200th Episode Celebration, Part Two – Ellen Yin, Provides FREE Small Business Coaching, Answering Questions from Our Very Own Listeners
For our 200th episode celebration, our founder Ellen Yin provides more small business coaching tips (click here for Part 1)!
Today, Ellen answers ANOTHER 10 questions from our very own listeners. In the case study below, we’ll share three of those excellent Q’s and A’s from this episode! Click the link above and check out the podcast episode for more free coaching advice!
Q: “I have a podcast called Speak Up with Laura, but I feel like it’s lost its sizzle. I want to know if you have any suggestions for adding more value.” – Laura Camacho, Communication Coach, @speakupwithlaura
A: “I think you need to get clear on what part of your podcast you feel bored with… and what is the larger purpose of your podcast.”
Before Ellen provided any small business coaching ideas for adding value to Laura’s podcast, she started by breaking it down.
Is there an element of Laura’s podcast that has lost its appeal, rather than the whole thing?
For instance…
“Do you feel like it’s the format?”
Like the Cubicle to CEO® podcast, Laura interviews a lot of guests. Perhaps, Ellen offers, you could switch to a solo show. Or, if you’re not quite ready to shift the format, maybe you can introduce a new segment.
If not the format, says Ellen,…
“Is it the frequency?”
Many people who start a podcast default to a weekly cadence. It’s common, sure—but is it sustainable?
“Have you considered publishing an episode once every two weeks? Or making a season-based show, where you’re able to batch record and drip out episodes and have hiatuses in between?”
“Is it the guest selection?”
At one point in Ellen’s own journey as a podcast host, this was a question she asked herself!
“Prior to our current show format, we used to just fly by the seat of our pants,” Ellen explains. “It was more like coffee between friends.”
Don’t get us wrong, the Cubicle to CEO® team has no problem with good ole’ coffee dates—but that wasn’t the intended structure of the show.
“I realized that what I loved most when talking to entrepreneurs was understanding the real-time strategies they were implementing in their own business,” Ellen adds.
“When we switched to our new format, everything changed.”
“What is the larger purpose of your podcast?”
Lastly, Ellen encourages Laura to think about the greater purpose of her podcast.
“This is where context really matters,” says Ellen. “As a media company, our podcast is one of our primary products. It makes sense to center a large amount of our week and our resources around building the show.”
Laura, however, has a communication coaching business, which begs the question…
“What role does your podcast play in your larger business ecosystem?”
Is it a passion project? A lead generation tool? A means of networking?
Ellen’s final small business coaching tip for Laura is that the purpose of her podcast should impact the time, energy, and resources she invests in it.
Q: How do you get over the fear of outsourcing certain parts of your business to other people and experts in the area?” – Nicola Moors, Copywriter, @nicolamoors
A: “Your feelings are totally valid… However, have you ever thought maybe I’m already cutting into my profit margin by not acting on this?”
Nicola has a thriving copywriting business. She’s acquired some amazing clients over the years.
BUT, a large chunk of her time is wasted on tech and admin tasks.
“Even though my revenue is great,” she adds, “I feel scared and nervous at the thought of cutting into that profit margin.”
First and foremost, Ellen says, your feelings are valid. (Don’t we all need that message from time to time!)
“This is something all of us struggle with,” says Ellen. “It always feels scary to take your hard-earned money and put it somewhere you don’t have a guarantee on a return.”
Then, Ellen asks a question that flips Nicola’s fears upside-down…
“Have you ever thought maybe I’m already cutting into my profit margin by not acting on this?”
Ellen’s argument here is that there is an opportunity cost to the decision Nicole is already making—the decision to NOT hire.
“You may think, ‘Oh, I just haven’t made a decision about hiring.’ But every day you don’t hire, you are actively making a decision,” she explains.
Every hour Nicola spends on tech or admin is an hour she’s NOT spending on building relationships with clients or maintaining relationships with existing clients.
“In reality, you are already cutting into your profit margin,” she explains, “it’s just from a different angle.”
As if this small business coaching tip wasn’t enough to compel us, Ellen asks another profound question…
“What are you protecting your high-profit margin for?”
To be clear, Ellen feels that urge to hold onto hard-earned cash.
“Coming from the immigrant mentality, it feels like you need to keep as much as you earn. At least, that’s how I felt growing up.”
Today, however, Ellen lives by a new mantra…
“Money ultimately is a tool to serve a purpose,” she shares. “So if you have high-profit margins, and you’re wanting to maintain that, what are you maintaining it for?”
Perhaps, Ellen muses, there is a certain lifestyle Nicola wants to maintain. Maybe she is planning to make a large purchase in the near future…
Or, maybe she’s holding onto that cash for no real reason at all.
(If that question doesn’t get your wheels turning, read it again!)
“When faced with a new entrepreneurial opportunity that brings about some fear, how do you reframe or realign so you can move forward with that opportunity?” – Juliette Molina, Makeup Artist, @julesbmakeupgirl
A: “I have been taught by Kaitlyn Carlson [Ellen’s financial advisor] whenever I want to make an investment in something to write an ‘investment thesis.’”
Juliette is a previous podcast guest, along with her biz bestie, Mindi Trimble (who, by the way, also asks a question in this episode). If you’d like to learn how this duo helped each other reach their first $10k months, check it out here!
Now, back to Juliette’s question…
“I’m going to link this to another guest we recently had on the show, Kaitlyn Carlson,” says Ellen of her personal wealth manager. Kaitlyn’s episode is part of our retirement for entrepreneurs series, which is JAM-PACKED with expert advice on retirement planning, so be sure to check it out!
Again, back to Juliette’s question…
“The piece I want to pull out from my conversation with Kaitlyn for you, Jules, is whenever I want to make an investment in something, she asked me to write an ‘investment thesis.’”
To be clear, Ellen isn’t referring to a full-blown, postdoc research paper. (Deep breaths, everyone.)
“The investment thesis is a summary, showing my understanding and acceptance of what I hope will come of this investment and assessing the risk if it doesn’t pan out.”
An investment thesis covers the best-case scenario and the worst-case scenario.
Ellen had to create an investment thesis recently when she decided to invest in a startup. The thesis forced Ellen to think through every possible outcome she could experience investing in this business—even ones that aren’t monetary at all.
Perhaps the ROI from the potential investment is experience or new relationships. The thesis forced her to think through these possible outcomes and ask, “Is it worth it?”
“I would suggest you create your own form,” says Ellen. “Maybe it’s not called ‘investment thesis.’ Maybe it’s your ‘opportunity thesis.’”
“Every opportunity brings you chances to win in more than one way.”
Like what you hear? We’ve barely scratched the surface…
What we DIDN’T cover in this blog post includes…
- Advice for high school students preparing for a career in online entrepreneurship
- When Ellen knew to take the leap full-time into her business
- Tips for welcoming and nurturing cold leads coming from ads
Ellen has been interviewing rockstar female entrepreneurs for FOUR YEARS and has learned a lot along the way. For more small business coaching from Ellen and her network, scroll to the top or bottom of this post and listen to the full episode today!
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