Be Honest: Are You Afraid of Success?

The second Friday of every year is National Quitters’ Day. Why? Because it’s the day that, statistically, most people give up on their new year’s resolutions. Why is it so difficult to make the changes we really want in life? We know the obvious answers, but have you ever considered that maybe you’re scared of change – of success? Let’s really dive into what that means and what you can do about it.

Leave Your Fears in 2021 to Embrace Your Potential & Unlock a Million-Dollar Mindset

Let’s compare your business resolutions to a resolution that a lot of people make at the beginning of the year: trying to lose weight. Losing weight couldn’t possibly be scary, right? Well, for many people, it can! There’s the fear of committing to a new way of life, the fear that your lifestyle changes will make you feel less comfortable, and the fear of failure, all of which can contribute to you being afraid to make that change. Business resolutions are no different!

Change is scary – especially when you are wanting to take that next step in your business to become successful. You may experience thoughts such as "I don't want to be successful because I won't have the time" or "I can't scale my handmade business because my customers expect me to be the one making the product." Ultimately, it comes down to your mindset and the limiting beliefs you have that can lead to you being the biggest obstacle on your path to success.

So how can you overcome this? It’s simple, really. It starts with daring to dream – and by trusting in your abilities. Listen for more.

Brought to you by the Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge! Commit to making 1 in 5 of your purchases from a small business, whether online or offline. The Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge is a way to make an impact together when (and where) it matters most. Join us and take the pledge today!

The Product Boss’s Guide to Your Best Year Yet is a FREE series of workshops where we share the biggest tips and tricks to creating financial momentum for the year ahead. The first workshop kicks off on January 20th so be sure to join here.

Resources:

  • Product Biz Owners at $250k+ yearly revenue: Are you a product business owner that has built your business to a multi-6 figure to multi-million dollar business? If so, The Product Boss Mastermind has limited spots available open for consideration to applicants $250k and above, apply here.

  • Join the Shop 1 in 5 Small Business Shopping Directory. Get listed now!

  • Consistent content is key to getting more people to see and buy your products. If you want to create great content but you don’t know what to say, or you feel too busy, or you just don’t want to be the face of your brand, no worries – because we’ve got you covered with a year’s worth of consistent content that’s sure to resonate with your audience! If you want to see how easy this can be, visit A Year of Content.

  • Check out and shop from hundreds of small businesses from the Small Business Shopping Directory. It’s the go-to directory to discover, support, and shop small businesses all in one place.

  • If you’re interested in taking the lessons from this episode further, you’ll want to sign up for the waitlist to be part of Multi-Stream Machine, and as soon as enrollment opens, you’ll be the first to know!

Connect:

How to Get "Ready-to-Buy" Customers

We often expect our customers to hit that “checkout” button without being prompted or convinced to do so. But that isn’t how people behave. They buy on desire, needs, and wants, and, as a product-based business owner, it's your responsibility to share with them the benefits that your products will bring to their life. Here’s how you can set yourself up for success with customers who are ready to buy.

For starters, you need to consider the "tried and true" foundational method of marketing, which is... know, like, and trust. Better known as… the customer journey! So how can you start building your customer base? First, you’ll want to curate a healthy mailing list – popular advice in our space, but so many of you don’t use it enough! One email a week should be the minimum for most product businesses because, remember, most of those emails won’t be opened or read. Your subscribers are fans, so they’re on your side. You’re not going to upset them by sending too many emails. 

Fill Your Sales Pipeline With Ready-to-Buy Customers Using These Tips

Instagram is another good option. It used to be one of the best tools for community building, whereas now, it comes with much more of a mixture of pros and cons. The platform is essentially becoming a selling platform, meaning you have to "pay-to-play" to find new customers. Rather than focusing on selling on Instagram (which you should still do at times!), try shifting your focus towards engaging with your followers and converting them over to joining your email list so that you can market to them.

Sure, you might catch a person at the right moment, but more often than not, it’s not the right time for someone to make a purchase when they see your messaging. They might not open an email or buy anything, but if you’re constantly reminding them that you exist, they will remember you when it comes time to buy. Building an engaged following, a community, and increasing your visibility across multiple platforms is what this episode is all about. 

So many of you tell us that you want to turn your product into a six-figure business. Well, let’s do some math, because that goal is probably so much more realistic than you realize. Once you know your numbers, you can forecast your sales. Building up a following of “ready to buy” customers is one of the best things you can do to make sure you get there. 

