Ask Muse Part 2: Can You Help Me Turn My Passions Into A Side Hustle? - #021

Show Notes

​In part one, Tara McKinney explained to Lori and Nola the challenge she was having taking her varied interests, passions and approaches to spirituality and applying them to a singular business model. Tune in to hear their innovative suggestions for helping this hybrid thinker and practitioner create, market and brand herself and her business. Listen in as Tara shares her thoughts on several messaging ideas Nola and Lori present for her consideration. Will she be able to use them to capture people's attention and get them to lean in? Hear her thoughts as they share DIY resources, checklists and step-by-step guides so she can take small steps leading to big effects to create and launch her new business, herself.

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Sticky Brand Lab

A positively energizing business opportunity is in the works. Come have a listen!

In This Episode You’ll Learn

• When you focus on what you care about and align it with your ‘passion’ and ‘values’ you have the opportunity to create a business and make a bigger impact.
• How to grab your listeners attention in such a way that gets them to respond, ”I want to work with her”. 
• The DIY elements you need to build your business and personal brand

When you have so many possible directions for building a business, it can be hard to match your knowledge and experience with the one option that excites you the most. Lori and Nola present Tara with their recommendations, checklists and resources to help her develop and build a business and personal brand she’s passionate about. Their suggestions give her messaging to grab a listener’s attention as well as step-by-step workflow so she can create a business without getting overwhelmed. All resources are available for listeners and can be found on the stickybrandlab.com/resources page 
​

• (13:13.32) When is it OK to change your ‘elevator’ message, and what do you say instead? 
• (18:11.42) If you have zero clients you’ll love this easy to implement method for helping you build your pipeline.
• (20:36.61) When you’re starting your new business, this tip makes it simple to both test your messaging and get referrals.

Resources
This episode was supported by: Ask Muse​

Transcript

Nola: 0:00
Welcome side hustlers. We're excited to have Ask Muse guest, Tara McKinney back for the second half of her Ask Muse session where we'll be presenting our suggestions for professional brand messaging and action steps for creating a side hustle. But before we unveil our recommendations, be sure to subscribe to the Sticky Brand Lab podcast, so you never miss a show. And so we can continue to help you and other aspiring entrepreneurs, just like you create launch and market a profitable side hustle you love. Now let's get this modern approach to creating a heart-centered business started.

0:34
You're listening to the Sticky Brand Lab podcast, where time strapped professionals, like you learn how to create a business you love in as little as three hours a week.

Lori: 0:47
Ask Muse is one of our favorite segments because it lets us help a listener with a specific problem. That being said, we do love the second part of Ask Muse, because this is where we get to share our thoughts and recommendations with our guests and get their reactions. And in this case, that's Tara McKinney. A talented, passionate and dedicated student and practitioner of Ayurvedic and yoga traditions herself. Tara has used her knowledge, training and experience to help others struggling to find balance and health in their daily lives all while working her day job as a director of program planning and evaluation for a nonprofit. Tara came to Ask Muse for help with making the transition from singular employee to a multifaceted business owner. With such a skilled and vast knowledge base to draw from, along with a passion for learning Tara doesn't fit into the narrowly defined business model, nor does she want to. Equally exciting is that Tara leads a virtual podcast discussion group, where she has also had the opportunity to share many of the recipes she's been creating for people living with certain health concerns. Feedback to both her recipes and talk leadership has been so wonderful that the organization's founder agreed that Tara should be an official moderator of the discussion group. Talk about living a passion and purpose driven lifestyle.

Nola: 2:15
I know, right.

Lori: 2:16
It is, it's so exciting to be so on track with the way that you want to live your life and the way that you want to work within your life. There were two main challenges that Tara came to Ask Muse for. The first being her, amazing background. Tara has a positive reputation in yoga communities as a highly trained and skilled instructor. She has a master of divinity and an MS degree in international development. And she's currently expanding her reach within the Ayurveda community while going through training to become certified. Given that she has, uh, all of this diverse depth and breadth of knowledge, her goal is to establish herself as a professional within the spiritual and personal development community. In other words, she wants to become an entrepreneur. And Tara, you had mentioned that you were uncomfortable with labels and that you find it a challenge to describe what you do, making it even more difficult to brand yourself and your side hustle. Sound about right. So far?

Tara: 3:20
You are spot on.

Lori: 3:25
So we wanted to help you with messaging and we wanted to help you with branding. Is there anything else that you wanted to add Tara, to what we've already discussed as your reason for seeking out help from Ask Muse?

