The idea for the Books Applied Podcast is one of the most fun and creative I've run across. Iggy Perillo of WSL Leadership is the creator and host. The premise of Books Applied is that Iggy invites people to read a book related to their professional expertise and then discuss it on the podcast. So much fun! The book I was invited to discuss was Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert , the celebrated author of Eat, Pray, Love.  I had already downloaded the book on my Kindle probably two years earlier, but Iggy's invitation was the impetus to crack the cover and read it. I won't give away the whole conversation, but I'll spill the beans on a couple of things to listen for. Iggy and I both had lukewarm responses to Eat, Pray, Love. We each had our own reasons, but it didn't make our recommended reading lists. In Big Magic, I found much to agree with and felt very affirmed by many things she wrote. I did feel like there was a push to make the cre

  Your Own Best Company podcast listeners heard me interview Michelle Nedelec back in May about the rebellious nature of entrepreneurship. Click here if you missed it! Since that episode, I've had more opportunities to talk with Michelle on two of her podcasts, The Business Ownership Podcast and The Little Blue Pill for Business Podcast. Michelle is a brilliant entrepreneur, a prolific podcaster(hosting and producing five shows at last count), a top-notch interviewer, and wickedly funny for the win.  I'll feature my interviews below, but in case you want to get in touch with her, Michelle can be found at https://michellenedelec.com , and on LinkedIn at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellenedelec/ . Our first conversation was for The Business Ownership Podcast on the topic of Creating a Creative Business We had a lot of fun talking about how creative people with little or no business experience can learn the ropes quickly and develop the business that allows them to continue c

▼▼▼ Watch and Listen Below ▼▼▼ I had a conversation earlier today with a friend who was interested in listening to podcasts, but he'd found it difficult to find and access podcasts he might like to hear. If you are a new podcast listener or would like to start finding and enjoying podcasts, this quick tutorial will help you get started. Here's a link to the free mini course with access to Franklin's list of recommended podcasts and more! Finding a Phone or Device App The first step is to find an app you can use to listen on your smart devices. You already have at least one app on your phone or tablet that has podcast listening built in. I suggest you find an app that allows you to search, subscribe, stream, download, share, and review podcasts. If you have an Apple device like an iPhone or iPad, Apple Podcasts should be installed on your phone or easily accessed in the app store. Apple Podcasts is easy to learn how to use, although I have heard complaints about its search f

When Podcast Movement announced that their annual conference was going to be held in Denver this year, I got excited. I've wanted to attend this conference ever since it started, but the timing and finances never seemed to line up. This year, thanks to the generosity of Buzzsprout and the close proximity of the venue, I was able to attend. Here are some of my highlights.  Podcasting is Still Growing And it appears to be growing even more rapidly with YouTube's new commitment to podcast support and promotion. It's not just YouTube. Spotify introduced video podcasts into its features last year, and new networks were represented at every level at the conference. The overall trend is that podcasting continues to expand in every direction. People Are Hungry for Podcast Curation As more podcasts are becoming available, people are looking for reliable sources of curation for the podcasts they listen to. Networks are one of the prominent sources people are turning to for this kind

This is the 100th and final episode of Your Own Best Company with Franklin Taggart. I started the podcast in May of 2021 during the height of the quarantine. Many people were faced with working alone for the first time, while others like me relished it. I wanted to encourage and celebrate working alone as an excellent option for people who don't enjoy working on teams or managing others.  I'd like to say thanks to all who listened. We reached over 31,000 viewers and listeners in the show's two years. I'm happy with that performance. I'm also grateful to every guest for bringing such amazing stories and resources to the listeners.  I will continue to offer Franklin Taggart's Virtual Coffee Break for the foreseeable future, and I may be considering some collaborative broadcast projects in the upcoming months, too. This has been a fun and rewarding show. I have several hundred clips to share, so it's not going away completely, but new episodes are no longer bei

Is your tank empty? Do you need some time for solitude, recharge, and to reconsider how you've been living, loving, and working? Is willpower not enough to do everything that you've committed to doing? That's the jumping-off point for this visit with coach Laura Livingston on the Your Own Best Company podcast. This conversation follows up on our last, which was on the topic of listening to your body.  In this episode, we cover: ** Health and business sustainability. ** The difference between willpower and empowerment. ** Making space for emotional experience. ** and inspired action. Find Laura online at https://lauralivingston.co And on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-livingston-coaching/ Thank you for listening, subscribing, reviewing, and sharing Your Own Best Company, a podcast for people who love working alone! #burnout #worklifebalance #rhythmoflife 