Brought to you by the Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge! Commit to making 1 in 5 of your purchases from a small business, whether online or offline. The Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge is a way to make an impact together when (and where) it matters most. Join us and take the pledge today!

The Product Boss’s Guide to Your Best Year Yet is a FREE series of workshops where we share the biggest tips and tricks to creating financial momentum for the year ahead. The first workshop kicks off on January 20th so be sure to join here.

Resources:

  • Product Biz Owners at $250k+ yearly revenue: Are you a product business owner that has built your business to a multi-6 figure to multi-million dollar business? If so, The Product Boss Mastermind has limited spots available open for consideration to applicants $250k and above, apply here.

  • Join the Shop 1 in 5 Small Business Shopping Directory. Get listed now!

  • Consistent content is key to getting more people to see and buy your products. If you want to create great content but you don’t know what to say, or you feel too busy, or you just don’t want to be the face of your brand, no worries – because we’ve got you covered with a year’s worth of consistent content that’s sure to resonate with your audience! If you want to see how easy this can be, visit A Year of Content.

  • Check out and shop from hundreds of small businesses from the Small Business Shopping Directory. It’s the go-to directory to discover, support, and shop small businesses all in one place.

  • If you’re interested in taking the lessons from this episode further, you’ll want to sign up for the waitlist to be part of Multi-Stream Machine, and as soon as enrollment opens, you’ll be the first to know!

Connect:

Baking a Six-Figure Business with Suzanne Godbold of Three Best Bakery

Our female founder this week is Suzanne Godbold of Three Best Bakery and one of our fellow Masterminders. She opened her bakery business just three months before the pandemic hit and pivoted her approach to secure a six-figure 2020! 

Suzanne decided to take the leap and turn her baking passion into a profession. Her products were flying off the shelves and tasted delicious, but she lacked the systems to scale long term. She ran out of ingredients every day and felt she couldn’t increase volume without sacrificing quality and brand authenticity. 

Get the Recipe to Success with Suzanne Godbold of Three Best Bakery 

We reflect on our transformational first session with Suzanne and the importance of mindset. With a bit of mindset work, Suzanne built the confidence to double her prices, which contributed to her success and ability to take bigger steps in hiring resulting in her being able to make more room for creative control and growth.

You can hear in her voice how her confidence is growing by the minute, and her sales are reflecting that mindset shift. She’s even created a solid work/life balance, clocking out at 5pm every day to spend time with her family. 

The impact joining Mastermind has had on Suzanne is extraordinary. By getting out of her own way and throwing herself into the community aspect of Multi-Stream Machine and the Mastermind, she has broken through her self-limiting ceiling and is ended 2021 as a multi six-figure business!

The Product Boss’s Guide to Your Best Year Yet is a FREE series of workshops where we share the biggest tips and tricks to creating financial momentum for the year ahead. The first workshop kicks off on January 20th so be sure to join here.

Brought to you by the Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge! Commit to making 1 in 5 of your purchases from a small business, whether online or offline. The Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge is a way to make an impact together when (and where) it matters most. Join us and take the pledge today!

Resources:

Connect:

How to Step Into the Role of Boss of Your Business

Welcome to 2022 – we made it! Now, it’s time to take stock of where our businesses are and map out where we want to take them over the next year. That’s why we’re bringing you The Product Boss’s Guide to Your Best Year Yet. To prepare, we spend this episode exploring how you can step into the role of boss in your business, now matter who you are or how you feel about being a leader. 

Don’t Worry About What Anyone Else Thinks or Does. Do You and Own It! - The Product Boss Podcast

You might look at other people and wish you could be as forthright and self assured as they are. Rest assured, you can! It all comes down to confidence, and shifting your mindset about yourself and your business.

For example, there’s no need to worry about how everyone perceives what you’re doing because you’re not here for everyone. Your business has its own customers and it appeals to its own demographic. Spending time trying to please everybody or over analyzing what other businesses in the same space might be doing can be a real waste of time. Do you! And remember to own it.

To understand what that really means and more, listen to us break down how you can get out of your own way and step into the role of boss of your business!

Brought to you by the Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge! Commit to making 1 in 5 of your purchases from a small business, whether online or offline. The Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge is a way to make an impact together when (and where) it matters most. Join us and take the pledge today!

Resources:

  • Product Biz Owners at $250k+ yearly revenue: Are you a product business owner that has built your business to a multi-6 figure to multi-million dollar business? If so, The Product Boss Mastermind has limited spots available open for consideration to applicants $250k and above, apply here.