Tara: 3:42
No y'all covered it. Those are the, you've got to start with the basics and that's the initial foundation to, to get me going.

Lori: 3:50
Perfect. Well, we were excited to have you as a guest because we felt your situation will be familiar to many listeners who for whatever reason are ready to start a business or side hustle on their own. They just don't know where to begin. So helping you map out your journey also helps listeners map out theirs as well. But before we give you our recommendations, checklists, and resources, we wanted to first give you some context behind our plan of action. So in this case, you're starting your side hustle from zero, and that's not easy. Establishing yourself as an entrepreneur is that right? Is definitely exciting. And to help you get started on the best path possible, we first wanted to start by giving you some message ideas, uh, so that you could talk to people about what you are doing. The idea here is that when someone asks you, Tara, what are you doing? Or tell me about your business, that you have a way to grab their attention in such a way that gets their response, I want to work with her or at the very least, I want to know more about what she's doing and what she's all about. So the beginning part is to start with what we call a teaser. And we're going to give you the document that we came up with. So you're going to be able to see it, and you're going to be able to make whatever changes along the way. But the idea behind here is you start with a teaser, something very quick that you can say. in just a couple words, or less, and you pause. And when you pause, you're looking at the listener to get an, a reaction. So you might see their eyebrows move, or you might see a puzzlement on their face. Any of those signs give you the opportunity then to follow up your teaser with a short message. Sound good. So far?

Tara: 5:49
Yeah, very clear.

Lori: 5:50
Great.

Nola: 5:52
So. we came up with three options and I'm about to show them to you. But it's important to keep in mind that again, these are just options. These are starting points and there are different ways you can tweak them but out of these three, you can start with the one that resonates most with you, or you can try them out and ask for feedback. And if none of them resonates with you, then you absolutely have to tell us.

Lori: 6:24
Even though we were excited. We're like, Oh, that's good. That's really good. It doesn't matter if we like it. You have to like,

Tara: 6:32
Of

Nola: 6:33
So, yeah. So from none of these resonate with you, you need to let us know, so we can work with you to modify them. And then as you begin to get this positive feedback or any kind of feedback on the teaser and the messaging, you'll be able to start modifying them and using them naturally in your conversation, even depending on the person you're talking to and the context.

Lori: 6:55
Tara you had said that your target audience at this moment was women between the ages of approximately 30 to 50, who are open to alternative practices for healing, living and growing. Do we have that right?

Tara: 7:10
All within that, the spiritual context for sure.

Lori: 7:15
Great. So we're going to start with option one. And option one, because you had mentioned that you really, um, yeah. Aren't quite certain about putting yourself in kind of a label and box, we thought this is the non label teaser. So if somebody says, uh, Tara, what do you do? Or what what's your business about? You can start by saying. I do a variety of things, including heart-centered guidance. Now this answer is obviously based on who you're talking to. So heart-centered guidance, you could change the word guidance to I'm a heart-centered practitioner. You could say I do heart-centered counseling. You could put anything in the guidance as an alternative, but we gave heart-centered as a way to say that you're really working with people authentically.

Nola: 8:13
And guidance wasn't a label. Mentor practitioner can be a label, but this is the non label teaser.

Lori: 8:22
So I do a variety of things, including providing heart-centered guidance.

Nola: 8:26
Okay. And so the response is, Oh? Tell me more.

Lori: 8:32
Or they lean in, or they've never heard before. I might have a little perplexed look on their face because that's such a new way of saying something, giving you the opportunity to, to narrow in and say, I help women integrate holistic minded practices so they can reclaim their natural state of health in mind, body, and spirit.

Tara: 8:55
Sure I would remove minded and just say integrate holistic practices. Yeah.

Lori: 9:01
Perfect.

Tara: 9:02
That's maybe the one I would more naturally just say off the top of my head because it's very true, you know, all of it's true. Um, but that's, uh, that's a little bit more of the comfort zone of, yeah. I do a variety of things, including heart-centered guidance, right.

Nola: 9:19
safe.

Tara: 9:19
Um, it is safe, yeah. so with the first one, I'm like, Oh, easy to roll with.

Nola: 9:25
Option two, so that was your non labeled teaser. This is a non-traditional teaser. The key word in this teaser is transformation. I'm a transformation teacher, or you might decide, I'm a, I'm a transformation mentor. So you're putting a label on there, but it's being qualified by the word transformation. So you can't fall into a bucket of life, coach, spiritual coach, or whatever, something under I'm a transformation teacher. I'm a transformation mentor, counselor guide. I like teacher or mentor because that's what you do and the alliteration of it. And then, so let's say you say I'm a transformation teacher. And go, uh, transformation teacher? What, what is that? And your answer well, drawing from Ayurveda yoga, Christianity, and other ancient wisdom. I provide women with practical programs so they can experience a healthier way of living. Now, you'll see, on this, worksheet that there's several words you can interchange there. So for practical programs, you could put tools, guidance, steps, whatever comes naturally, and whether which one fits best and, so that they can experience a healthier or a holistic or an integrated way of living. These are all terms that you had mentioned in your conversation that would all apply. So whatever feels most natural and most resonant with you, you can use those terms. But the whole point is you're drawing for this ancient wisdom, providing them practical tools so that they can experience a healthier way of living.

Lori: 11:03
The idea here in the teaser and the message is just a way to draw people in. So you can tell them more about the services that you offer or the things that you are doing. The messaging is about getting the listener to think. I want to hear more. I want to know more. She's speaking my language. She is resonating with me and I'm drawn to that because we're on the same page.

Tara: 11:34
Yeah, I, I, I get a bit like this. I'm like, Oh, transformation teacher or mentor. Of course it resonates. And I understand that. Yeah. The whole idea with any relationship and particularly this type of relationship is that the person I'm working with is changed. And by proxy, by proxy that I end up changed too. But it is a stretch. Um, just because it's not a word I'm used to putting in there straight away, even though I'm very clearly comfortable with the concept of it. Uh, And on the messaging piece where I also am getting stretched on that, I is when I am in my Ayurveda, yoga world, if you will, we're going to lump them all together, Vedic tradition. That when I'm meeting people on that plane, they typically have no idea of my Christian background. And my training in that. I would probably say, Ayurveda, yoga, and other ancient wisdom traditions. And then later on in the conversation, Uh, depending on, on where they're at I would easily say something of, you know, in my background I am Christian and this is how I approach it. And then you get all the more nuanced part, um, or it doesn't get brought up. It just depends on, on who I'm with.

Lori: 13:03
Exactly if you were totally in line with the person, here are the things that you can say. And if you were uncertain, here's some safe words or a way to say it, um, that kind of opens up the possibility for down the road. So the combination here is, um, is always going to be situational and person dependent. In the same way that you get to say, do I use practical tools, guidance, programs, recipes, what do I put in that, that one? Or do I use experience healthier, holistic integrated something way of living.

Nola: 13:49
And you may get your cue from the person you're talking to.

Lori: 13:52
Yes. Also, what's resonating with you at that moment. So you're picking up something from the other person tuning into it. Some of those are naturally going to be able to be swapped out because of the person situation, circumstances you're in. But this gives you a way of seeing that, which is why it was non-traditional. So the third option that we did is very clever. It's a much more of a stretch. But we thought it would be fun. And this would be, I guide soulistic seekers or something like I teach soulistic students.

Nola: 14:41
in the week, since we've talked with you, you have really narrowed your title for your business being called soul in service. This also plays on that theme.
Lori: 14:52It plays off of holistic with soulistic. So here I guide soulistic seekers. Hmm. What's that about? Well, I particularly women who are ready to experience a holistic lifestyle, one that integrates spiritual, physical, and relational wellbeing.

Tara: 15:12Okay. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I also, I find this when it's not only me willing to stretch, like I immediately think of certain people that I could go, Hey, I guide soulistic seekers and teach holistic students and they would be right on board because they're already in that, uh, that space of. They're not so linear thinking or not so in the box thinking. And I'm like, Oh yeah. And my other parts of my crew, I think like, yeah, they're going to hear me say that and they're going to be like, Hm. We're you're you're, you're like we can roll with it because it's you, and we love you and we know what you do, and I'm not going to sign up for that, but yeah,

Nola: 16:02it's,

Tara: 16:03yeah,

Nola: 16:03
great that you are, you have that sensitivity that you can really be in tune to who you're talking to so that you can select the right message that will resonate with them. And that's the whole idea.

Lori: 16:16
So here you are, you have heard all three of the messages. What are your thoughts?

Nola: 16:24
How are you feeling so far?

Tara: 16:26
Yeah, it's exciting. Good job ladies.

Lori: 16:31
And that was also very good feedback. I love it. Thank you.

Nola: 16:34
When we come back, we're going to share some tips for networking to get clients as well as layout our roadmap for creating and launching Tara's business and professional brand.

16:47
Are you an aspiring entrepreneur, who's ready to share your vision with the world, but you're not sure exactly what that would look like. Or do you just want a safe soundboard to help you evaluate your top business ideas then a B unique session is just what you're looking for. This two part clarity session is customized and based on your individual goals and experience together, we will help you determine your ideal business niche, target audience, and strategy. You'll leave the session with a realistic timeline and a set of small step, big wind goals that make sense for you and your lifestyle. Sign up today for a free 20 minute [email protected] forward slash shop.

Lori: 17:26
Welcome back to Sticky Brand Lab podcast. The show that minimizes information overload. So you can get your side gig up and running because doing it today, outperforms doing it someday any day of the week. So Tara, great feedback from the messaging. We're so excited. This resonates with you, and that you can already see where you would be using some of the teasers and messaging who it's appropriate for, and that you yourself can already see how you would modify it to fit your style and personality. Now, where do you go practice this? This is what we're going to talk about next. And this is the networking. So how do you going from zero clients, how do you start to get clients? Where do you turn to, and the way to do this is to kind of think about it from a networking approach. So Nola has shared her screen, so you could see what this looks like. This is another handout that you're going to have, but for you and for our listeners, I'm going to walk you through some of that process. So we've got you in the center. From one circle out, is your a list. These are the people and professionals currently in your network that you associate with, that you have contact with. Now going one circle out from that group would be your B list and think of these as more acquaintances. You do have contact with them, but they're not part of your inner circle. Going even further out is your people and professionals that you come in contact with that are less often than acquaintances. So rather than seeing them a couple times a month, you might see them a few times a year. They could also be people that you're being introduced to. So they could be one circle out from somebody that is very close to you. That made a referral. Sound good so far.

Nola: 19:40
Okay. Cool. So one of your action steps is to think through your contacts and divide them into those tiers, A, B, and C, and ask the following questions. And in doing so you're going to be testing your messaging. So especially when you, think through that, you're going to be sitting down with somebody who's maybe on your, A list you can actually say, um, here's what I do. How does this explanation resonate with you? Do you have any suggestions? And what's happening is you're asking their advice. You're asking for their feedback. And in doing so you're informing them of your business. And by asking them for advice, you're going to get authentic feedback because this is, these are people from your A list, and even your B list. Another question is, allow me a minute to tell you, what my business is about. And based on that AB relationship, their answer was most likely going to be, Oh, really? You've got a business. Tell me more again, you can rehearse that messaging and, um, explain your services and get that feedback. And then as you're having these conversations, the next question is, does anyone come to mind who might benefit from my services? Now you're getting referrals. And if they, if the name that would you be willing to make an introduction? Great. And if their feedback is really positive, Hey, would you be willing to provide a testimonial? And those testimonials are what you can collect and put on your website and other marketing materials. So this is how you would take that step in getting people to know what you're doing without doing some major marketing or advertising or something that's uncomfortable. It's all in conversation. It's all in asking feedback. And every time you do, you're testing your messaging and getting more and more comfortable with talking about what you do and how you do it.

Lori: 21:35
Yeah, this, this part here is, is two-fold. In the sense that you're pulling somebody in because you're genuinely asking help refining your own messaging it's as you're picking up more information from your listener that you're asking to make sure it's clear. You want to have somebody safe to practice with, and in that it's natural that people want to help you. So they want to give you feedback. And of course, as they hear more about what you're doing and they know you, if they truly have somebody in mind, they're going to share that with you, because everything that you do make sense to them, they want to support you. And they know of somebody who would benefit from your services. So it's, there's so many blessings that are happening right in just having the courage to put together an, A list, a B list and a C list.

Tara: 22:34
Yeah, it's very clear and easy to follow. It just very practical in that way. Like very tangible in terms of the identity messaging piece, uh, and narrowing down the client base, you know, and what are their needs and all of that.

Nola: 22:48Great.

Lori: 22:52
So to help you with your business brand and the steps that you can do on your own, and in kind of a DIY fashion, we've put together both a checklist and resources for you. And something to keep in mind here, while this is a long checklist it's designed for you to think about. Doing in three hours a week or 30 minutes a day, give or take how much time you have to devote to something. So don't feel intimidated by the list. We wanted to provide resources that you could use yourself to learn more and going from free to small costs in some situations. And so the elements to the branding that are included in here are choosing brand colors, resources for type biography, logo, DIY headshot, or professional lifestyle photos, your website, business, collateral, even social platforms. And for us, we specifically want to pull out and talk to you about an idea that Nola and I had for really bringing your gifts and talents to the forefront. And that was on a YouTube channel.