  If the job you love were to suddenly end, would you rather try to find another similar job, or would you try to build a business that brought together your best gifts with people you care about serving? Camille Miller was faced with this kind of decision, and she opted for the latter.   Not knowing exactly what she was going to do, she started experimenting with different ideas and found her direction, leading to the role of coach, then community builder, and now she's adding soulful adventurer.  In this episode we learn: ** How a high-level membership program is born. ** How personal growth often leads to a shedding of old relationships. ** Deliberate creation isn't just sitting around thinking about what you want. ** How Camille creates strategy with no end game. ** The surprising arrival of a new home close to the beach when she wasn't really looking. Check out all that Camille has to offer at: https://www.soulprofessional.com/ Find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedi

  As an executive, is it often easiest just to take on more responsibility and then work the extra hours that others don't see just to get things done? And is "fine" your stock answer when people ask you how you're doing? Lauren Lefkowitz knows the feeling, and she is here to offer another set of options. When an encounter with a rogue Roomba led to a freak accident, Lauren was forced to stop working long enough to take a good look at her compulsion to take on more responsibility than she had the energy for and make some conscious choices. Learning how to sit on her hands and let other people take on responsibility gave her a new level of freedom in her work. It wasn't a seamless lesson, but she ultimately found positive and doable ways to free herself from the tyranny of saying yes. As a rare executive coach who has real-life executive experience, Lauren now helps other executives and leaders escape the "Fine" trap and discover new ways to take care of

  If you need some creative inspiration for how to reach your customers with valuable and memorable marketing tools, Monique Eckes is back on the Your Own Best Company podcast with some of her latest and greatest ideas. She's also bringing an update on some of the past year's successes and lessons. Monique is the founder and owner of Silver Paw Studio and has become a well-known pet photographer throughout the Northern Colorado region. She is also an active video maker on YouTube, contributing her endless creative ideas on three channels and across all the other socials. In this episode: ** Success with her book, NoCo for Doggos, leads to this year's book project that is a celebration of a breed many misunderstand and wrongly categorize - pit bulls. ** Moving to a new studio and the inspiration to offer her workplace as what sociologists call a Third Place - a point of face-to-face connection that isn't home or work. ** The necessity of putting a good idea on hold. ** S

A Frequently Asked Question for 2023 from people I talk to is - Is it too late to start a creative freelance career? With all the talk about AI, ChatGPT, Midjourney, and whatever the AI flavor of the day is, these friends are rightfully wondering if they've waited too long to get into the game. I don't think it's too late at all. In fact, people getting started now may have an advantage over people who've been at it a while. Enter Sheena McInnes. Sheena is a copywriter who just got into the business in the latter part of 2022. Her first career path was literally in the wilderness as a conservationist and scientist. Ten years into the unpredictable weather patterns, large mosquitos, and non-human trail company (read large wild animals), Sheena found a coach and started looking for the next phase of her work life. She discovered freelance copywriting. Departing from the usual format of teasing valuable goodness from seasoned veteran creators and entrepreneurs, in this epi

 ▼▼▼▼▼ Time-sensitive announcement: Jessica Abel will be offering the Prioritize Like a Pro workshop live online at 1 pm on June 13. Registration information is here: https://jessicaabel.com/prioritize-like-a-pro/   Great, free opportunity to learn about the Weighted Decision Matrix we talked about in the interview! The evergreen version of the Prioritize Like a Pro workshop is here: https://jessicaabel.com/notionmastery/ ▼▼▼▼▼ One of my biggest challenges as a creator is having more ideas than I have time to see them through. It's easy to get distracted, and I often get started on projects when they're new and interesting, only to set them aside as other ideas show up. This makes it exceptionally hard to finish things. I recently attended a workshop presented by Jessica Abel, a creative business coach, artist, author, and teacher, where she introduced a tool she's adapted for creatives called the Weighted Decision Matrix. While I've depended on standard to-do type list