  • Consistent content is key to getting more people to see and buy your products. If you want to create great content but you don’t know what to say, or you feel too busy, or you just don’t want to be the face of your brand, no worries – because we’ve got you covered with a year’s worth of consistent content that’s sure to resonate with your audience! If you want to see how easy this can be, visit A Year of Content.

  • Join the Shop 1 in 5 Small Business Shopping Directory. Get listed now!

  • Check out and shop from hundreds of small businesses from the Small Business Shopping Directory. It’s the go-to directory to discover, support, and shop small businesses all in one place.

  • If you’re interested in taking the lessons from this episode further, you’ll want to sign up for the waitlist to be part of Multi-Stream Machine, and as soon as enrollment opens, you’ll be the first to know!

Connect:

From Taking the Leap from Adoption Journey to Business Growth with Erin Port of Simple Purposeful Living

Our female founder this week is Erin Port, the founder of Simple Purposeful Living, and one of our masterminders. We highly encourage you to listen to her amazing story so that you can learn from her, and take her story forward with you.

“My family is my personal why.” - Erin Port, Simple Purposeful Living

Erin took her engaged readers as a blogger, and her informed background as a teacher, and created a product that would give her audience value, turning her own personal story into easy-to-apply lessons that people could take and apply to their own lives.

Like most of us, she’s had past businesses and brands that didn't work out, so she knows all about self-doubt. She candidly shares with us the thoughts she had before launching Simple Purposeful Living, and how an encouraging bedtime nudge from her husband lit a fire in her that’s yet to burn out.

It’s moments like that that truly drive her. Her voice glows as she describes her family as her why, how launching the brand and driving to financial success was all meant to fund the adoption of her son, and so much more. It’s clear her heart is in the most beautiful place.

We talk about her humble origins, selling via Amazon, and overcoming those creeping thoughts of imposter syndrome. One of the most inspiring messages to take away from this episode is the impact joining the Mastermind has had on Erin, and how much benefit she saw from implementing the Best Sellers Secret Challenge and Multi-Stream Machine in her business. She believes (and we agree) that sharing ideas with others is one of the best things we can do to learn and grow as entrepreneurs. 

Brought to you by the Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge! Commit to making 1 in 5 of your purchases from a small business, whether online or offline. The Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge is a way to make an impact together when (and where) it matters most. Join us and take the pledge today!

Resources:

Connect:

Marketing Strategies for 2022 to Sell More

Happy new year! We’re really, really, really excited for the year ahead (knock on wood). We want this to be a very big year for your business, which is why now is the time to make sure you don’t have all our eggs in one basket, and that you’re prepared for anything that 2022 might throw at you.

Learn How To 2022-Proof Your Business With a Sharp Strategic Marketing Plan

The best thing you can do to level up, and take your business further than ever before, is to make sure you have an amazing marketing strategy. But if there’s one thing the last year has taught us about marketing, it’s that you can’t rely on just one stream. Your marketing strategy needs to look more like a spider web than a straight line. 

Any one specific website or platform could go down without warning (remember the Facebook shutdown of 2021?!), or they might change their algorithms (yes, we’re looking at you Instagram) in a way that prevents you from getting the traction you’re used to or rely on for income. It’s time to stop betting it all on social media and focus on POP marketing, instead. 

Don’t just use paid ads. Look at adding organic promotion into the mix, as well. Generate word-of-mouth buzz with the right people, collaborate with others, and start building those partnerships. There are so many ways to get your business in front of customers that don’t involve a spreadsheet, so why settle on just one? Bring a pen and paper for this extra informative episode of The Product Boss podcast to help make your 2022 your best year yet!

Brought to you by the Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge! Commit to making 1 in 5 of your purchases from a small business, whether online or offline. The Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge is a way to make an impact together when (and where) it matters most. Join us and take the pledge today!

Resources:

Connect:

A Reintroduction of Jacqueline Snyder & Minna Khounlo-Sithep of The Product Boss

We believe it’s good to reintroduce yourself regularly, and often – especially when you’ve grown or evolved since your last introduction. So here we go again: we’re Jacqueline and Minna, nice to meet you!

We kicked off the Product Boss podcast back in January of 2018. We all know a lot has changed since last week, let alone in the last four years. The same certainly applies to us as we’ve written a few new chapters in our own stories. So, we’re dedicating this episode to letting you know who we are, now, and what our journey has been as to how we ended up here.

