Hey, lovelies, welcome back to the podcast, we are doing something a little different today. I feel like I'm saying that to a lot because we like to shake things up. We like to just, you know, push the boundaries, do some new things. So that it's interesting for you. And it's interesting for me, too. So I am doing a q&a Answering your questions today. And there are three main questions that I'm answering today. I think there's three, there might be four. But generally, there's three. So the first one that we're talking about is not asked me, How do I make a decision about whether I stay as a solo business owner or whether I build an agency? So as a social media person and a designer? Do I grow my business? So that was the first question that I'm answering the second question, which was a simple question that somebody said is Sue's? How do I get out of my own way? So we're talking a little bit about that. Because, you know, I love to talk about how you can get out of your own way. I think that that is something that if you master, you will be more successful in business. And the third thing, which I think we had a couple of questions around this. So generally, one of the things I'm speaking about is how I content plan, how I manage all the content in the business as well. And also some of the things that we're working on right now, too. So that is what we're covering in this q&a podcast episode. We actually did have more questions, but I am going to break that out into another podcast. Otherwise, this one will be very, very long. So I hope you enjoy our first q&a podcast episode. And if you've got a question for me, you can hit me up on Instagram at Suzanne Chadwick send me a DM and who knows your question might get answered on our next podcast episode. We're doing a bit of a q&a this morning that I'm actually going to answer one of your questions that you sent me. And then I've got a couple of other questions that a few other people have sent me as well. So one of the questions that I had recently was around how, uh, you know, from the lovely Nat, how do you know, if you should stay solo, or if you should grow your business into an agency? And I thought that this was a really good question to answer. I think that, you know, this is a question that people have in regards to do I grow a team? Do I stay solo? Do I become an agency? Do I stay small? Like, we've always got these questions about where we should go and what we should do. And the one thing that I would say is that when you think about the future of your business, what is it that you say, when you think about like, when you think about gosh, like, I would really love to have this kind of business, I would really love to be doing these kinds of things. What is it that you're like, what's the vision for it? Yeah. If the thought of having people that are employed by you, who you're managing on the regular is like your worst nightmare, then obviously, growing a big team may not be the right thing for you. But if you're like I actually don't know, then the only way to figure out what's going to work for you. And what's not going to work for you is to give it a go and try it. So if you're trying to decide what should the future of my business look like, and how big should I grow, then I think it's really just testing it out. Now, the one thing I do want to say is that nothing's set in concrete as well. So you know, I have worked with people and seen businesses that started with one or two people grew to 22, came back to 15, grew again, then came back down to five, like the way in which you end up managing your business and your team can also be fluid. So I think if you're thinking about growing your team, in order to take on more work in order to do more of the work that you want to do, then the number one thing is is that something that you can see yourself doing, do you think based on your skills and what you enjoy, that's something that you would really like to try. That's the first thing. The second thing is giving it a go. So maybe bringing one person on having, you know, more clients coming in, and then seeing how that goes and learning in the process. what's working, what's not working? Do I want to bring on even more people? Or do we need to just like leave it at this level for now and then just test it and try it. And the other thing is obviously the financials it's looking at with the clients that we've got what what would we need to charge if I had a team if I had subcontractors if I had employees? What sort of level? Would we need to be operating out? How much work would we need to bring in in order to have a sustainable team and a profitable business as well? Because I think that what can happen is if you end up growing a team very fast, then obviously costs come with that. And pressure come with that, too. Now, it can totally work, obviously. But you've got to just decide on what that looks like, before you jump into it. I think, I think just that understanding what what that needs to look like. Because then you've also got to think about, well, do I want to sell more, and also do I want to stay on the tools. So if you're somebody who loves being on the tools, and that makes you happy, then you may not be able to grow a team that's really big, unless you hire a manager in because you will then need to be the leader in the business, you need to be the CEO. You