Nola: 24:16
In fact, it's funny, we came to compare notes and we were both on the same page that YouTube is going to be so good for you. And I, and I know you were already thinking of YouTube and it's perfect because as a business, that's where your your potential customers, they will be able to encounter you on video and basically come to know you like you and trust you. Okay. So. you'll see in the resources how to, establish your YouTube channel to establish it and start it simply but correctly so that it really does attract people. And when you do that, it'll be a source of traffic to your website where people will be, will become your your clients. There'll be engaging with you and learning more about your services.

Lori: 25:08
Um, is going to work for your business, your brand, your personality, as Nola said. Um, but I want to kind of just touch on it in thinking about it from two ways. The one of get to know you like you and trust you. So that's what it would be like to hire you. From a branding component. YouTube is a way to drive traffic, to find new customers, prospective clients, it helps with keyword search. So from a, from a branding business standpoint, it's a way of driving an audience to you. For example, let's just say that you had a stress release, yoga technique for people sitting at their desk. You would tie some of those words, yoga, stress release, working at your desk. And you could package that in examples, uh, five minutes or less, maybe it's a minute. Here's a little thing that you can do. So I have, uh, a minute with Tara or Tara time. You know, coming up with something clever. Uh, and so your description uses it from a branding standpoint. Your personality uses it to show what people would experience as they get to know you love you and want to work with you.

Tara: 26:35
My immediate reaction is I have a friend I talked to on Tuesdays and it's called Tara Tuesday.

Lori: 26:44
You already have Tara Tuesday. Wow. That is awesome.

Nola: 26:52
So cool. Now this link that's in the resources page. Um, under YouTube, it will explain how you can set that channel up in such a way that it's not your personal YouTube channel. It's your branded, your company, YouTube channel under the same Google account. that just so that it simplifies things. So be sure to watch that video.

Tara: 27:18
very helpful because I'm even a couple of steps behind you all. I was like, I have no clue how YouTube to YouTube in general, like from the, the setup site.

Nola: 27:29
That's why we chose this particular video because it assumes that much. It's like, okay, click here. This is the screen. This is where you want to click to do this. And this is what you want to do and why, and, you know, go here and this, yeah, it's very easy to understand.

Lori: 27:47
And also you'll want to follow the branding. list that we have there for getting your colors and typography and all of those things. And that's that continuity across platforms.

Tara: 27:59
No.

Lori: 28:00
So you start with one and you, you make it really good. Your website, then you move on to the next, which could be your YouTube channel. Then you move on to the next, which could be the connection to Instagram. So if you do it kind of thinking small and then working your way out, it becomes more manageable because everything has a layer of responsibility that you have to do in order to keep it dynamic and interesting and drawing people to you and not just push, pushing out, um, stuff from you, but pulling people in. So they naturally want to learn more.

Tara: 28:44
No, that's very helpful way of initially, or at least my mind wants to go like, Oh, so everything all at once right? And it's, I'm like, I know this reminder, reign it in building blocks.

Nola: 29:01
we're all about baby steps

Lori: 29:04
Exactly We've given you a lot of information today. How does it sit with you? Any questions that come to mind right away? We know that you're going to want to take this information and sit with it but anything stand out, uh, Good bad or otherwise that you'd like to share?

Tara: 29:24
Uh, it just makes everything so much more tangible. So while it is a lot of information, I don't even feel like I need to pay attention in one sense, to all the information, because I already know where I want to start. I just feel like, yeah, I'm sure you did give me a lot in, I clearly heard you, but my brain never went there.

Lori: 29:45
That's beautiful and like Nola and I are, if we could get up and away from this, mic we would be doing our happy dance. Like, yay. Yeah.

Tara: 29:57
that sounds like its own YouTube video.

Nola: 30:01
Thank you Tara, for being our guest on this edition of ask muse. If somebody wants to learn more about you and the services you provide, how can people reach you now?

Tara: 30:12
Sure. Very easy. Uh, tara at soulinservice.co.

Nola: 30:18
Great. Listeners. If you would like to be a guest on Ask Muse, visit sticky brand lab.com forward slash Ask muse and apply today.

Lori: 30:28
Be sure to come back Tuesday and every Tuesday for another informative, inspiring and motivating episode. And remember actions create results. So tap into your desire to create a business and brand you love by taking 1% action every day, small steps, big effects.

(Out-take)
Nola: 30:53
DIT DIT, DIT, DIT, DIT, DIT, DIT, DIT. This is gonna be the segue for the next part.