We all have aspirations for our business. As the new year is fast approaching, it’s time to put your pen to paper and turn your aspirations into SMART goals for the new year. In this episode, we share tips and strategies for creating SMART goals for your business. Are you currently struggling to figure out what business goals to set? That’s okay. This episode provides the clarity you need. Key points in this episode… Our podcast stats are mind blowing. Introduction to our discussion. Goal setting is important to running a successful business. It helps you keep track of your business’s performance and keeps you and your team accountable. The beginning of a new year is a time to pause for reflection. SMART goal means a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Have clearly defined objectives for your business. Make sure your result is trackable and celebrate your wins. “Attainable” makes the difference between goals and dreams, and helps you maintain momentum. Your goals should align with your values and objectives. Having time-bound goals helps you prioritize tasks, track progress and serves as motivation. How to put SMART goals in motion. Get specific with what you want to accomplish. Take a look at your resources and how to allocate them to achieve your goals. Avoid getting swept up in what other people are doing. Think about your business goal in terms of what can push your business forward within the next year. Don’t just focus on the big picture, think also about the little things you want to achieve. You can set goals for other areas of your business too. Visualize your goals. Create a roadmap for results and milestones. Commit to your goals and avoid second-guessing yourself. Regularly track your progress. Set deadlines. Celebrate milestones. Check out our previous episode on setting apart CEO days to check in on your progress: It’s A Vibe! Uplevel Your Biz with CEO Days LINK WE MENTIONED It’s A Vibe! Uplevel Your Biz with CEO Days: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/Jw8aIkHiIvb Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave us a 5-star rating! Ratings & reviews will help this podcast grow so we can make the world a little more Sparkly! LET’S CONNECT Is there a topic you’d like us to cover in an upcoming episode? Are you a business owner who wants to join us on the podcast to share your story? Send us an email at [email protected] to get in touch. Find Lauren at laurentassiagency.com or on Instagram Connect with Megan at megangersch.com, on TikTok, and Instagram

Have you ever considered using Google ads to gain more visibility in your business? Jyll Saskin Gales joins us for this episode of Your Sparkly Brand to shed light on how Google ads work and how business owners can get the best out of Google ads. We discuss mistakes often made by business owners when running Google ads and we talk about tips for setting up great Google ads. Jyll Saskin Gales is a marketing coach, consultant and trainer. She advises business owners across industries and sizes, helping them get the best ROI from their marketing. Jyll teaches at Google, Camp Tech, Jelly Academy, Elevate, boutique agencies, Fortune 100 companies and her own Learn with Jyll platform. She is TikTok's resident @the_google_pro with more than 50,000 followers tuning in for her bite-sized, actionable marketing tips. Jyll previously worked at Google for 6 years and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. How to connect with Jyll… Website: jyll.ca TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the_google_pro IG: https://www.instagram.com/the_google_pro/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thegooglepro Twitter: https://twitter.com/jyllsaskingales Key points in this episode… Meet Jyll Saskin Gales. Lauren’s sparkly moment of the week. Meg’s sparkly moment. Jyll’s sparkly moment. Jyll’s business building journey. Google Ads 101: What every business owner should know about Google ads. How to determine what platform is best for your ads. Mistakes business owners make with Google ads. How you can make “unsucky” ads. Pricing and timeline for the learning phase of an ad. Recommended Google ads pricing for small business owners. How to set up your ads to avoid getting banned. How Google ads ranking works. Other recommended Google tools for business owners. DIY aspect of Google ads. Importance of branding to Jyll’s business. Jyll’s valuable piece of advice to her younger self. Jyll’s upcoming projects. Where to find Jyll online… Website: jyll.ca TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the_google_pro IG: https://www.instagram.com/the_google_pro/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thegooglepro Twitter: https://twitter.com/jyllsaskingales LINKS WE MENTIONED Jyll’s course on Google ads: https://jyll.ca/pages/google-ads-course Are you subscribed to the pod? If not, what are you waiting for!?! Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. LET’S CONNECT Find Lauren at laurentassiagency.com or on  Instagram Connect with Megan at megangersch.com, on TikTok, and Instagram

