Franklin Taggart's Blog

Michael Roderick is a connector, masterfully bringing the right people together and facilitating the relationship-building that needs to happen. He teaches others how to show up more powerfully in meetings and gatherings and become more referable - becoming someone who gets other people talking about them without being in the same room. In this episode, Michael tells the story of getting started as a high school English teacher with a two-year stint as the Dean of Discipline for the summer school until a Seth Godin book inspired a move from education to becoming a Broadway producer. In a miraculously short time, Michael again created new and unique systems to bring money and people together by creating opportunities for them to gather. His company, Small Pond Enterprises, provides consulting and education to people ready to accelerate their business growth through relationship strategy. Learn more at https://smallpondenterprises.com . Michael also hosts the podcast, Access to Anyone, b

Some of the people in my life have been talking to me recently about not knowing what they want. They're transitioning out of situations they've been in for a long time and don't have a clear idea of what they want to do next. I also hear from kids who are getting ready for graduation, and they feel a lot of pressure to choose a track for their life, and they aren't ready to do that yet.  One of the few soapboxes I have is the removal of exploration and experimentation from permissible human experiences. There is pressure from within and without to know way ahead of time what we're going to do and how we're going to be before we can have even a reasonable chance to know. And there isn't a way to know without exploring and experimenting. A lot of my fellow coaches and consultants push clients in the direction of strategy and planning before people even have a clear idea of what they want. And then they think there's something wrong with them when those pl

Every time I've tried to write a song based on what I think audiences will like, I've ended up hating the song. And the songs I'm surprised and delighted to have written tend to be the ones audiences like best.  Trying to determine what a group of people will like or respond to has been mostly a fool's errand. If I've tried to create a song, an event, or a presentation from the assumptions I make about what people want, it usually is a recipe for failure. In this Coffee Break, I remember the time I lived in Nashville and attended writers' nights almost every night that I lived there. I was always amazed at how many writers tried to take radio hits and turn them into success formulas. At that time, popular country songs were about tractors, trucks, and line dancing. So, many writers would try to latch onto those trends and themes  in their songs every night. Of all of the writers I met, only one had any success with one of these themes, and the reason his song go

In recent months, I've had several conversations about artificial intelligence and the future of human labor. Most of these have had a central concern about being replaced by a computer or a machine. I'm not going to pretend like that won't or can't happen. It's the most likely scenario; humans have been evolving technology to replace our labor since the first tools were invented. Every technological advance has had an impact on human labor, and we've had to adapt, learn, and find new ways to deliver value to each other as we've been equipped with better and more pervasive technology. Why should this new technological age be any different? It is happening much more quickly than past advances, and the interconnectedness of the tech is more complex than any we've had before, but the stages we'll go through will be similar to ones we've had in the past. An initial stage of resistance and grief at the losses that happen. The next stage is taking stoc

A few years ago, on Halloween night, I was touched by the kindness of a little kid in my neighborhood who ran out of his way to put a Snickers bar in my hand. There's still a bog somewhere to remember that small act that continues to move me all these years later. Fast forward to tonight. The same kid a few years older sees that I have Hershey bars in the candy mix in my bowl, and he asks if he could have one of those instead. Of course, you can! He ran to the sidewalk where his parents were waiting, and he put the Hershey bar in his mom's hand and says, here, I got this for you. I know it's your favorite. Who is this small ninja of love? This guy shows us all that including someone doesn't have to be difficult, and it shouldn't be a big show. It's as simple as sharing something from your own bag of treats. I hope the harshness of the world never takes this quality away from him. Happy Halloween! #kindness #generosity #sharing 

After I found the Interact Quiz Builder, I joined the Quiz Collective, Interact's member community. I started attending some training and support events offered there and was introduced to Dawn Petrin and Chant Zak. Dawn offers support for copywriting and email quiz promotion, and Chanti is recognized as the brand evangelist for Interact Quizzes. They have a list of enviable experiences to back up their authority and appeal. Writing quizzes for people like Amy Porterfield, Jenna Kutcher, Joanna Weibe, and many others is just a start. Their intuitive feel for communicating with prospective customers and their energy and enthusiasm come across in all the ways they present their ideas. But wait, there's more! Dawn and Chanti host one of my favorite podcasts, The Entrepreneur's Ecosystem. Yes, this is a business podcast, but it isn't like any other business podcast you've heard. This one feels like a gathering in a rustic living room, with a cup of tea, a glass of wine,

One of the most popular episodes of Your Own Best Company in 2021 featured an energized and inspiring conversation with The Lead Boss, Cat Stancik. In this "Best Of" clip, Cat shares her social media content strategy, the 4 Ps: Popcorn Positioning Prospecting and Pitching Cat uses and recommends this conversational content framework as a part of her lead generation strategy that centers on building strong relationships and finding leads among the people you're already connected with. Find the entire episode here: https://youtu.be/BIYdUP2ZNlw To learn more about Cat, visit https://actionincubator.com #socialmedia #leadgeneration #contentstrategy 