“Every product boss should think about how their business is going to change and evolve.” - Jacqueline Snyder

We all remember the first day of school; reintroducing yourself can feel weird. But, as you may remember, the more you do it, the easier it becomes! Reintroducing yourself is a great habit to build as it reinforces the story of your brand and product so that everyone knows who you are and what your business is all about.

In a world where connections mean everything, don’t forget that offering a deeper understanding of yourself invites the same from others.

Brought to you by the Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge! Commit to making 1 in 5 of your purchases from a small business, whether online or offline. The Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge is a way to make an impact together when (and where) it matters most. Join us and take the pledge today!

Resources:

  • Product Biz Owners at $250k+ yearly revenue: Are you a product business owner that has built your business to a multi-6 figure to multi-million dollar business? If so, The Product Boss Mastermind has limited spots available open for consideration to applicants $250k and above, apply here.

  • Join the Shop 1 in 5 Small Business Shopping Directory. It’s holiday-ready, too! Get listed now!

  • Consistent content is key to getting more people to see and buy your products. If you want to create great content but you don’t know what to say, or you feel too busy, or you just don’t want to be the face of your brand, no worries—because we’ve got you covered with a year’s worth of consistent content that’s sure to resonate with your audience! If you want to see how easy this can be, visit A Year of Content.

  • Check out and shop from hundreds of small businesses from the Small Business Shopping Directory. It’s the go-to directory to discover, support, and shop small businesses all in one place.

Connect:

2022: Our Top Advice on How to Make This Your Best Year Yet

If you’re like us and you’ve lost track of time through the pandemic, now is as good a time as any to reground and reset yourself to have your best year yet. 2021 has been a devastating year in many ways, but in purely business terms, some of you have seen some amazing profits. Either way, it’s time to start thinking about the new year ahead. Human beings need to reset and recalibrate every now and then, so let’s do just that as we step into 2022. 

“Your products might be amazing. Your website might be amazing. Still, the biggest roadblock we see in business owners is a need to level up, themselves.” - Jacqueline Snyder, Host, The Product Boss Podcast

Our top advice for 2022 is to level up… level yourself up! Whatever level you’re at, let’s kick things up a notch. It might seem daunting at first, but – trust us – you’ll look back in 2023 wondering why you didn’t take these steps earlier. Everything you do this next year should be with one thought on your mind: How am I going to take my business to the next level? 

And if that all sounds too lofty or unattainable, let’s focus in on one of the easiest, most tangible things you can actually do to make it a reality: invest. Don’t worry, we’re not asking you to learn about the stock market. We want you to learn how to invest in yourself!

Spending your hard-earned profits on things that you seemingly don’t need to keep the business running is a tricky hurdle to get over, but that’s what investing in yourself takes. Think of the long term benefits involved and their ability to multiple your results. And remember, what you don’t invest back into your business becomes profit that you’ll be taxed on. 

If you’re listening to this, you already understand the value of investing in yourself in terms of time. The next step is simply overcoming the mental hurdle that stops you from spending money on your own development and personal growth. The next step above something like listening to a podcast is enrolling yourself in a course or even more formalized education, then, getting involved with your community or with a mentor, and, finally, joining a Mastermind. We cover all of these steps in further detail in this episode. 

Only a tiny fraction of people ever follow through on their new year’s resolutions to make real changes in their lives. You owe it to yourself to be one of them. Grow your product business to the next level and be the best product boss you can be. We sincerely hope our podcast and perspectives are helping you get there and continue to do so into the new year and beyond.

Brought to you by the Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge! Commit to making 1 in 5 of your purchases from a small business, whether online or offline. The Shop 1 in 5™ Pledge is a way to make an impact together when (and where) it matters most. Join us and take the pledge today!

Resources:

  • Product Biz Owners at $250k+ yearly revenue: Are you a product business owner that has built your business to a multi-6 figure to multi-million dollar business? If so, The Product Boss Mastermind has limited spots available open for consideration to applicants $250k and above, apply here.

  • Join the Shop 1 in 5 Small Business Shopping Directory. It’s holiday-ready, too! Get listed now!

  • Consistent content is key to getting more people to see and buy your products. If you want to create great content but you don’t know what to say, or you feel too busy, or you just don’t want to be the face of your brand, no worries—because we’ve got you covered with a year’s worth of consistent content that’s sure to resonate with your audience! If you want to see how easy this can be, visit A Year of Content.

  • Check out and shop from hundreds of small businesses from the Small Business Shopping Directory. It’s the go-to directory to discover, support, and shop small businesses all in one place.

Connect: