Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

Sharing the podcast panel today at Founded in FoCo, I was struck by how each of us on the panel had been through major path changes in our lives and careers. In our own way, each of us had decided to turn our backs on convention and move in a self-determined direction. And just before the panel, I'd had a wonderful catch-up conversation with a friend I hadn't seen in a few years. I was struck by a similar story that she told of finally reaching the point where she could no longer tolerate the way life had become and was motivated to make some significant changes in her career. For me, one pattern has been to hold on to circumstances that my soul wants to leave behind, and I have to get to a place of serious discomfort and rage before I'm willing to start letting go. As I've gotten older, I've wondered if there aren't earlier warning signs that I could pay attention to before getting to the point of severity. In this Coffee Break, I share some insights I've s

I've been asked three times this week if it's too late to get into content marketing, or more specifically, YouTube or podcasting. My answer is no, it's not too late. The days of easy audience building on those channels may indeed be a thing of the past, but there is still room for every unique voice out there, especially if they have a new angle to share or a specialty that hasn't been widely discovered. I think it's smart now to be more narrowly targeted with your show topic. Most of the general topics have been done into the ground, but the niches within those topics may have never been touched. Do your research and see what gaps there are in your specialty area. Make your channels about that. Fill in the gaps with your knowledge and point of view.  I see the online realm as a mosaic with an untold number of unique tiles. Your tiles are just as important to the composition of the picture as all the rest. The one thing that hasn't been saturated yet is your ma

I'll be participating in a panel discussion on podcasting this Friday, September 30, 2022, for the Founded in FoCo event. If you're located in Northern Colorado and would like to attend, the free event is detailed here: https://foundedinfoco.com In getting ready for the panel, I've been going over my own experiences in podcasting. I did my first in 2010 as a part of a home recording content channel I had. It lasted only for about a dozen episodes before life interrupted, but I remember the learning curve back then was very steep, and the pieces that had to be put together were numerous compared to blogging which took about ten minutes to set up. My next podcast happened in 2017. Making Your Own Way was a podcast that featured interviews with many of my friends and clients who had decided to leave behind the conventional career and life paths and forge their own. Make Your Own Way also lasted for about a dozen episodes, and I changed the podcast's theme to The Reset. The

Some of us believe that we can turn our successes into formulas and that if we can just figure out what people want to see and hear, they'll want to consume the content we create. We study analytics to see any patterns of predictable behavior to replicate what has already been successful, only to find that we could release the exact same video on two different days and get two entirely different reactions.  Yet we keep looking for the magic formula - that one piece of virality that will push our visibility from obscurity to influencer overnight. We study trends and attempt to read the minds of potential content consumers, trying to know in advance what they will be in the mood for and then bending our creativity in that direction.  It seems that of those who have been successful, extremely few were overnight. The majority of people who have grown large audiences have been consistently releasing the best content they could muster, and the audience decided if it was interesting or no

Don't worry about the future. Learn to find a better feeling right now. It's amazing to see how the body-mind resets itself automatically when the fixated focus of our awareness lets go of a troubling thought. Today I'm working on taxes. My first reaction to taxes is usually dread. I dig up old memories of not being prepared, owing more money than I had, and facing penalties and debt. Remembering those things freaks me out a little. But I don't keep my focus there. As I sift through receipts, bank statements, and calendars, my awareness shifts to a larger story of my past year.  All the people I worked with were happy to pay me to work with them. All the things I was able to buy for myself and my family. All the ups and downs I made it through. As I start to think of all these other things, my feelings change. In this Coffee Break, I share my opinion that we get too wrapped up about creating our future through thinking that we forget we're actually creating our pres

What if you don't know what you should be doing? Or if you don't have a clear sense of your life's purpose? Or what if it's no big deal and you just need to do anything for money for a little whole? All good questions that are the topic of today's Virtual Coffee Break. If you're at a place where you don't know what's next, but you do know you need to change direction, there are a few things I'll encourage you to do. 1. Make a list of all the things you don't want to do. Sometimes this shakes the cobwebs loose and makes you aware of things you truly want. 2. Follow your curiosity. Don't judge it; go with it and see where it leads. It kills cats, but not humans. 3. Line up for more education. You don't have to get a degree, but you can find an interesting subject and start learning more. 4. Find someone who is not financially or emotionally dependent on you and tell them honestly how you're feeling and ask if they have suggestions or gu

Today, I visited Grace Yoga and Wellness in Loveland, Colorado, a business owned by my friends Nicole and Ryan Murphy. I've been inspired by their story since I've known them, but today I'm even more inspired after seeing what their business has become. To learn more about them and the business they've created, I'm going to recommend visiting their website, https://lovegraceyoga.com   You can read their story there and see where faith, vision, courage, and hard work can lead. Even if you're not a local resident, I'd encourage you to just hear and see what they've created.  If you are local, you need to go for an in-person visit sometime soon. There is something there literally for everyone. I wish Nicole, Ryan, and all others associated with Grace Yoga and Wellness a happy 11th anniversary in business. You've achieved something that most small business owners and founders never reach, and your success is well deserved! #smallbusiness #yoga #lovelandc