Author of Quiet Marketing, Danielle Gardner is back to talk about some recent insights on the impact of our business practices on our nervous systems. This episode was inspired by a recent interview Dani had with an astrologer in which she talked about ways that the business and marketing techniques she's been taught caused deregulation of her nervous system, leading to heightened stress and unease in her work. In this conversation, we look beyond the surface of the topic and explore questions like: ** How does nontransparent pricing shock our systems? ** How can we release social media compulsions? ** Challenging the "everywhere, all the time" mindset. ** Learning to listen to the oracle of your body. and more! Dani's Social Hermit program will be starting the first week of November. For more information, visit https://danigardner.com If you haven't read Quiet Marketing yet, you'll find it at this handy Amazon Associate's link: https://amzn.to/3TUlRIC (R

Did you see The Incredibles? Remember when Frozone couldn't find his supersuit after he got the long-awaited call from Mr. Incredible that their superservices were needed? The suit was the key to his powers. This Coffee Break is inspired by a question that came up in a conversation this morning about favorite Halloween costumes from growing up years. You'll find out my favorite and the impact it had on a timid four-year-old who wanted desperately to feel like a more powerful person. Share your favorite costume in the comments. And if you're ready to move out of feeling stuck, dissatisfied, and uncertain, schedule your free coaching session at https://bit.ly/BestNextStepCall #superpower #mindset #selfdiscovery 

Thanks to Brandon Soltwisch and the Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship classes at the University of Northern Colorado for the invitation to speak today. I enjoyed our discussion of target markets and customer avatars, and I hope you found it both fun and helpful. Every time I've presented for college classes I remember the visit to my high school guidance counselor when I was told I wasn't college material and that I should change my focus to the vocational track and learn how to work with my hands. And the career tests I took didn't really know what to do with me so they suggested things like bus driver, police dispatcher, and telephone technician. I knew immediately they didn't have my number. And I've never known exactly the future path I've wanted to take. I've followed my curiosity from one opportunity to another and I've collected a long, strange set of capabilities that has been as weird as the trip I've been on. I just want you to know that tho

Between meeting a potential client and inviting them to purchase a service, my client had four stages of free offers. Most people didn't get past the first one, and no one had the patience for all four. The only people who paid her were those who had been referred by other clients. Find out how we changed her strategy in today's Coffee Break. Hints: ** Limit stages between meet and purchase to no more than three. ** Use the freebie to help them make an educated buying decision. ** Don't call it a newsletter or invite people to join your list. ** Don't feel like you have to give things away to thank people. Let's see how this turns out. #marketing #freebies #leadmagnet 

I've been revisiting Instagram and learning about TikTok in recent weeks. When I joined Instagram, it could only be accessed by phone, and I think I may have been using a flip phone. You took pictures of whatever you were doing, wrote a brief message, and posted. The people who followed you saw it. Simple. I've become a fast fan of TikTok, with the exception of the potential human rights and privacy violations, in large part because their algorithm is really paying attention to my viewing preferences and adding more of what I'm watching to my timeline. All the other channels? Not so much. It is probably because I've only been active on TikTok for a short time, but I don't have any idea how the other platforms choose what to show me. It has made me wonder how I decide what to share. There doesn't seem to be a way to predict what the algorithm or audience will favor, so I'm left to my most reliable guide - my hunch. I believe that our intuition is connected to

My promotions often read like puzzles when I was new to my business. I would make lists of things I did and then let the reader fill in the blanks. All to often, they didn't want to do that and they'd just move along to something else. I later learned that what I was doing was using a passive approach to my messages and offers. A passive approach features messages and offers that are incomplete or unstructured, and they depend on the reader to finish them and act on them. This isn't some kind of moral problem, but it probably isn't getting the kinds of results you want. My old way of trying to get bookings was to make a list of the kinds of places and events I'd played for and then present an offer to play for any events my audience might have coming up. This kind of messaging didn't work. When I started to tailor shows to the needs of each venue owner or booking rep, I started to get more gigs. One example was the show I put together that was Three Johns and a

Today I found myself at home alone for almost four hours, a rarity. I had been kind of excited about it because I've been working on a new song and I had several tasks to catch up on, but I ended up taking the time completely off. I read a Longmire book and played on the floor with our dog, allowing my mind some time without a specific focus or productive goal. I'd been feeling pretty stuck in the songwriting process, writing a lot of drafts but not reaching a level of satisfaction. And I had no motivation to catch up on the task list. The wonderful result of this downtime was that my imagination started coming back online on its own steam later in the day, and I had several ideas for the song and other projects I wrote down to come back to tomorrow. I've learned to recognize when I need downtime like this. It isn't frequent, but I see that I'm not getting the things done that I want, or the quality I desire isn't there. Those are the times when it's good to