Humans are wired to connect through telling stories. It's been our primary way of communing with each other for thousands of years. Storytelling is so built into the design that we often don't recognize when it's happening or when we're doing it.  Lori Robertson, the SpeakHer Coach, joins Your Own Best Company today to talk about the power of story as a way to encourage, uplift, inspire, and transform. In her work with professional women, organizational leaders, and emerging influencers, Lori teaches how to bring a crystal clear message to people in unforgettable and valuable ways. In this interview, Lori shares her story of being put in front of large crowds early in her speaking experience, how she rose to leadership in an organization that sponsored over 30 large-audience live events every year, and how she now works with her clients to own their message and share their gift-laden stories on stages of all sizes. You may find Lori at ⁠ https://SpeakHerCoach.com⁠ and o

  Depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns are common experiences for many solopreneurs, freelancers, and self-employed. Kim Pratt from the Alliance for Suicide Prevention of Larimer County is the guest on this episode of Your Own Best Company.  Kim shares early warning signs, symptoms, and support resources if you are concerned about your mental health. Her go-to suggestion is to program the number 988 into your phone. This national crisis hotline offers support and services 24/7/365 in the US and is free to call. She also shares insight into how to find the right kind of help and offers both local and national resources for help. In the meantime, stay connected to your family, friends, and peers, and be honest with yourself and with them if you're having a difficult time. More information: ⁠ https://www.suicideprevent.org⁠ #mentalhealth #suicideprevention #depression 

Thanks to Marvin Bee for the invitation to share my story of turning a question and answer session with ChatGPT into a published Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) book on Uncle Marv's I.T. Business Podcast! This was a fun conversation, and I'll be looking forward to welcoming Marvin to Your Own Best Company sometime soon.  We talked about concerns and opportunities that tools like ChatGPT and other technology are presenting as they become more widely used. I recall some of my music career experiences in which tech advances changed everything about the music business in a relatively short period of time. And we talked about my initial surprise at the thorough way my questions were responded to.  You can hear the whole episode here:  Marvin has some other great episodes to check out here, especially if you are interested in more tech-centered conversations. And he's got an Amazon link to the book: https://itbusinesspodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/495-a-conversation-with-chatgpt

  Michelle Nedelec ▼▼▼ Watch and Listen Below!! ▼▼▼ Being her own boss seemed like the best option after being fired from a job working for someone else - her sister. 28 career pivots later, Michelle Nedelec has gathered a toolbelt full of business experiences that she draws from as she helps other business owners and executives navigate their marketing challenges. She's also a sought-after speaker, the host of five podcasts at last count, and a wickedly wise business strategist. In this episode of Your Own Best Company, Michelle opens up about: ** Being led by curiosity. ** Finding opportunities in surprising places. ** Insanity as a marketing strategy. ** The important distinction between employee and owner. ** How to become a certified forklift operator wearing six-inch stilettos. Michelle's Social Media  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/michelle.nedelec1   Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessownershipsecretstoscaling   Linkedln https://www.linkedin.com/i

  Virtual Backgrounds in Zoom aren't a new feature, but my friend Bonnie asked how I make mine so I made a tutorial for her. I'm sharing it with whoever else would like to learn. I'm a Canva Pro affiliate, so if you haven't tried pro yet, use my link to start your trial: https://bit.ly/Franklin-Canva (Link is case sensitive) Thanks for watching, sharing, and subscribing! #Zoom #Canva #tutorial 

  Persuasive communication is a cornerstone skill for every business owner, and many have never learned effective ways to consistently present influential messages. They may have a compelling offer but haven't established a strong enough connection to support it. Or the reader may be skeptical of claims after trying solutions that haven't worked, but the message doesn't acknowledge their experience. Billy Broas has gathered messaging wisdom from some of the greatest marketing communicators in the world and consolidated that knowledge into an extraordinarily useful framework called The Five Lightbulbs. In this episode of Your Own Best Company, Billy walks us through the framework influenced by copywriting masters like Eugene Schwartz, John Carlton, Gary, Bond, and Kevin Halbert, and David Garfinkel. Using The Five Lightbulbs framework will enable you to tailor your message to your customer's specific circumstances, and it will give you all the components of a complete pe

