canva affiliate. I'd love for you to try Canva Pro here: https://partner.canva.com/c/1245006/647168/10068 #canva #zoom #videoediting 

Thanks for the positive feedback and the interest in What's Your Next Step? A Choose your Own Adventure Business Masterclass coming up this Thursday, August 25th, at 10 AM Mountain Time. I've featured interviews with the other six coaches on the program for the past week, and I have been asked to share what I'll be focusing on in the breakout session I'll be leading. When I was asked to identify the area I wanted to be my focus for the event, I came back to my favorite area of business - marketing. I've talked at length before about how much my views of marketing have changed. I used to loathe every minute I spent in marketing. It was difficult, exhausting, and not very fruitful. In order to get better at it, I didn't have to start thinking positively about the activities I didn't enjoy. That never worked! But I had to start evaluating how I was bringing my business and my clients together and let go of the things that didn't work. As I started to do tha...

The last coach in this series of introductions is Maryann Cruz. Maryann is a Connecticut-based business strategist, coach, and consultant who helps creatives build and grow the business side of their careers. In What's Your Next Step, Maryann will be leading a breakout session on the topic of when to automate, delegate, or outsource business tasks, so you have more time for the aspects of your business and work that you're best suited for. You can learn more about Maryann at https://MaryannCruz.co What's Your Next Step? A Choose Your Own Adventure Business Masterclass will be happening this Thursday, August 25, 2022, at 10 AM Mountain Time. The first half of the 90-minute event will pinpoint the area of your business you need to concentrate on right now. The second half will be spent in a breakout session with one of seven coaches specializing in the area you've identified as your priority. You don't have to set aside there to five days to attend this event, and you...

Followers of my podcast are already well acquainted with Alison Proffit. She's been a guest a couple of times, talking about soulful entrepreneurship and her January summit. Alison will be one of the featured coaches at What's Your Next Step? A Choose Your Own Adventure Business Masterclass coming up this Thursday, August 25, at 10 AM Mountain Time. Alison is a master coach when it comes to sales conversations. In the masterclass, she'll be leading a breakout session on the topic of conversion conversations. If sales is your top business priority, you won't want to miss it. Register at https://bit.ly/NextStepMasterclass The masterclass format is uniquely set up to deliver the highest value in a short amount of time. The first forty minutes will be spent helping you pinpoint the area of your business that needs your immediate focus. In the second half, you'll be paired with one of seven coaches specializing in the area you've identified as your priority. It's...

▼ Watch and Listen Below! ▼   This week, Your Own Best Company is making room to introduce you to six coaches who will be joining forces next Thursday, August 25th, at 10 AM Mountain Time for a 90-minute class that will be an unforgettable event. What's Your Next Step? A Choose Your Own Adventure Business Masterclass will be happening online. In 90-minutes you'll have a chance to pinpoint the one business priority that needs your attention right now, and then you'll join one of our seven coaches for a breakout session targeted to the specific priority you've identified. On the podcast this week, I'm excited to introduce you to the other six coaches I'll be joining for the Masterclass: LeAndra Foster - Speaking on building profit systems ( LeAndra@ElanLyfe.com ) Karen Joy Fritz - Presenting on the tech you need to deliver your best services ( https://karenjoyfritz.com ) Alison Proffit - Speaking on conversion conversations ( https://proffitcoach.com ) Maryann Cru...

Instead of the regular Virtual Coffee Break shows this week, I'm introducing you to the coaches I'll join next Thursday for the What's Your Next Step? A Choose Your Own Adventure Business Masterclass. This event is designed to be short, sweet, and to the point. The first half will be spent pinpointing the one area of your business where you need to focus right now. The second half will be a breakout session with one of seven coaches specializing in the area you need to focus on. Wins all around! Today, I'd like you to meet Mary Gaul. Mary is a coach and strategist with her company  Success Magnified, and she also has a company that specializes in virtual assistant services. Mary will offer a breakout session for this masterclass on when and how to hire help. Learn more about Mary at https://successmagnified.com This 90-minute masterclass will be one of your most helpful events this year. You don't have to set aside several days, and you don't have to weed throug...