Having quit a high paying job at Google to become a personal branding coach, Stef Pinsley joins us on this episode of Your Sparkly Brand to share her journey to not only building a unique personal brand for herself but also helping business owners and other individuals figure out and fix what’s making them stuck on their personal branding journey. Stefanie is a Cornell alum and xGoogler turned coach and speaker committed to helping natural-born leaders get unstuck from unfulfilling careers or futile job searches. She helps you to build confidence, create clarity and attract aligned opportunities through an unexpected but powerful approach - developing your personal brand. Website: https://www.stefpinsley.com/hello IG (Personal): https://www.instagram.com/stef.pinsley TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stef.pinsley Key points in this episode… Meet Stef Pinsley! Meg’s sparkly moment of the week. Lauren’s sparkly moment. Stef’s sparkly moment. Stef’s journey to becoming a personal branding coach. Why Stef pivoted from coaching people on building a personal brand to coaching people on getting unstuck with personal branding. Lessons Stef learned from her job experience at Google. What it means to get stuck. Tips for becoming unstuck. Personal branding is helpful in any niche for anyone. How you can monetize a personal brand. The connection between personal branding and developing an entrepreneurial mindset. Stef’s advice to people who are ridiculously burnt out at their dream job but still feel the need to keep pushing and enduring. Stef’s most valuable piece of advice to her younger self. Stef’s upcoming project. Where to find Stef and Project Unstuck online… Website: stefpinsley.com/hello Project Unstuck: https://www.stefpinsley.com/project-unstuck-enroll Stef’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/stef.pinsley Stef’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stef.pinsley Are you subscribed to the pod? If not, what are you waiting for!?! Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. LET’S CONNECT Find Lauren at laurentassiagency.com or on Instagram Connect with Megan at megangersch.com, on TikTok, and Instagram

You’ve got questions about mindset related issues that come up in the entrepreneurial journey, such as dealing with imposter syndrome and getting past social media trolls — and we’ve got answers! Welcome to another Q & A episode of Your Sparkly Brand. We are excited to give answers to these listeners' questions. If you’ve got a question you want to be answered on our next Q&A episode, send either of us a DM on social or email [email protected] Key points in this episode… Meg experiences an a-ha moment in one of her mastermind sessions about products and services pricing. Lauren makes a huge investment in her business. Today, we’re having a Q and A episode and we’re talking about mindset related issues. How to get past trolls in social media comment sections and show up regardless. Your confidence in your product or service is the ultimate and it comes with consistency in showing up. Check out Episode 12 on Handling Haters for more actionable tips. How to overcome imposter syndrome. Episode 9 - Overcoming Imposter Syndrome. How to achieve a work-life balance. Done is better than perfect. Track your daily progress. Prioritize the needle-moving activities in your business. Episode 8 - Time Flow & Creativity w/Ros Croad. How to work through a feeling that others don’t believe in you, your strengths or talents. Build confidence through repetitive positive reinforcement. Being successful without showing your face on social media is twice as hard. Practice recording videos of yourself. How to talk about your offers online without coming off as too salesy. Connect with what you do and believe in it. Episode 11 - Selling Without Feeling Sleazy. How to take the leap into entrepreneurship. Building a brand takes time, energy and consistency. You don’t have to have everything figured out at the start. LINKS WE MENTIONED Episode 12 of Your Sparkly Brand Podcast - Handling Haters: https://anchor.fm/your-sparkly-brand/episodes/Handling-Haters-e1kuseq Episode 9 - Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: https://anchor.fm/your-sparkly-brand/episodes/Overcoming-Imposter-Syndrome-e1kusfk Episode 8 - Time Flow & Creativity w/Ros Croad: https://anchor.fm/your-sparkly-brand/episodes/Time-Flow--Creativity-wRos-Croad-e1kusft Episode 11 - Selling Without Feeling Sleazy: https://anchor.fm/your-sparkly-brand/episodes/Selling-Without-Feeling-Sleazy-e1kusf0 Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave us a 5-star rating! Ratings and reviews will help this podcast grow so we can make the world a little more Sparkly! LET’S CONNECT Is there a topic you’d like us to cover in an upcoming episode? Are you a business owner who wants to join us on the podcast to share your story? Send us an email at [email protected] to get in touch. Find Lauren at laurentassiagency.com or on Instagram Connect with Megan at megangersch.com, on TikTok, and Instagram