  Lou Bortone on ▼▼▼ Watch and Listen Below! ▼▼▼ If you want to increase online visibility for your business, the universal advice is that you need to post videos. Everywhere, all the time, videos. Algorithms love videos, Kids love videos. Grandmas love videos. Videos, videos, videos! I was a slow starter when it came to posting videos for my music and my businesses. I've had a YouTube channel for a long time and it sat for years while I worked up the nerve and figured out how to use my camera. A few years ago, I heard about a class called 31 Flavors of video. In that class, I learned about 31 different kinds of online video I could make, I joined a Facebook group where I got daily feedback. And I gained some amazing tools and resources that helped me make good decisions about equipment, production, scripting, and more. In this episode, I'll introduce you to Lou Bortone, the creator of the 31 Flavors of Video, as well as programs like Fast Forward video mastermind, and the new

  Some of you long-time friends will remember Curt Bear's visit with me on The Reset Podcast several years ago. Curt is a colleague at Larimer SBDC and is the Founder of an amazing business resource called the LoCo Think Tank. He's also become a prolific podcaster, featuring some of Northern Colorado's movers, shakers, and community linchpins. It's an honor to be included in the lineup for The LoCo Experience show. One of the things I like about Curt's podcast is that it's a long format. He doesn't put a time limit on the conversation and he likes to get stories that no other podcasts capture. This is one of the most in-depth interviews I've ever had and I enjoyed the conversation that Curt teased out with his discussion style. You can listen to the interview below, and find out more about Curt, LoCo Think Tank, and the podcast here: https://locothinktank.com/the-loco-experience-podcast/

Freelance writer Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer started her Heiditown blog over 15 years ago to share her experiences, interests, and point of view. It grew from a personal blog into a valued resource for tourists in Colorado looking for a more personal experience than all those on the beaten path. Heidi expanded her services in the direction of destination marketing and festival promotion, building her reputation as she and her husband and various pets traveled from small town to small town, one road trip at a time. The Heditown brand continues to expand as Heidi now offers consulting services to small towns leaders, helping them to find and articulate their uniqueness and finding aspects that deserve celebration and build local pride and optimism. Find Heidi at https://heiditown.com . Also mentioned in this episode: Tacos and Pho - https://tacosandpho.com And Ryan Schlaefer Fine Furniture - http://www.rtsfurnituredesign.com/ Thanks for listening, subscribing, reviewing, and sharing Your Own Be

  Unless you took classes in advertising or rhetoric or were a high school debate team member, chances are you didn't have any formal education in persuasive communication. But as a business owner, most of the communication you do is persuasive in nature. Marketing, sales, recruiting, motivating, and encouraging are part and parcel of your daily interaction. Some of us think that persuasive communication is coercive or manipulative, and in some cases, it is. Still, we all have learned ways of influencing others that are honest, transparent, and helpful.  In this live, in-person class, we'll learn how to increase our marketing messages' persuasiveness. We'll cover important topics like: Creating sensory experiences with words. Building your power-verb vocabulary. Appealing to reason, emotion, and desire. Suggestion and imagination. Simple message frameworks. The class will be happening Wednesday, April 12, 2023, from 1-4 PM  at Larimer SBDC. The cost is $25, which is a s

  ▼▼▼ Watch and Listen Below! ▼▼▼ I love what Brooke Monaghan has to say about entrepreneurship: "...this is what I always have to break down for people. Listen to anyone who has anything to say about entrepreneurship, and what they're going to tell you is, if you can figure out a way that people in your community are not being served, innovate some solution for them. That is the foundation for creating a business. So when I talk to people who are part of a community, and really care about some weird little niche thing, and they see all of the problems - here are all the ways that we are not being served - here are all the ways that we are being overlooked. Here are all the ways that we're being left behind. And they have some idea about how they can make that better. That is literally the thing that everyone like me who really wanted to be in business needed, but didn't feel like they had a thing. That's the thing that we have all been searching for. Please, pleas

Thanks to my dear friend, Joanie Connell, Ph.D., for the invitation to a conversation about the AI tidal wave, the challenges and opportunities it brings, and the book I made. While the title might suggest an adversarial relationship, I hold out hope that our capabilities are about to expand in positive ways we've never dreamed of.  Reinventing Nerds has been a favorite podcast of mine since its launch, and I encourage you to listen, subscribe, share, and review! https://reinventingnerds.blubrry.net/2023/03/24/franklin-taggart-humans-vs-ai/ #ai #podcast #kdp #author #newbook #chatgpt  The book is HERE  