Continuing the intros for next week's What's Your Next Step? A Choose Your Own Adventure Business Masterclass, I'm excited to be working with my friend Amanda Fuel. Amanda is a highly sought-after transformational speaking coach whose programs have made confident public speakers from people at every level of speaking experience. For the masterclass, Amanda will lead a breakout session on marketing without social media in which speaking plays a central role. She also has a free transformational speaking resource available at her website, https://nextlevelfuel.com . What's Your Next Step? A Choose Your Own Adventure Business Masterclass is happening Thursday, August 25th, from 10-11:30 AM Mountain Time in an online forum. The first half of the event will be a time for participants to identify their primary area of concern in their business right now, and the second half will pair them with one of seven coaches whose specialty aligns with their business priority. For more ...

I'm taking a few days away from the regular Coffee Break schedule to tell you about a masterclass I'm participating in next week and to introduce you to the other coaches I'll be working with on the event. Today, I'll introduce Karen Joy Fritz, who helps business owners find the right tech solutions that help them deliver their best service. You can learn more about Karen at https://karenjoyfritz.com . Here's more information and an enrollment link for the masterclass. I hope to see you there! https://bit.ly/NextStepMasterclass Cut through the Marketing Overwhelm NOW It used to be so simple…  You’d realize there was a problem, do a little online research, and then BAM, you’d choose a solution.  Simple. Easy. CLEAR. But nowadays, I get targeted ads for problems I don’t even know if I have yet! Do I have that problem?  Am I ready for that yet? Do I need that now? Later? Someday? Never? This is Marketing Overwhelm.  And it impacts 100% of business owners, because no on...

I recently had the pleasure and honor of being interviewed by coach Kc Rossi, someone I admire and am glad to call my friend. She is the host of Women Developing Brilliance - The Spirit of Business Podcast. I was doubly thrilled to be celebrating her 200th podcast episode, no small feat that is the combination of several years of commitment and work. Thanks, Kc, for the opportunity and for all the goodness you bring into the world! Here's what Kc said about this episode in her intro: Join me in celebrating the 200th episode of the Women Developing Brilliance® — The Spirit of Business podcast!  I’ve had incredible guests on the show from all over the world sharing their wisdom and today is no different. Franklin Taggart provides deep insights from an introvert’s personal journey.  In this Women Developing Brilliance® — The Spirit of Business episode, you will learn: 🎵 A secret perspective that can help make you an uncommon coach 🎵 Why you sit on your gold and what to do about...

 This week, I'll take a break from the regular Coffee Break programming to introduce you to each of the presenters at an online masterclass I'll be participating in next Thursday, August 25th.  The event is What's Your Next Step: A Choose Your Own Adventure Business Masterclass. It's a 90-minute class where you'll identify the area you need to work on most and then work with one of seven coaches on the area you've identified.  The guest I'll introduce today is LeAndra Foster, a business and profitability coach. In the masterclass, she'll be talking about building your profit. Here she tells us about two common obstacles between small businesses and profitability. Here are some more details about the masterclass. See you there! If you've ever wished that your business came with an Owner's Manual, or recipe book,  or something with step-by-step instructions... You've got to check out What's Your Next Step? https://bit.ly/NextStepMasterclass...

There's a pervasive belief that certain skills are inborn, innate talents and don't require any kind of learning or practice. Another belief suggests that new skills shouldn't take time to be mastered and that they should be easily adapted and integrated. Life doesn't work that way. If you're learning to play the guitar, you'll spend hour after hour, day after day, week after week, and year after year learning and mastering the craft. The same goes for your business. YOu will have to learn how to plan, how to market, how to sell, and how to serve. Those aren't second nature until they've been mastered, and mastery doesn't happen overnight. I still have one guitar student, and I'm not currently taking on any more, thanks. This one guitar student is diligent in practicing, and she makes steady progress. When she masters a song, she doesn't stop playing it. It becomes a part of her repertoire, and she needs to continue playing it, so she doesn...

