Small Business Casual: Content Marketing, Productivity, Customer Experience for Entrepreneurs & Creators
Welcome to Small Business Casual, where we focus on designing a sustainable, cozy, and thriving business tailored to your LIFE. Not the other way around! Here, small business meets your favorite pair of slippers. It's a little quirky, not too buttoned up, one less accessory, ahhh… just right. From customer service, business productivity, and content marketing to making sense-of-the-behind the scenes, chaos, I walk alongside you as we make life and business less of a roller coaster ride and more like a walk in the park (with snacks, of course!). I offer Small Business Copywriting & Content Marketing Consulting to interior designers, home trade professionals, service providers, coaches, consultants, non-profits, and entrepreneurs with a big mission! Want to be a guest on Small Business Casual? Send Emily Aborn a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/member/smallbusinesscasual I do NOT accept pitches outside of PodMatch.
Episodes
No one wants to be the bad guy in their own story, of course… but it can go a little too far sometimes.
I see it on website after website.
Not villains who are posing as saints, but innocent, well-meaning service providers and practitioners who accidentally make themselves the hero of a story that’s supposed to be about their clients!
In this episode, we get into what it means to make your cl...
I've raved about PodMatch on this show more times than I can count, so when PodMatch founder, Alex Sanfilippo, said YES to being in my guest seat, suffice it to say, I was over the moon!
But we didn't just talk podcasting. Alex took us to the lower points behind the highlight reel and a failure he experienced that propelled him to where he is today.
From selling used golf balls at age ten to building a company that&...
To put pricing on your website or not to put pricing on your website... that is the question!
Turns out the answer is more interesting than a simple yes or no! In this special bonus episode, I bring in five expert service providers who share their take and the why behind it.
The Quick Decision Rule
- Selling something standalone and the same price for everyone, like a session or a workshop? Put the number on ...
The performing to earn our worth, our rates, our friends, our place at the table, our right to take up space... here's the lesson I keep learning: All that proving doesn't get us the thing. In fact, it usually blocks it.
In this episode, we get into the invisible engine of proving and how it can run so much of our striving and doing.
I'm sharing candid stories and honest takeaways from letting go of the need to PROV...
We spend a whole lot of energy trying to make more, attract more, and sell more, but very little on learning how to actually receive what's already trying to reach us.
This week, I'm talking about the unglamorous missing link in so many "abundance" conversations: Building (slowly) the capacity for the receiving.
We get into why receiving is so hard, what it's costing us, and a toolkit of small reps for letting more ...
"Charge your worth."
You have heard it a million times, I've heard it a milliona nd one. And, between you and me...I'm tired of it!
It's that it's wrong or bad advice, but no one every takes time to stop and ask the question underneath it... What is "worth"? How do I know what my worth is to charge it?! And can it really come down to a number we slap on a website or a proposal?
To help unpack my many questions,...
"It's not X, it's Y", the rhetorical "honestly?" and oh, the em-dashes!
The overt tells and... the little gut feelings when you suspect AI... what are they costing us?
When our readers and listeners' spidey senses go up, when their AI radar is activated, it can quietly cost you their trust. Which means it can also cost you business.
In this episode, I walk through 10 AI "Tells" and why they matter...
I learned two very simple and polar opposite lessons in June:
- Quit what you hate
- Keep going on what matters
The key is mastering the art of discernment to determine which is which!
Lesson #1: Leave It - If you don't like it, quit!
If something in life or business is coming up with more "cons" than "pros", you don't need to try to convince yourself it's a good fit. You can quit!
If it's causing you h...
Since 2014, Kristy's been pivoting, innovating, and doing things differently as she stays visible in a highly competitive industry.
In this episode, I sit down for a candid conversation with Kristy Ouellette, founder and owner of Mickey Guru Travel Company. We get into all the twists, turns, speed bumps, roller coaster rides, and magic of entrepreneurship:
- How Kristy and I met (the power of showing up)&nbs...
With limited bandwidth and a desire to reduce digital distraction, all while INFINITE options tug at you...
How do you decide where to actually put your time, energy, and efforts?
Is social media for the birds at this point?
How do you make time for more showing up in real life?
How do you choose things that won’t make you completely exhausted?
In this episode, we’re goin...
In last week's episode, we talked about how the next person you meet could change your life. Today, we're talking about what happens after you meet them, and more importantly, how other people can help you be MORE VISIBLE.
In this special compilation episode, I bring together FOUR guests whom I know, like, love, and trust to share five out-of-the-box ways to increase your visibility.
We talk about the power of colla...
The best advice I ever got was just six words: "Get out there and meet people!"
A former business advisor nudged me out of my retail shop and into the community over eight years ago. Her words changed my entire life. And today, I hope they change yours too!
No matter what you're seeking: growth, clarity, connection, new friends, next steps, the answer is almost always in the people you meet.
We're all just walking ri...
"I can't post unless I'm adding value."
Sound familiar?
We've all said it (or thought it) at least once or twice. "Delivering value" has become a silent gatekeeper for our content, and the idea of what "value" means can stop us cold.
We hold off on emailing our list, posting on social, or pitching that podcast until we have the perfect freebie, tip, how-to... something valuable to offer before we're allowed to show u...
"Authenticity" used to be one of my favorite words of all time! It meant something real, genuine, original, of the utmost quality. It offered permission to show up as yourself, not perform or pretend!
Then... #internet.
Suddenly, everyone was "stepping into their authentic self." From every coach, in every caption, selling every course, the word was everywhere. And when a word is everywhere, it becomes a bit generic and l...
3 Years ago, when I started this podcast, I decided to go 100% in on myself. The first of many times I would show up for ME.
I’ve learned since that when you take a bet on yourself, when you’re willing to go “all in”, you end up showing up even more fully for others.
Today, to celebrate the 3-Year Podiversary of Small Business Casual (previously named “Content with Character&rdquo...
Instead of overthinking, what if you experimented about it instead!?
“Don’t get stuck with where you have not succeeded. Go on to something else. You don’t know what will unfold.” - Natalie Goldberg
In this episode, we get into where experimentation and "just trying it" fits into life and business, and how a try-before-you buy mentality can end up being a winning strategy for success and happ...
When to hold em’ and when to fold em’... THAT is the question.
And in creative ventures and businesses, it’s one of the hardest things to answer when it comes up. When do you quit, stop pushing, throw in the towel, and when do you keep going?
While there’s no clear answer, magical checklist, or formula, there are some questions you can ask yourself and some gut checks that can help give you a...
Have you ever seen a business owner pay for help and then get all a gazillion different opinions from Mary, Larry, Harry, Tom, Billy, and Sally? Maybe it's been YOU seeking helper after helper whose help isn't "working"?
It can be really frustrating and entirely unhelpful when we poll everyone and anyone for help on how to move forward and proceed.
Too many cooks in the kitchen can cause you to be forever catching u...
Have you been burned by bro marketing? Exhausted by all the social media hacks? Underwhelmed with the "just manifest it" advice?
If so, you're going to LOVE the wisdom of my guest, Jessica Lackey.
Jessica reminds us that when you play by their rules, the house always wins in the entrepreneurial casino.
We discuss how to stop betting on tactics and build a business that actually works for YOU as we tackle ...
Do you feel guilty if you don't post or engage on social media for a week? Do you feel like you did something WRONG if you just spent an hour scrolling instead of being productive?
I recently asked this question about social media guilt on LinkedIn, asking people to share their experience with this no-win guilt phenomenon, and the comments and solidarity totally surprised me! Lots of people felt equally guilty posting as...
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