As business owners, we often create lead magnets in order to build trust with customers and encourage their patronage. A lead magnet would defeat its purpose if it neither results in trust building nor generates sales, and that can be frustrating. In this episode of Your Sparkly Brand podcast, we discuss tips on how you can create a valuable and enticing freebie that will make customers repose confidence in your brand and that will boost sales for your business. Key points in this episode… Meg hits the a-ha moment on a website design project she’s handling for a client. Lauren gets excited at the freedom she enjoys in her business which allows her to take time off to go on a trip. Synonyms of lead magnet. Lead magnet is a free piece of content or discount that prompts a person to give you their email address. Its goal is to build your email list and build trust with your potential customers. Email marketing is more intimate than other forms of marketing. “Join our email list” isn’t very effective. Your lead magnet must be something desirable. Focus on what your target audience wants or their struggles. Give an actionable quick-win. Consider how your audience prefers to consume information. Get creative with your freebie delivery. Give as much value as you can. Don’t be afraid to give too much away. Incorporate your brand values to your freebies. Lauren’s most successful freebie - the Zen AF Launch Checklist - can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/zen-launch Meg’s most successful freebies. Once somebody opts in for your freebie, drop them into a welcome series in your email platform. Include clickable links in your PDF if you’re creating one. Include a call to action (CTA). Consider your entire customer journey. Check out our previous episode on sales funnels here: https://anchor.fm/your-sparkly-brand/episodes/Sales-Funnels-Simplified-e1kusf9 Get your freebie out there. “Stan” is an amazing platform for pushing out your freebies. LINKS WE MENTIONED The Zen A.F. Launch Checklist: https://bit.ly/zen-launch Episode 14 of Your Sparkly Brand Podcast - Sales Funnels Simplified: https://anchor.fm/your-sparkly-brand/episodes/Sales-Funnels-Simplified-e1kusf9 Stan: join.stanwith.me/megangersch Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave us a 5-star rating! Ratings & reviews will help this podcast grow so we can make the world a little more Sparkly! LET’S CONNECT Is there a topic you’d like us to cover in an upcoming episode? Are you a business owner who wants to join us on the podcast to share your story? Send us an email at [email protected] to get in touch. Find Lauren at laurentassiagency.com or on Instagram Connect with Megan at megangersch.com, on TikTok, and Instagram

Hey brand owners! A few weeks ago, we talked about delighting your clients and customers. If you haven’t listened to that episode, find it here: Overdeliver: How to Delight Your Clients & Customers. In this episode, we discuss a customer relationship management tool, Dubsado, which you can utilize to make your customers’ and clients’ journey a seamless one, and consequently, delight your customers. Dubsado is also a great tool for keeping your business organized and automating repetitive processes. Key points in this episode… Meg goes to Denver and gets blown away by the incredibleness of Meow Wolf. Lauren’s client from over two years ago reaches out with a business referral. Meg wins a year-long free subscription to Dubsado. Lauren is pro-Dubsado and recommends it to service providers. Save 20% off your first month or year by signing up here: dubsado.com/?c=tassi Dubsado is a customer relationship management tool. Dubsado is highly customizable. What you can do with Dubsado. Lead capture. Client portal. Contracts, proposals and invoices all in one place. How you can use Dubsado to manage your business. Lead to discovery call. Automated reminders and proposal follow-ups. Onboarding workflow. Offboarding sequence. Downsides to Dubsado. It takes a while to get the hang of it as there’s a lot to learn. It does not serve expense tracking and bookkeeping purposes. Payment processing is unavailable. Doesn’t do email marketing. Dubsado can be integrated with Google Calendar. Benefits of using Dubsado for your business. Visually cohesive. Professional experience for your clients. Keeps you organized. Incredible customer support. How to get started with Dubsado. Free trial. Affiliate link in show notes — save 20% off your first month or year Dubsado saves Lauren 3-5 hours per week. LINKS WE MENTIONED Dubsado CRM System: dubsado.com/?c=tassi Dubsado Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/dubsado Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave us a 5-star rating! Ratings & reviews will help this podcast grow so we can make the world a little more Sparkly! LET’S CONNECT Is there a topic you’d like us to cover in an upcoming episode? Are you a business owner who wants to join us on the podcast to share your story? Send us an email at [email protected] to get in touch. Find Lauren at laurentassiagency.com or on Instagram Connect with Megan at megangersch.com, on TikTok, and Instagram