I have a special empathy for people intimidated and even terrified by marketing. I've been there, and I know how big, overwhelming, and scary it can feel, especially for new business owners who know how much is riding on it. In this Coffee Break, I gained a few insights from observing a couple of different people in the music world. One felt they had to be marketing constantly, showing up everywhere, all the time. Interestingly, the results weren't any better than the next person, who spent most of their time nurturing her relationships with existing fans and equipping them to bring more people into her audience.  The second person described above consistently had full rooms and happy fans. The first one spent most of her time finding new people to invite and didn't have the consistency that the second did. Another thing I observed was that a few musicians in my circle were masters at creating memorable and valuable experiences with their fans. These were the ones who showe...

▼Watch and Listen Below!▼ Thought Leader is one of the most popular marketing, business, and entrepreneurship buzzwords of recent years. In this episode, we pause to think about what it really means, learn the historical background of the term, and investigate how its use has changed. We wonder out loud if a person can declare themselves a thought leader, identify people who may or may not be thought leaders, and shift into talking about how we can become better and deeper thinkers. Audrey Holst is a coach, consultant, and the founder of Fortitude and Flow, which serves individuals and organizations who are challenged by the habit of perfectionism. Find her at https://fortitudeandflow.com or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-holst/ Erica Holthausen teaches coaches, consultants, and other experts how to get their professional articles published by the publications their audiences read. Find Erica at https://catchlinecommunications.com or on LinkedIn at https://www.link...

  Sometimes solopreneurs find job opportunities appealing enough to take some of their time and energy away from their businesses in favor of the job. Recently, I had a person ask if taking a job meant that they weren't committed enough to their business and should close it down. My answer has more questions than resolutions. I want to know more. Are they ready to be done with their business? Do they need the steady income and regular structure the job provides? Have they been considering closing their business? Do they need to hire help or add partners? Unless you want one, there isn't a straightforward yes or no answer to this. Then my answer is yes. I also want to highlight that every business has a lifecycle; sometimes you reach the end and have decisions to make. Does the business model need to change? Is there another value that can be developed for the market you serve? Again, no direct or easy answers. I have more to say in the Coffee Break, but I also want to add that ...

After getting ghosted on a copywriting job I was hired for by a colleague, I have some things to say about the professional treatment and attitudes you need when you work with creative contractors. It shouldn't amaze me anymore to see just how little creative talents and professions are valued in the marketplace. Anyone who has ever mastered a craft seen as artistic or creative is not treated with the same level of professional respect as a janitor. We're routinely asked to undervalue our work and accept prices that don't cover basic costs. We're asked to deliver perfection on the first try. We're asked to work under ridiculously short timelines. And then when the client doesn't apparently like what we're doing, they don't even give us the courtesy of a phone call? Sorry to say that this doesn't speak well of their business practices, and it makes me wonder how they treat their clients. I'll be slow to refer anyone to these people; before this, I...

Or rather, don't pay attention to my ten-year-old blog site, last-minute copy on my sales page, and disdainful approach to social media.  For my clients, the work is easier. I can see it objectively, find the gaps, fill them in, and we're golden. They get great results, and we're all happy. Behind the curtain, a guy throws spaghetti on the wall, lets it all fall to the floor, and doesn't clean up after himself. It's all too much! Yet another shoemaker whose family has no shoes, here I am, and my marketing is a pile of steamy. But my clients are rocking! I'm lucky to have customers who are so happy with what we've accomplished that they send people to me directly. Otherwise, I'd have no business based on my own marketing. Part of it is that I'm too close to it to be objective. Second of all, I'm not depending on the website or social media activity for business right now. And finally, there are so many other ways I'd rather spend my time than ...

I've had a couple of hard days. Feeling emotions that are bigger than their trigger. Feeling clueless and unfocused as I try to show up for my work. And aware of a sense of loss that has been affirmed by a few recent dreams of loved ones who've passed in the last few years. I don't fight these days, feelings or movements. They're just as important as the positive feeling days. The reflections and insights that come through on days like this couldn't come through on days when my energy is high, my clarity and focus allow me to get things done, so there is a silver lining. I'm not worried about days like this because they always pass. Sometimes they happen ahead of important breakthroughs, or they are a way to prepare me for opportunities I otherwise would not be willing or able to consider. My encouragement to you is to just find your way through them with as much grace as you can muster. These times are not avoidable, nor are they shameful. They are just a part ...

