Episode 25: Exploding Into Action With Michelle Of Bombchelle

In this interview I had the pleasure of speaking to Michelle of Bombchelle where she helps creatives explode into action. She shared how she got started with her business and what made her take a creative approach to systems and productivity and how to use a CRM (customer relationship management) for your business.

Click play to listen. [heads up: there were a few fbombs that were dropped..just in case :)]

Key Takeaways:

Using the right tools will help you manage your customer relationships
Systems help you focus on the right things to get done
Productivity + Systems = More Joy and Less Frustration! click to tweet

CHECK OUT THE DON’T LOSE YOUR SHIT SALE ends August 9th

Details here.

Resources/People Mentioned

About Michelle

Founder of Bombchelle, Michelle makes systems/productivity/organization/all that incredibly boring sounding stuff incredibly NOT boring so that you + your biz can reap the rewards. Connect with her online @_chelleschock and get her weekly Systems 101 on the Dispatch over at www.bombchelle.com.

{Q&A} Should I Use A Social Media Management System?

I got asked this question at a recent talk I gave about the importance of community to help you leap, launch and grow and of course, social media came up! I figured that there are may be others with this burning question so thought I would share:

My answer, a resounding-HELL YEAH!

Seriously, I could not survive* without my social media management system (SMS) of choice, Hootsuite (*yes, total #socialmediafirstworldproblems) and am a big advocate of using these types of tools to manage your social media presence.

Why?

Let me count the ways:

1. Method to the Madness

Twitter.com can be full on chaotic when you first start out. Especially if you’ve gone and followed hundreds of people. The stream moves fast, there are a bajillion conversations happening and you. have . no . idea.

How a management system helps?

With a tool like Hootsuite (which I might add has a free-plan), you can import/create Twitter lists and ~~stalk~~ follow conversations much more closely than you can on Twitter.com. You don’t have to follow your home feed but rather zoom in on the conversations that are more relevant/interesting to you.

2. Manage your multiple personalities from one place

Got multiple identities? You know where you have a profile for your personal use and one for where you want to be a little more business-y? SMS’s have you covered. From your dashboard you can manage your multiple Twitter identities from one place and decide what to post and where. Bonus: you can also add other social networks

3. Actually Join The Conversation

Because of course you want to be able to chime in when people talk about you or share your content. Yep. Instead of scratching your head and wondering what’s going on, management tools have got you covered- you can create different streams that allow you to easily follow keywords related to your brand. For instance, I have a stream with “sidekickpm” that pulls in any blog posts that may have been shared even when my twitter handle @SandySidhu has not been included.

4. Scheduling!

Yep. I said it. And it’s not a bad thing. You can’t be on social media all the time. You just can’t. But your business can be with the help of scheduling. This topic could be a post in itself, but essentially, social media management systems allow you to plan out your social media content ahead of time, something you can’t do directly on Twitter.

Promoting a new service? Schedule out content throughout the week.
Launching a new product? Schedule out teasers before, during and after your launch.
Blogging? Schedule your post to go out at different times of the week to reach different audiences.

5. Keywords, Hashtags and all that

Last but not least, one of my favorite uses of Hootsuite, is to follow keywords/keyword phrases and hashtags. These might be related to questions that I could/want to answer or chats that I want to participate in.

So, are you convinced yet? Let me know in the comments how you plan on using one!

Have a question that you want answered? Submit it here and it just may be the next Q&A featured!

How To Create Your First Online Product Part 2

In the last post, I talked about getting started with your online product and compared the process to creating a cupcake vs the whole cake.

Now we’ll look at how to decide which product to develop (because you have tons of ideas, right?)

To be successful, your product really only needs three things:

Solve a problem

People who want it

A way to get paid

Before we get into the actual tools that you can use to develop your minimal viable product, it’s important to figure out who you’ve created this product for. So how do you figure that out?

Step 1: Identify The Problem

What areas do people generally ask you questions about?
What pain-point can you solve for people?

Think in terms of problem and solution

Step 2: Who has this problem?

Talk to people: Both online (in Facebook/LinkedIn and Google+ groups) and offline at networking events

Pick up the phone and talk to key customers- it helps to have structured questions to start the conversation and to let them know how much of their time you will need.

Survey your audience using a poll on Facebook, or using a survey tool like Survey Monkey or by creating a Google form.

Use tools like Google Keyword Search to see how people are searching for problems that you are hoping to solve

STEP 2 is critical. It’s better to start with an interest list then creating a product that no one wants. And by surveying customers and talking to your audience you will get additional insights as to what problems your ideal customer is struggling with.