need to be the person that is like growing your team and supporting them and making sure that they're able to do the work that you're bringing client, you know, the work in that's they're able to do the work that's coming into the business as well. So I think when it comes to the question, do I stay solo? Or do I grow a team into an agency or into a bigger business? I think those are some of the things to ask yourself. And to be honest, at the end of the day, you're only going to know if you give it a try. Just don't sit in indecision for a really long time. Like I think when we sit in indecision for a really long time, it kind of just saps and drains your energy. So kind of just make a decision. Like, am I going to do it? Yes, I'm going to do it. Let me hire my first person. And let's see how that goes. And if it goes, well, let's then go for the second person or the third person, etc. So that I hope that that answers your question, it will be on the q&a podcast as well. As I am recording, I have a question. The other question that somebody sent me was, Suze, how do I get out of my own way? Like you talk about getting out of your own way all the time? How do I do it? And this is something that a lot of my clients have said to me, which has been around the fact that they get in their own way. So yeah, like I'm getting in my own way all the time. I don't know how to get out of it. And I think there's a couple of things here. Number one, it's actually stopping and acknowledging that you are in your own way that you seem to be the biggest barrier to getting things done, whether it's fear, or lack of skill, or indecision. Like I think those are a lot of the reasons why people end up getting in their own way. And so if you can actually stop and take a look at what's happening, and dig into it a bit and actually ask yourself the question, like, what is stopping me right now? And even that, like the question that I just answered for you as well. The question is, why am I in this? Why am I in indecision about this? And writing it down? Like I think sometimes we're constantly in our own heads, get a notepad and write down why can I not make this decision? What am I thinking, what am I fears? What are the problems that I'm seeing? You know, is it a risk thing? I don't want to make a decision, because if I do it, then there might be a risk to me, I think us just really understanding what we're thinking how we're feeling, and the reasons why we're in our own way, I think is the first thing to getting out of your own way. And I think a lot of people don't do that. Like you don't take the time you just like, oh, I don't know what's wrong.

This mystical thing of I don't know what's wrong, but you've got to actually ask yourself and figure out what's wrong. And I think that within business in general, that is one of the skills that I think either catapults or kills businesses, like if you're somebody who can see the barriers and see you being in your own way, stop, figure it out, work through it and move on. I think that's where success comes from people who are able to work through difficult situations and difficult thoughts and feelings, and emotions. If you can do that, then you'll be able to get that gain the momentum and move through it. People who sit in indecision and are constantly in spinning drama, and chasing their tails, and I don't know if I should or if I shouldn't. I think that's where the lack of business success, whatever success looks like for you. The lack of progression. The lack of momentum really comes from now yesterday on my stories and also on the podcast. I recorded yesterday I was talking about have the knowledge to action gap. And so the knowledge to action gap is where you learn something. And then there is this huge gaping chasm and gap between you learning something and you implementing something. And so what happens if you're somebody that constantly takes courses, you're constantly like watching YouTube or looking to learn from people. But that's the only place that you stay like, that's your home, your home is a learning home and not a doing home, then that is going to be a massive issue around getting in your own way to move forward and do things. So yesterday, when I shared my thoughts around the knowledge to action gap, I had so many messages from people saying, This is me. Black, I deal with this all the time. So is this is me? And so my question is, so what he can do about it, once again, like you're you've recognized that you're kind of the bottleneck in the business, you're the one who constantly learns. And the issue with that is that the thought that you're telling yourself, it's I know, I need to learn more, like I need, I have to learn more here. So you're then not taking action cause you're in imposter syndrome, you think that there's a silver bullet, that somehow you're going to learn a really simple way of implementing something, and I'm just gonna be honest with you, there are very few really simple ways of implementing something like you've still got to do the work. And so I don't know, if you learned something, and you're like, oh, that seems hard to do. I'll wait till I learn a simpler way of doing it. And the truth is, you've just got to do the hard work and get through it so that you can move to the next thing that you need to need to do in your business. So when somebody says to me, how