Creators are frequently asked to contribute their talents to events, promotions, and venues, and instead of being paid for their time, talent, and craft, they are asked to pay to participate. This has been going on in the music world for years.  At some point, venue owners realized there were enough musicians who were desperate for exposure out there that instead of paying for musical performances, they would ask the musicians to pay to play. In this video, I share my point of view on what is wrong with that picture. I am begging at this point for people who host venues, events, and promotions to stop this practice. You need to work out compensation for creators into your business model. Your short-term gains are leading to the demise of your cash cow industry, and you won't be able to sustain your business with this practice in the long term either. And if you are a creator, please stop offering your time, talent, and craft to people at a cost to you that will never be compensated...

▼Watch and Listen Below!▼ Back in February, I made a book recommendation video for a book I had just read called Quiet Marketing: A Calm, Minimal Approach to Business and Online Visibility for Highly Sensitive Solopreneurs (Amazon Associate link: https://amzn.to/3oMCxES ) This short book is packed with essential insights, principles, and practices for highly sensitive and intuitive people who have found their way into business ownership. I'm delighted today to introduce you to the author of Quiet Marketing, Danielle Gardner. In addition to being an author, Danielle is a business mentor and tiny course creator. Her work with clients is centered around taking a calm, minimal approach to business and online visibility that is especially suited to Highly Sensitive solopreneurs.   In today's conversation, we hear about: Dani's career evolution from leaving the perks and paychecks of the corporate world to pursuing work more aligned with her gifts. Creating your own definition of...

A few years ago, I was introduced to Susan Cain's first book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking , and was deeply affected by what she had written. She was describing my repeated experience in such accurate detail that I wondered if she'd been able to do a Google search of my thought banks. Turns out I'm just not as unique as I thought I was. My book group of two that I have enjoyed participating in for the past year has been reading Susan Cain's latest book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, and I'm having a stark sense of deja vu. She is putting my internal world on paper for the whole world to see. I've had a streak of melancholy as a feature of my existence since I was very young. I don't remember a time in my life when it wasn't nearby. It was never based on my circumstances; it was almost as if it was central to my worldview. And longing too has been a companion. I think this book will be an affir...

You may have heard the old sales trope about people don't buy the drill; they buy the hole. I take that even further and suggest that people buy the enhancement to their life from the painting hung on the hook held by the screw in the wall that was put into the hole drilled by the drill. For the creators I work with who struggle with their pricing, I like to say that your price isn't for the object; it's for the desired experience. People buy things because of the experience of life they desire. And often, they're inspired to buy when certain experiences are suggested. When I learned this for myself, playing gigs became less an exchange of attention for money, and they became a more holistic offer - the music was a part of the enhanced experience of being together and enjoying an evening out. As I started to approach gigs that way, I started to make more money both in the pay for the gig and in tips. Tips skyrocketed. This doesn't just apply in artistic circumstance...

I was referred to a coach early in my music career who had helped another musician friend of mine get her business started. When I hired her I found that most of the business things she was teaching were already things I knew, but the area where I really needed help was marketing. The marketing advice she gave me was great for coaches but not so much for musicians. I ended up finding some people who were ahead of me in their musical success and learning from them how to do marketing. And as I learned, I became a resource for those who were getting started after me. When my music career was disrupted and coaching became my main stream, the first people who sought my help were these musicians, the ones who were just getting started and had no clue.  If you're trying to find people to help, look for those who are a step or two behind you in the path you're on and see if there is an opportunity there for you. You are uniquely qualified in both knowledge and experience to help them....

Don't make making money harder than it has to be. There are opportunities all around you. If your fancy automated marketing funnel isn't working yet and you need cash, find someone to help and charge them for it. Know how to design a logo? Visit some websites until you find someone who needs a logo, and then be bold about telling them they need to hire you. Do you know how to make an animated intro for a video? Find someone on YouTube who doesn't have one yet, and tell them you'll make one for them today for $250. Know someone on your block whose yard needs to be raked? Knock on the door, remind them about the HOA rules, and tell them you'll have it done by lunchtime. If you need money, stop waiting for it to find you, and go out and help someone, then charge them for it. Don't make it any more difficult than that.  You have time to tweak your funnel until it's humming like an Indy car, but don't allow desperation to screw everything up for you. #funnel ...