  As 2023 started, I invited Audrey Holst of Fortitude and Flow and Erica Holthausen from Catchline Communications to come back for a conversation on the topic of why we do the work we do and all the smaller questions attached to that. The chats we three enjoy are some of my favorites, and this one raised the bar even higher. We had much to talk about, including: ** What becomes possible when basics are taken care of? ** Redefining the rich life. ** What the gym can teach us about business. ** Stepping back from the production/consumption loop. ** Variable-Speed working Find Audrey at ⁠ https://fortitudeandflow.com⁠ Find Erica at ⁠ https://catchlinecommunications.com⁠ All three of us are active on LinkedIn, too. As always, thanks for listening, subscribing, reviewing, and sharing Your Own Best Company with Franklin Taggart! #podcast #career #solopreneur 

  I was recently introduced to Brooke Monaghan by our mutual friend Audrey Holst. Upon meeting, I found Brooke to be a kindred soul in her outlook and unwillingness to settle for the status quo. We both decided we needed to interview each other, and I'm so glad we did. (Her interview on Your Own Best Company will be released next week!) In this episode of Brooke's podcast, Transcend Your Dichotomy, we had time to go deep with several topics. First, thanks to Brooke for giving me the space and time to share my story. Some of the other twists and turns we took: ** My skepticism and suspicion around the term 'thought leader" and those who would be quick to identify themselves as such. ** What it means to be a coach and to discover that calling in different ways. ** The power of working alone, not in isolation, but in solitude. ** My rapidly intensifying interest in AI and the impact it may likely have on the ways we work and live. You can listen to the episode on the plat

  ** Watch, Listen, and Read a Sample Below ** The first online networking mixer I ever attended in 2021 had over 100 attendees. The hosts had to pay for the extra space and had inadvertently disabled the breakout room assignments when they did. As the event ground to a halt, the host apologized and then asked, "Is Robbie Samuels here?" From one of the many screens and rows of faces came the reply, "Yes, I'm here." With a couple of his brief suggestions, the problem was solved and the rest of the meeting went off without a hitch.  I spend around 90 percent of my working time in online meetings. From podcast interviews to coaching clients to group calls to summits and webinars -  not a day goes by when I wouldn't love to have Robbie's expertise in the room. Robbie's new book, B reak Out of Boredom: Low-Tech Solutions for Highly Engaging Zoom Events makes his expertise available to all of us, and it will raise the bar in every kind of online gathering

  I've wanted to write and publish a book since I was a kid. I'm old now, so that's a long time to have a dream. I've started books many times in my life, but the determination and persistence to finish them have eluded me. I've had a lot of questions and concerns about AI. I know - I'm not alone. I've heard so many rumors, speculations, panic, and misinformation about all of it these past few months. Will it take jobs? Yes, it will. When? I don't know for sure. Some sooner, some later. Will our social structures and economy be able to weather the changes? Most likely not, at least from what we know now. But we'll know more later. That's how life works. Anyhow. I collected all my questions, thinking I'd write yet another book. Then I got discouraged at the amount of research I'd need to do to adequately answer the questions and decided to shelve the idea until three Sundays ago. I had the thought that I should put my questions into ChatGP

  #Solopreneurs and #freelancers business success depend on their staying healthy. And we don't tend to plan for undesirable circumstances. We almost always plan according to ideal situations. And then the #calamities of life arrive. Then what? Laura Livingston is back to talk about her experience of business being interrupted by some unexpected physical challenges. Franklin has a few stories of his own in this area.  Here are some of the twists and turns in this conversation: ** Building and leveraging a team. ** Prioritizing self-care. ** Honoring the body and all your passions. ** Contingencies, priorities, and commitments. ** Making pivotal decisions and intentions. Laura can be reached at https://lauralivingston.co Franklin at https://franklintaggart.com Thanks for listening, subscribing, reviewing, and sharing Your Own Best Company with Franklin Taggart! 

  If you've been taking care of others for a long time, it may take a while to reawaken and recognize your own desires. Pay attention to your body. Give yourself time to relearn how to use your want muscles. They haven't had a workout in a while. My friend was taking care of other people from the time she woke until the time she fell into bed. When I asked her if she knew what she wanted, she said that was the wrong question to ask. She was struggling with how to want. Developing new habits takes time, which goes for developing or relearning how we once did things, like acting on our desires instead of reacting to others. Start, and pay attention to physical cues. Your body will lead you, but you have been out of the listening practice. #emptynester #caregiver #selfhelp