do I get out of my own way, there's so many flavors of being in your own way as well. Yeah, there's so many different things that people experience that that keeps them stuck. So acknowledging that you're stuck doing the work, understanding why you're stuck, really seeing what you've learned, and you've not implemented and then going back and being like, No, I'm not going to be one of those people, you've just got to decide, you've got to decide not to be one of those people. And it's hard. It's hard, because it's really easy just to keep learning. It's really easy to keep, like consuming. It's it's hard to actually move yourself on do the work and just keep focusing on. Okay, what's the next thing that we want to create? What's the next thing that I really want to achieve? And how can I do that in small bites? I'm just like, you know, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time? Yeah. So I think that this is, this is where we think and we look at things in a really big way. Karen says, This is why I have a coach to hold me accountable to taking action, I need to move my business forward. Yeah, absolutely. And so I think that, you know, I think that having a coach having somebody that you're accountable to, if you're somebody that's not able to always be accountable to yourself, and which is totally fine. Like, I have no thoughts or you know, about that, I think some people are able just to move through certain things. And I also want to say, there are things in your own business that you might be able to move through for your clients, where you're like, I am such a doer, when it comes to my clients, like I get done, I help them achieve. I'm like, making sure that they're accountable to me. And we're great as the person who is helping our clients to move forward. But sometimes when we're trying to do things for ourselves, that's where we can get caught out. Because then we're like, oh, like I don't know how to move forward myself. And it's the whole thing of the plumbers tab is always leaky. Yes. So even for me, I like to bounce things off my VA, or I like to bounce things off other people who are in my inner circle, where I'm like, I'm thinking this what do you think, like, am I wrong? Am I right? Do you have any other ideas around this? And so really deciding if you want to get out of your own way, who do I need to be accountable if I if I'm not accountable to myself, if I if I'm constantly moving the diary invite in my diary for time for myself, then I'm not being accountable to myself. Yeah. So I need somebody else who I can be accountable to, who is that going to be? What is the areas in my business that I'm awesome at and what are the areas that I need more help in? Also, just thinking about what do I do really well so that I can do that in my business and what can I outsource? Because I'm not very I'm not great at it. So you know, even as we've done the technical move, like Jen has done a lot of that work because I'm just like, I Just want to poke myself in the eye when it comes to when it comes to like technical moves and upgrades and all the rest of it. Can I do it? Yes. Do I want to do it? No. So I think we've just got to really recognize where the opportunities are for us to, you know, to build momentum in our own business, and where we want to get help, and accountability and that sort of thing. So I think that that's really important to think about and look at. So some of the things that we're working on at the moment, is collecting and centralizing all of the content that I have built in the past. So even we used to use something called stream yard, and I used to stream loads in my Facebook groups, and we've moved away from Facebook groups now. But when I go back into stream yard, I've got like 100 videos of lives that I've done on specific topics. And so once again, it's going back into your archives and going back into the content that you've created, and really taking a look at how you're squeezing all of the juice out of it. Like, how are you getting more out of what it is that you're creating? And I was on a podcast interview yesterday. And that was one of the questions that the interviewer asked me is, you seem to create a lot of content, especially like we're at Episode 340, or something of the podcast, like how are you getting more out of it? And so or what else are you doing with it? So we're looking at like repurpose.io, which is an automated repurposing software. Every time we do the podcast, my VA does snippets. But we're also looking or using Opus clip. So we're really trying to use as much workflow automation, AI clipping when it comes to our content, so that we're just getting more out of it. And so I think that if you can really look at what it is that you have, and then how you are, you know, distributing it across platforms in a really easy and simple way. I think that that's a really important thing to do as well, like, even now, as I do this live, I'm like, I'm gonna record this for the podcast. And we can cut this up, maybe into a number of smaller episodes. So whether people join the live or not, doesn't really matter. Like obviously, it's awesome when people join the live because I want to be able to have this conversation with you. But just being smarter with the way that you create, so that I know that I can do this live because I don't repost my lives as well. So once this is gone, this is gone. And then I'll cut it for the podcast. And so I love to shop I thought and acted like a CEO this week, after listening to your podcast. Thank you. That's amazing. I

