“I am great in the early, messy days and I know that about myself, so I designed my business around serving others in that stage.”
In this conversation with business strategist (genius!) Michelle Warner, we cover the three growth stages most relevant to tiny business owners, how to fix broken business models, validating product-market-founder fit, the difference between traffic-based versus relationship-based sales and marketing, borrowing aligned audiences, leading a free monthly Q&A to “catch” their interest afterward, imagining sales as a downhill snowball, and how to scale while still staying Delightfully Tiny.
More About Michelle: Michelle Warner designs tiny companies that are built to last. With an MBA from one of the world’s top business schools and 15+ years experience growing small businesses, Michelle focuses on layering real world experience on top of classic business fundamentals to design businesses that are sustainable and scalable in the long term and resilient and adaptable in the short term.
It’s the way she grew her first business to 7+ figures, and it’s what she’s used to help 300+ CEO's create businesses that work for the important stuff: profit, energy, passion + time. She’s also the creator of Networking That Pays, the introvert-friendly, always awkward-free connection system that brings in reliable leads, consistent referrals and meaningful connections for your business - in 5 minutes a day.
Focus on sequence over strategy: you can execute strategies perfectly, but if you’re doing them in the wrong order, it’s not going to do a thing for you.
Take five minutes a day to reach out to one person across any of these four themes: thank you’s (be specific!), connections, asks, and catch-ups.
📝 Check out full show notes and share with friends: https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/263
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191: Structuring Free Time as a Single Parent while Grieving and Rebuilding with Karen Allen
🏝️ I'd love to work with you 1:1! Join us for the Free Time Summer Voxer Coaching Pop-up 😎
190: 🐍 How the Cobra Effect Creates Perverse Incentives and Metrics Tyranny
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188: Energy Capacity Planning, Pricing, and Finding Resonant Masterminds with Kelli Thompson
187: Licensing 201 — Q&A (Part 2) on Pricing + Packaging, Train-the-Trainer, Delivery, and Legal
186: Licensing 201 — Q&A (Part 1) on Product Development, Attracting Clients, and Sales Process
185: How Licensing Helps Serve the Queen Bee Role + Stop Keeping up with the EntrepreJoneses with Mike Michalowicz
184: 🚂 Train Tracks vs. Tightrope 🩰
183: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt with Madeleine Dore
182: 🏚️ The Challenges of Renovating a (Business) House while Living in It
📣 Webby voting ends tomorrow! 💸 Please vote for Free Time by EOD Tomorrow (4/20) 🙏
181: Be Irreplaceable with My Creative Coach Jay Acunzo
180: 📉 Diminishing Returns and the True Costs of Shiny Shoulds
179: Video-Free Business and Intuitive Writing with Jacqueline Fisch
178: 📕Book Club — 3 Big Ideas from SAVING TIME by Jenny Odell
🎉 Free Time is Nominated for a Webby!! 🙏 I'd love your help voting before 4/20 :) ✅
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176: 🍪 What’s the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread in Your Business?🍌
175: Give Yourself a Raise with Erin Haag
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