Planning as self-care
Chaos is my superpower. I’m great at pulling a rabbit out of a hat. I’ve bribed a gruff border official to get one of my tour passengers into Vietnam when she had the wrong date stamped on her visa, when I worked as a tour leader. When roads or bridges washed away in...
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How to get your first online course live
Over the last month particularly, there’s been a massive shift from face-to-face learning to online courses and classes. I’ve supported dozens of my clients in both my program and membership, who’ve moved their entire face-to-face services onto the internet. It’s been...
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Write your small business survival plan
Directly after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinta Ardern presented her national Covid-19 plan, a journalist asked if she was scared. “No,” Arden responded, “because we have a plan.” When the extraordinary happens and reality unfurls at rapid speed, planning may seem...
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How to run your business online in a changed world
When the extraordinary happens, reality unfurls at rapid speed and business as usual is a thing of the past. Small business owners need to respond right now, or risk losing credibility. We need to be agile, responsive, creative and resourceful. Luckily, we already...
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12 key things I’ve learnt over 12 years in business
In February 2008, I started working for myself as a digital marketing consultant. I didn’t know exactly what digital marketing was, but I had three year’s experience with digital communications, as a Public Relations consultant working closely with a multinational...
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Getting your business into magazines: 5 ways
This is a guest post by Rachel Smith of Rachel's List. You’ve got an amazing small business. A beautiful website. Glowing testimonials from a handful of raving fans (not just your mum). And a belief that you could make more money, find more customers … if you could...
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Hope and despair
The Australian bushfires have affected everyone, consumed our attention, and ignited despair, anger, hopelessness, alongside outrageous political missteps. These fires have attracted the world's attention and led to a massive outpouring of charitable action and...
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What two years of personal training has done for my business
Personal training has rocked my world and had an irrefutable effect on my business – which is why I think it should be a business expense. Once you get up off the floor from laughing, hear me out! Any type of one-to-one coaching or training is a privilege – it...
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Subtle marketing and quiet influence
It’s a work hazard of mine that I see the worst of marketing. Private messages through Facebook and Instagram thanking me for liking their posts (ummm, you’re welcome?), asking me to join their dubiously-named Facebook groups that make me feel all kinds of cheap, and...
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How to ask favours of strangers
Follow me down a dark alley for I’ve something to show you… I was queuing to pay for a yoga class when I recognised the teacher from his missing eye. I knew – from articles he’d featured in – that he’d lost his eye in a surfing accident. A keen surfer and...
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Marketing without social media: your ‘how to’ guide
As much as I love social media, not everybody does. For reasons varied and complex, some business owners just don’t want to play. Oftentimes, this is because they’re cautious about the possibility of attracting trolls and escalating fights about nothing. Other times,...
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How to make time in your business for more important things
“I have no time!” is the lament of workers the world over. This is especially so for self-employed folk. Over and over again, people tell me all the things that take up their time, leaving them with none. My clients sometimes go into great depth and detail listing out...
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