love that. Was it the CEO and leaders mindset episode? Love to shop, let me know because that has been. That's been a really popular episode. So I did an episode on the CEO and leaders mindset, this is something I bang on to my clients about all the time, which is really around you being the leader in your business. Yes, it was amazing. I love hearing that too. Okay, live an intentional life is a bit random. But how do you organize all this content? Is it all in one spot and organized in some way? So that's what we're trying to do a bit more of? So yes, and no, what I mean by that is I know where all my content is. So for example, all of my course content, which is hosted like is stored in Dropbox, we've got a lot of and then a lot of it is on Vimeo, because in my community, we embed those videos. So I would say Dropbox, I have the lion's share of content. Vimeo is where we obviously upload a lot of it to share with our clients and our community. And then all of the podcast episodes are in Dropbox as well. And then I was just sharing that I've I used to use stream yard when I had my Facebook groups and all of the live streams that I created for my groups on different topics are all sitting in stream yard under recorded. So now what I'm actually probably looking for a Content Manager or content coordinator, and editor who can go and kind of download all of those videos that I live streamed and be able to pick up snippets from it too. I'm a big fan of Alex her mosey and I just think that we overcomplicate the content sharing process when there are tools that can really help us so for example, with repurpose.io which is something we used a while ago and I'm we're gonna I'm gonna go back to is that when I share, say a video or reel on Instagram, it then automatically goes and shares it to Tik Tok and to like Facebook reels and to you Short, so I might just be posting at once. And then there's an automation tool in the background that then goes and shares it elsewhere. And so when people sort of say, it's so much work to share content, I think it's just about choosing the tools in your business. So that you can do things smarter, not harder, and be able to get the reach and the you know, the content out there that you want to. So that is how I organize. That's how I organize my where my videos, etc. So majority of my content is video, and audio. And then we do also use air table where any captions that I'm writing on Instagram, I also go and I add it into air table, I think I did did I do a real on it. I think I shared it maybe on stories a while ago. But what that means is that I go and I'll put the caption into air table. And then we've got did I share it on Facebook, tick tock LinkedIn, anywhere else. And so what that means is that I can go back to it, and I can potentially pick up a caption that I wrote on Instagram three months ago, and use it as an email. Now. So I think that you know, it's about valuing the content that you're creating, and valuing the thinking that you're having, and what you're sharing, and being able to repurpose it in different ways as well. So I think that you know, that takes a bit of time, it takes a bit of effort to set it all up. But once it's set up, and you know how you want to do it, then, you know, it becomes a lot easier. And if you can find the tools that help you then even better. So we're using Opus clip as well, at the moment where basically when I do a long form video, I can upload that and Opus clip is like 14 Australian dollars a month, it's nine USD a month is that you put in a long form video, and it gives you like 20 or 1730 to 92nd videos automatically. So I you know, those are the sorts of things that that I like to look at and use so that they're a time saver, but we're, but we're creating more content and getting more out of it. So living intentionally says thanks. And do you have something like a master ideas, I do a list of ideas, things you've previously done, I have a bunch of content pillars, but it's it takes time to think of what to say next, I need a better system yet. So the other thing that I do as well, is that I do have and I've actually got it open at the moment. But it is a Google sheet. And it has got all of my content ideas. So I've got my content pillars, but then I've also got like, questions that people ask me. So I've got a whole document full of questions that all of my clients and my different programs have asked me before, so that it's really relevant. So even this morning, like getting on this live, I'm just responding to questions. I'm responding to your questions, I'm responding to other questions that people have asked me. And so that's where I get a lot of my content from too is that if you are speaking to clients on a regular basis, then noting down those questions. Or even if you see content where you've got an opinion on it, or a thought on it, you could write that down too. But I do really focus on the core things that I talk about. So for example, you know, within brandbuilders Academy, I talk about having a bold mindset, I talk about brand strategy, I talk about business strategy, talk about pricing and packaging, marketing and sales, having, you know, automated