You've met Jess Kotzer before in some of my other podcasts talking about automation, self-publishing, and collaboration. We recently had a fun conversation about our entrepreneurial experiences and we decided to push "Record". Topics? ** Following curiosity toward learning ** Navigating the sea of offers ** Reversing the production/consumption ratio ** The day jobs that support our entrepreneurial habits ** Being yourself and your brand ** Following intuition, caring, and curiosity as trusted guides Check out Jess' new website at https://jesskotzer.com and watch her recent YouTube shorts on Airtable automation here: https://www.youtube.com/user/youngyessington Find Franklin's blog at https://franklintaggart.com #entrepreneur #solopreneur #businessowner 

Our human imagination is the most powerful tool we have in life. My coaching work is centered on imagining new opportunities for ourselves. In detailed situations in which we connect with the people we want to associate with, we grow into new capabilities and expressions of ourselves, and we serve in more meaningful ways. It's not just a job we're looking for. I think it's important to think more creatively than just getting a job or finding work. I do know that's important, but I've seen these things taken care of beautifully when people allow themselves the chance to envision the kinds of circumstances they want to live in. As always, I welcome people to use the free Best Next Step coaching session as a good jumping-off point. It's easy to schedule at https://bit.ly/BestNextStepCall. Let's talk and see what you can begin to imagine for yourself. #imagination #vision #opportunity 

I learned how to play the guitar from two books. When I finally took lessons, I learned that I had not learned how to play correctly, and my teacher had to help me unlearn some bad habits. As a guitar teacher, students would bring copies of guitar music they'd found online, and most of the time, the music was wrong. I would have to take the music they'd found, listen to the recording, and make corrections for them so they wouldn't be forming bad habits. People who heard them play couldn't discern when a song was incorrect. They thought it sounded a lot like the original. But as a teacher, I couldn't let them learn the incorrect way to play. I have a coaching client who came to me with a pretty jaded view of coaches after spending $12000 for a program with a well-known coach and ended up being worse off than when she'd started. Even expensive coaching programs can get it wrong; there was no way she could have known this before she invested. The best we can do is

For me, the easy part is creating. If I can get into a groove and stay with the commitment to finish, I can get projects done. The hard part about making a living comes after I'm done creating. The hard part is promoting and selling. Just like so many people I talk to, I have an inner voice that likes to tell me what other people are tired of hearing, and at the top of the list is anything I'm getting ready to promote. This insecurity is the most common obstacle between people and the success they've dreamed of. It's built into a lot of people, especially and including me. Yet another psychological protection that ends up keeping me less than satisfied with the life I'm making. I've worked on this much of my adult life and I've never found a way for those inner voices and impulses to go away. I've only found ways to do the things I need to do in spite of them. If you hear me promoting something I'm offering, I can assure you that behind the sound of

I have a long-held suspicion that for many people, the spiritual path begins in earnest when they reach a place in their lives where they are so dissatisfied with the conventional path that they strike out on their own. For some, this looks like following a dream - in my case a career in music, for others, writing a book, for others starting some kind of a business. The reason I suggest this is the beginning of a spiritual awakening or journey is that these kinds of experiences are especially good for witnessing our own egos at work and seeing the truth about them, then surrendering once this understanding is seen.  In this Coffee Break, I suggest the possibility that starting a business can be the beginning of the spiritual path because everything we know to be true about ourselves gets called into question when we put an idea on the line and then try to make it into something powerful and meaningful. What better way for our sense of self-importance to reach it's end? #spiritualaw

The beginning of this video is a story from Michael Neill about being offered a TV series to showcase his coaching. After a few coaching sessions had been recorded, the idea was canceled because the camera wasn't able to see what was happening beyond a somewhat normal conversation. The transformation wasn't visible. In this Coffee Break I share a few thoughts about why it's difficult to articulate the value of what we do because much of the experience is in the invisible, subjective world of feelings, desires, and thought. The best we can do is describe maybe only a few sides of a multi-faceted jewel. Add to that the evolution of what we do and offer, and the different audiences and contexts we deliver to, and it's any wonder we can talk about it at all. I have a couple of resources if you're struggling to articulate your work into a message that people will understand and act upon. First, there's the Top-Floor Elevator Pitch Bundle, which includes two courses a

When I was in high school, there were two study tracks offered - college prep and vocational. At the beginning of my junior year, I went to the guidance counselor and took a career test that didn't have any creative careers outside of teaching as possible results, so I was told my best bets would be things like driving buses, being a handyman, or trash pickup. The counselor was most certain I wasn't college material. Despite that, I did go to college and graduated with a combined degree in music and business. After graduating, I was clueless about how to pursue the career I wanted, so I started working pretty much wherever I could. Over the next ten years, I held eleven different positions with five different employers ranging from warehouse work, to sales, to group home counselor, to gang intervention coordinator, to curriculum developer and trainer, to victim advocate, to crisis center counselor.  At the same time, I started my first couple of side businesses in music product