The holiday season is coming up! Yayyy! We hope someone is as excited as we are. Even if you’re not feeling it this year, as a business owner you’ve got to plan for the holidays. The tips we share in this episode will help you prepare for this year’s Black Friday promotions and beyond. Avoid overwhelm and busyness by following these prep tips and getting ready now! Key points in this episode… Meg has her first workshop where she speaks to Pike Place Market on the basics of short form video. Lauren creates a new policy in her business. The holiday season is coming up fast. Tips to get your business prepared. Take advantage of Black Friday promotion whether as a product or service provider. Offer discounts. As a service provider, create an offer that is relevant to Black Friday. Get your shipping situation figured out. Gifts for clients. Let clients & customers know your availability and response time. Do something special for your team. Prepare mentally and financially for the possibility of a slow down in your business. Hire extra help before you need it. Stock up on inventory and supplies ahead of time. Make sure your website is ready. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave us a 5-star rating! Ratings & reviews will help this podcast grow so we can make the world a little more Sparkly! LET’S CONNECT Is there a topic you’d like us to cover in an upcoming episode? Are you a business owner who wants to join us on the podcast to share your story? Send us an email at [email protected] to get in touch. Find Lauren at laurentassiagency.com or on Instagram Connect with Megan at megangersch.com, on TikTok, and Instagram

As a client or customer, have you ever felt disappointed after a business transaction? Like your expectation wasn’t met? Have you ever felt like a business is all about the owner and never about you, the customer? This is often the result when a business isn’t focused on delighting customers. It’s very difficult for a business like that to sustain brand loyalty. Whether you’re a product-based or service-based business owner, delighting your customers is such an easy way to build and sustain brand loyalty. In this episode, we walk you through the step-by-step process of how to delight your customers, and consequently, increase customer retention. Key points in this episode… Lauren onboards a new client. Meg attends the Success Society Retreat and makes valuable connections. Delighting your clients and customers is about going the extra mile to make their experience a little more sparkly. Delighting your clients and customers helps your brand stand out and builds customer loyalty. Ways by which service and product based business owners can delight their customers. 2 very important points in customers’ journey to delight. Get them excited about your product or service immediately after purchase, and avoid instant buyers remorse. Leave them feeling great about working with you or buying your product. Ways to delight your clients digitally. Celebrate them on social media. Attend their live social media streams and engage / ask questions. Treat anyone who works for you like gold. Offer special perks and discounts to encourage repeat business. How to blow someone away as a service provider. Overdeliver when it comes to service. Make the process of working with you as easy as possible. How to blow someone away as a product-based business owner. Impressive packaging. Tiny gifts. Fast shipping. Provide fantastic and friendly customer service. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave us a 5-star rating! Ratings & reviews will help this podcast grow so we can make the world a little more Sparkly! LET’S CONNECT Is there a topic you’d like us to cover in an upcoming episode? Are you a business owner who wants to join us on the podcast to share your story? Send us an email at [email protected] to get in touch. Find Lauren at laurentassiagency.com or on Instagram Connect with Megan at megangersch.com, on TikTok, and Instagram