systems and operating a bold business. So being the CEO of your business. And so I'm always really focusing on content that is around those particular topics. Number one, it's because that's where my expertise is, which is helping businesses to really get out of being organized and have a clear way of building and growing their business. That's what what I focus on from a brand perspective as well. And so I want to be talking about that all the time. And then at least if somebody's like, I really love that you talk about brand strategy, I feel like I don't have a clear message. I'm not exactly sure who I'm talking to. Then I'm like, Well, you can come and join me in VBA. And I can help you to do that. So your content, you want your content to be really relevant to the clients that you want to work with the questions that they're asking at the moment. And it also needs to lead into your products and services. So I was speaking with somebody the other day, and she talks about a certain number of things. She's going she's running a challenge. She's doing all of these things, but there's not a product. So you've just got to be strategic when it comes to what you're sharing what you're doing, how you're connecting with people, but it also needs to lead into whatever it is you work with people to So sometimes I'm just surprised The things that people do, because they're just like, yeah, no, I just like talking about it, but it's not relevant to my audience or to what I do in my business as well. So I think that that's where you've just got to be strategic with it. And I think that having organized content and, you know, really honed in content, as far as knowing what you want to be known for what you want to talk about, relating that to your client's problem, and then having a product or service that serves that audience like that is the stepping stones, or those are the building blocks of your business. And it's just focusing on those and growing those on an ongoing basis. So Rihanna says, so should you have a private or a public profile, that's a personal Instagram, if that's what you're talking about, then you can have it on private, I've got a private Instagram where I've got my kids and holidays and stuff, and that's private, that's not public. But if you're wanting to run a business, it needs to be public. And I think you need to ask yourself, if it is for business, then have it for business, have it specific to business, have it related to business, you know, and, and that's where clients are gonna find you. I always find it super interesting. And I kind of know why people do this. But I find it super interesting when I go to somebody's business, Instagram, and it's private. And I'm just like, you're literally stopping people from coming to you and learning about you and buying from you. Like, why? Why are you doing that. So if you've got a business, Instagram, it needs to be public. And if you've got a private, you really got to ask yourself why I think that the reasons that I've heard from people and from clients is that it's the fear, it's a fear of what people will say it's maybe they're in a job, and they don't want people who are at work to know that they're doing it, all of those sorts of things. So there's always ways around it. But when you're online, when you're on social and you're putting your business on social, you really got to put your best foot forward. The other thing is really important to make sure that it's cohesive, like if you come to my Instagram, and then you go to my website, and you listen to the podcasts, like it's all cohesive, It all says the same thing. It all looks the same, it all has the same vibe. And so I also think taking a step back and looking at all of your assets. And I think it's something you should do on a regular basis. Because sometimes we might evolve and change one thing, but then we're not consistent across the board. And so making sure that the experience because remember, brand, is all about the collective experiences that somebody has when they come and they work with you. That's what a brand is. It's like the emotional connection. It's how I feel. It's what I say. It's like, Does this feel cohesive and trustworthy to me? Like, those are all the questions that people are asking when it comes to your brand. And so making sure that when you look at it, you're like, Yes, I feel this is cohesive. Yes, I feel like it's consistent. It looks the way I want it to it says what I want it to I feel like it's really clear, it's not too cluttered. I think that's the other thing, like is it clean. And also, I'm putting my best foot forward when it comes to the testimonials and showing social proof that I'm a great person to work with. And I was talking to a client about this yesterday. And I just said you've got good testimonials, but they're kind of hidden them front and center. If I'm looking for somebody who does what you do, and I see 10 different testimonials saying him was amazing. She looked after us, we got everything that we want that we wanted from her, she really thought about things that we didn't think about. I'm just like, she sounds amazing. Like I think that we underestimate the power of social proof. So also think about that, too. So Brianna says Thank you. Yep, consistency is my issue. Because I have a few brands being an entrepreneur, I've got a client that had like three different Instagram handles, because she had a couple of different things she wanted to do. And I just said, unless it's a completely different product, there's a couple of things. Number one, if you've got a product based business or a specific type of business, then you should have a handle for it. If you are building your personal brand, and you are a like an entrepreneur who has those different brands, then you would have your name as your brand. And then you might have founder of this handle this handle on this handle if you've got other product based businesses. So there's a there's a bit of a hierarchy when it comes to your online brand representation that you need to think about. I always discourage unless it is a product based business or something really separate. I really discourage people from having multiple social handles because it's so hard to manage. Like unless you are somebody who is great and like you said consistency is your issue. Because you've got different handles. You've just got to sit back and go how can we manage this in the best way possible. And so I'll give an example. So I've got BBC, which is bold vibes consulting. So I created, it's like a personal brand agency, where we do short form video, shooting and strategy. And it came from the need from my clients. Now the way that I've set that up is that I've got a separate Instagram for it. But we've kind of created a bit of an Insta site. So where you can go and say, you know, sign up to go take a look at what it is that we do. We've got a video showcasing a shoot that we did, we talk about how you can build your personal brand. But it's not something that I'm actively creating content for. It's really there as an Insta site so that I can refer people to it if they're interested in doing shoots with us. But everything really sits on my Suzanne Chadwick like that's where everything drives from. And it's because the hierarchy is my personal brand sits at the very top. And BBC is one of the businesses that sit underneath it. But it's not something that I'm actively creating content for all the time. And it's because I don't need to clients are coming from my, my brand, my business. So the one thing that I would say is if you have multiple businesses, then you have to make a decision about your brand hierarchy, and how you manage that online in different ways. And also, if you need help with that as in, like you're being inconsistent, then work out, do I get a VA that helps me to create content. And we do like, every month we do a huge brainstorm. They go away and they create the content, and then they're managing that for you as well. I think that when you've got multiple brands, it's really important to have the right support so that you're not the one who's constantly trying to do it all. And well, like what I say about having a team is you don't have to take somebody on full time. Like I remember when I first started my business, I had a VA for a couple of hours a week. And then I eventually, like grew that grew that grew that as the business grew as well. So I think you've got to really take a look at what your capacity is to grow your brand. And also what is the revenue generating activities in your business

that you need to be focused on as the CEO, you know, that is another thing, when I talked about it on the podcast, having a CEO and leaders mindset is that as a CEO, your job is to grow the business. Your job is to bring in the revenue and make sure that you've got cash flow. Yeah, so obviously, you've got to work out is our socials are our socials bringing in revenue for us? How do we prioritize that? How do we get help with that? And where do I need to be as far as relationship building revenue generation strategic decision making as well, that but I do want to say you don't have to do all the work. You can make all the decisions, but you don't have to do all the work. So I think that's the one thing that I definitely want to remind you of I love I went to a International Women's Day breakfast. And Melanie Gleason, who is the founder of Indonesia was the speaker. And she said we can have it all, but we can't do it all. And I'm like, How to the Yes. All right, fantastic. Amazing. Looking forward to not Yeah, absolutely. I'm a big one for having people that are supporting you so that you can stay in your zone of genius. Like what are you great at what is it that brings clients in? Yeah, so for me, podcasting, getting on live speaking at events, you know, all coaching all of that, that's where I want to be, that's where I want to spend my time. That's where I love just working with my clients. So my then I've got VA and I've got, you know, people, other videographers and I've got designers and things like that that I use and I bring in as and when I need to because that's not my zone of genius. I'm not great at that. When I'm doing it when I do it. It takes me five times as long and I'm a bit rubbish. So you've really got to make that decision for yourself. So I hope you enjoyed my first q&a If you've got any questions you can DM me at Suzanne Chadwick and I will gather some of them together and I will either do a live but it will always be on the podcast as well. And I just want to be able to answer your questions a bit more. So do not be shy make sure that you send it to me and I can try and help you here on the potty which I love to do.