In the next post, we’ll start looking at easy low-cost ways to produce and deliver your online product.

Your turn:
Start investigating and figuring out who you would create your first online product for…Leave me a comment below and share the results of a survey you’ve done / or share a link to your survey!

Sign up below to get the entire series delivered in ebook format (for free*).

Yes, please!

World Domination Summit: Connecting, Finding Your Joy & Fear Of Failure

I just came back from the World Domination Summit in Portland and it took me a few days before I could put in to words what it meant for me.

For those of you unfamiliar with the event, it is organized by Chris Guillebeau who blogs about un-conformity and living an unconventional life. I first came across him a few years ago when a friend told me about his book, “The Art of Non-Conformity” and have been hooked ever since.

Clearly, I’m not the only one as nearly 3000 other people from around the world descended on Portland to partake in this summit.

Chris organized a stellar event and there was so much to do with the organized sessions, meetups and other activities going on. FOMO (fear of missing out) was definitely a thing but you just needed to roll with it and be present wherever you were.

It was like the Internet had come to life…all these people who I’ve been following were right there. What I absolutely loved was meeting people who I’ve been connecting with online, giving them a hug IRL and deepening existing friendships. For me this alone made the event worth it!

women mastermind online networking group

WEMastermind ladies!

My 3 Big Takeaways:

1 Find Your Peeps

Magic happens when you surround yourself with people who take action..whether it is this particular summit, a networking event ..things super-charge when you connect with doers, movers and shakers. Find your people- get to those events and make things happen!

2 Find Your Joy And Do More Of That

In a packed house (rather church), Danielle Laporte answered people’s burning questions and there were oh so many tweetables! Amongst my favorites- “Imprint your cells with your victories”. “Joy is a birthright” “You need to listen to the muse when she shows up or she won’t show up as much.” “You have to be on purpose.”

3 Start. Experiment. Failure is Okay

I absolutely loved Jia Jiang’s talk on fear and rejection. Too often we hold ourselves back from actually starting because we’re afraid of failing. But what is the cost of not trying and actually succeeding? A LOT. You might actually exceed your expectations and blow your mind!

If you haven’t heard his story check out his TEDX Talk and his surprising lessons from 100 Days of Rejection:

There was a line that singer/song-writer Clare Bowditch shared that grabbed my attention, particularly when you are feeling overwhelmed and not sure which direction to take:

You don’t have to do just one thing, but you have to start something. ~ Clare Bowditch

And finally,

You can’t dream your way to success. Action trumps everything.

And this happened. Apparently there is a slight difference between 80’s dance party and “costume” party. But really, could you do it any other way?

Even if you couldn’t make it to WDS, I’d love to hear in the comments below something that you plan on taking action that is outside of your comfort zone but you’ve been itching to do!

Featured Image Photo Credit: Armosa Studios

How To Record A Google+ Hangout Without Doing A Hangout On Air

So first off, you’re probably wondering why would you want to record a Google+ Hangout?

Well, in one of my mastermind groups we regularly do Google Hangouts on different business topics (list building, side-hustling etc) and just like webinars, not everyone can make it live.

Not to mention, Hangouts have limits to 10 people and therefore not all members can join live.

So, why not just do a Hangout On Air?

Because Thrive Hive Google Hangout sessions are for members only, so streaming live to Youtube is not really an option since we keep this content private. We decided against using Webinar format since we like the face-to-face interaction as we are an online community and interacting “in-person” is great.

We could use Go To Meeting (and have in the past) but paying a monthly fee for something we weren’t going to use all the time wasn’t appealing.

Having fun with my mastermind group 🙂

How To Record a Google+ Hangout

There is no default way to hit record on your Google Hangout (yet) so:

Step 1:

To record a Hangout I use the software discussed in: How To Do Screencasts, in particular, Camtasia Studio.

I set up Camtasia with the Youtube preset:

And once everyone has joined the Hangout, I hit record.

Step 2:

Once the Hangout is complete, I open the recording in Camtasia and prepare the file to be exported to Youtube (and any editing that may be needed).

Step 3:

The final step is to upload to your Youtube channel.

Et voilà! The final product:

So as you can see, it is a 3 step process but it is pretty straightforward once you know how to use the recording software. And your only investment is the recording software which you can use to create all kinds of content in your business.

Do you use Google Hangouts in your business? I’d love to hear how you are using them! Leave me a comment below.

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