Your Sparkly Brand is 1 y’all! It’s been a whole year of consistently inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs by showing up with high-value content targeted at helping them grow their business. In the spirit of celebrating our one year anniversary, we decided to share insights into our podcasting journey. We share lessons that we’ve learnt over the years, and the tools and tricks behind our consistency and success. If you’re looking to start a podcast, this episode is a must-listen for you. If you’re already hosting or co-hosting a podcast, you might also find one or two tips that can help you improve on how you deliver. Key points in this episode… Meg celebrates reaching the highest grossing month in her business. Lauren’s husband, Alex, had his first chemotherapy appointment. We recently reached a major milestone. We’ve been podcasting for over a year! Starting a podcast is a lot of work, but really rewarding. Lessons we’ve learned along the way. Set your intention on who your podcast audience is. Your idea will evolve. Be okay with flexibility in your idea and be open to feedback. Get organized with your assets. Podcasting presents a great networking opportunity. It becomes a great catalog of content that you can refer people back to. Experiment and try new things, and be willing to try other things if that’s not working. When simplicity works, go with it. Make it easy for your guests by giving them as much information as would make them comfortable. Provide assets to guests to make it easy for them to promote your podcast. Don’t be too concerned about how to impress your podcast guests, just show up and genuinely listen to them. Be yourself, nobody cares how you look. Do video if you can. Use Anchor as your free, user-friendly podcast hosting platform. Descript is a great podcast video editing tool. Q&A format is really fun. Don’t stop experimenting. LINKS WE MENTIONED Descript Podcast Editor: https://www.descript.com/?lmref=jIPm8A Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave us a 5-star rating! Ratings & reviews will help this podcast grow so we can make the world a little more Sparkly! LET’S CONNECT Is there a topic you’d like us to cover in an upcoming episode? Are you a business owner who wants to join us on the podcast to share your story? Send us an email at [email protected] to get in touch. Find Lauren at laurentassiagency.com or on Instagram Connect with Megan at megangersch.com, on TikTok, and Instagram

We’ve talked a lot on this podcast about how important life is. And how important it is to run our business with the consciousness that we have a life outside of work and not allow our business to run our life. In this episode of Your Sparkly Brand, Khadirah joins us to share her story of switching from being a marketing consultant to becoming a Systems Implementation Engineer, helping her clients organize structures and increase revenue. Khadirah Muhammad is a Systems Implementation Engineer and Founder of SucceedingWithSystems.com who went from breaking into the entrepreneurial world at 18 with the goal of retiring her parents, to falling in love with systems and automation that make a true business’ world go round. Her notable projects include taking a client’s 2 -person operation from $15,000 to $80,000 in revenue in 60 days. Now Khadirah helps solopreneurs and those with small teams create 6 Figure Systems so they can gain back their time freedom and lifestyle freedom, and rekindle the joy in their businesses using Systems, Automation, and Technology. How to connect with Khadirah… Website: https://succeedingwithsystems.com/ IG (personal): https://www.instagram.com/khadirahsmuhammad/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KhadirahMuhammad Key points in this episode… Meet Khadirah Muhammad! Meg’s sparkly moment of the week. Lauren’s sparkly moment. Khadirah’s sparkly moment. Khadirah’s business building journey. Challenges Khadirah faced starting out in a male-dominated industry. How Khadirah’s background in engineering and working with systems helped her break out into the entrepreneurial world. How Succeeding with Systems has challenged the status quo. Khadirah’s advice to entrepreneurs going through similar hurdles as she went through in her entrepreneurial journey. How entrepreneurs can find a balance between hiring employees and embracing system automation. Inspiration to work with solopreneurs and small businesses. 3 steps that businesses can take to automate their system to save time and double their revenue. Tips to our listeners who are wanting to grow their business but feeling overwhelmed. Favorite time-saving tools. System Khadirah has created to simplify her life. Upcoming projects. Where to find Khadirah online… Website: https://succeedingwithsystems.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KhadirahMuhammad LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khadirah/ Are you subscribed to the pod? If not, what are you waiting for!?! Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. LET'S CONNECT Find Lauren at laurentassiagency.com or on Instagram. Connect with Megan at megangersch.com, on TikTok and Instagram.