Franklin Taggart's Blog

We've talked about what you want to be known for and what specialties of yours you want people to remember. In this coffee break, we talk about another important aspect of niching and branding - core values.  Core values, like passion, can be easily misunderstood. I think core values are the qualities and activities that enliven and animate us. They energize and attract. If we act out of alignment with them, we end up drained and burned out.  In identifying these qualities and centering our work on them, we find that our work becomes an expression of deeper gifts and more meaning. An easy way to start to clarify core values is the activity of telling our personal stories. What are the turning points, the deep aha moments, the teachers, and the experiences that shape who we are? These stories reveal the things and people and places and activities that really matter.  #corevalues #storytelling #meaningfulwork

In yesterday's coffee break, I asked what role you want to be remembered for. Today, I build on the same questions, but I want to know which specialty you want people to associate with you and how do you communicate it? Part of your business niche or audience identity comes from knowing your own specialty and being able to articulate it in a way that people will remember and understand.  Your specialty is one aspect of your business or craft that needs to stand out from among all the others like you. It differentiates you from them. It also helps potential customers make decisions about working with you or buying your products and services. Take some time and write about your specialty in as much detail as you can. This will help you communicate it more clearly when you're asked about what you do.  #positioning #h2hmarketing #specialization

Today on the Coffee Break I'm thinking about how people tend to only create one association in their minds for each other. People tend to think of me in one of a few roles, but never all three. A common challenge for people in new roles or organizations is helping people see and remember them in a new way.  In marketing, a lot of importance is put on positioning your business as the one to remember in your area of service. Are you helping people create this association with you in their minds?  #positioning #customerperception #h2hmarketing

I'll be speaking at the Soulful Entrepreneur Summit coming up January 24-28. My topic is Community: The Source of All Opportunity. I'd like to invite you to the summit. Prices start at free so you can attend at no cost but time. Check out the lineup at getsoulfulsuccess.com.  We are made for community and connection. Sometimes in business, I feel like we can get too focused on the linear, transactional way of doing things, but I believe there's merit to approaching our businesses as communities. I learned this in my music career, that while every fan who came to see me was having their own experience, part of what they were looking for was people to share the experience with.  I think every business is a community. The distinction is important. In the coffee break today, I talk about creating marketing that doesn't have a single avatar but has a community as its target. That changes things in ways that might make a huge difference with your messaging. Your business give

▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below!▼▼▼ Are you one of the growing number of entrepreneurs who experience their business as an expression of their spirituality? Do values like passion, compassion, and joy drive the work you do in the world? Is meaning just as important to your bottom line as revenue? If so, The Soulful Entrepreneur Summit is an event you need to attend. Alison Proffit and Amanda Mundo launched the first Soulful Entrepreneur Summit in 2021 to create a gathering for people like you – entrepreneurs who are committed to making the world a better place through their businesses. Their second version of the Summit is coming up January 24-28, 2022, and it is full of exciting and captivating experiences. In this interview, we’ll hear about their inspiration and vision for the event, their learning along the way, and the amazing lineup of speakers and panelists they’ve brought together for this year’s gathering. VIP, All-Access, and Limited Access passes are available now at https://getso

We've been talking about working with social media algorithms. One of the ways you can learn what types of content algorithms prefer is to do some simple testing. In this coffee break, I have a couple of simple suggestions for ways you can test the performance of your content.  The Care and Feeding of Your Social Media Algorithm is this Saturday, January 8th, 2022 from 9 AM-Noon Mountain Time. For information and registration, see the Workshops page on my website, franklintaggart.com.  #testingcontent #messagetesting #socialmedia

The topic for today's coffee break came from a question sent by my friend, Amy. She asked if it was really worth her time to figure out what a social media algorithm wants. Great questions and the answer isn't cut and dried. Check out the reply in the video.  Enrollments are open for Saturday's Care and Feeding of Your Social Media Algorithm workshop on Zoom. If you can't attend the live workshop, you'll still be able to access the recordings and materials if you enroll.  Here's the link: https://franklin-taggart-coaching.teachable.com/p/the-care-and-feeding-of-your-social-media-algorithm/  #socialmediamarketing #algorithmbusters #contentmarketing

I'm surprised by how many of my clients don't track the performance of their social media posts. It doesn't take analytical wizardry to learn what kinds of posts are performing better than others. In this coffee break, I walk you through a simple process to identify some important statistics and patterns that will help you understand which of your posts the algorithm is favoring. This helps you make better decisions about what kind of media nad content you post in order to find more favor with the algorithms and reach more people.  The Care and Feeding of Your Social Media Algorithm Workshop is happening this Saturday, January 8th from 9AM-noon Mountain Time. Enrollment information is available on the workshop page of my website: https://www.franklintaggart.com/p/workshops.html   I'll look forward to seeing you there!  #beginningsocialmedia #trackingsocialposts #algorithm

Today on the Coffee Break, we're talking about what algorithms do and why it's important for businesses and marketers to make friends with them rather than fight them. They're learning about us constantly then taking what they learn to build more experiences we'll want to have. If your posts aren't getting much response, the main thing to wonder is what can be changed to satisfy the algorithm's rules. If you want more people to see, interact with, and share your social media posts, join the workshop on Saturday. Details here: https://franklin-taggart-coaching.teachable.com/p/the-care-and-feeding-of-your-social-media-algorithm #socialmedia #smallbusiness #contentmarketing

I get almost daily inquiries from people about why their social media posts aren't being seen. Most of them haven't heard about algorithms, and if they have, they've heard mostly negative things. In this Franklin Taggart's Virtual Coffee Break, we ask and answer the question, "What is a Social Media Algorithm?" and we learn why that matters to businesses and marketers. The main thing to know is that the primary goal of an algorithm is to generate users' experiences. Social media platforms want people to stay engaged on their apps and they use algorithms to direct those experiences. I'll be offering a workshop this Saturday, January 8th, 2022 that will help people start to work with algorithms to create better-performing social media experiences. The workshop will be recorded and available in my school the day after the live event.  More information at https://www.franklintaggart.com/p/workshops.html  #socialmedia #algorithm #userexperience

I'm feeling energized and optimistic going into 2022. One new commitment is to upload a coffee break vidpod every day this year. They'll be short videos on a variety of topics and points of view. I'm also reintroducing my monthly workshop series after a five-year hiatus. The first workshop will be live on Zoom on Saturday, January 8th, 2022 on Zoom. We'll be learning how to play along with social media algorithms to build better relationships, reach more people, and get better results from our social media activity. Visit the workshop page on my website for more info. If you can't attend the live workshops, the recordings from each will be posted at my school the day after the live events. Enrollment will be opening very soon... https://www.franklintaggart.com/p/workshops.html #podcast #workshop #socialmediaalgorithm

  As I sit to write this on Christmas Eve, it's 49 degrees and raining here in Colorado. Welcome moisture after an extremely warm and dry Autumn. Christmas Day also has some rain in the forecast, but we still haven't had our first proper snow.  I'm grateful for another year in which I had the joy of trying new things, meeting new people, and finding fun ways to spend time, despite the ongoing challenge we all face with a virus running rampant. I'm lucky to have had only a mild case, which with my health history I count a miracle. I feel lucky to have done all the things I did this year and lucky is one of the best feelings I know. I'm particularly grateful for my family and their well-being. Bodhi is a high school soph this year and he continues to be a source of pride and lightheartedness. He received an academic letter for achieving and holding a 3.5 or higher GPA his freshman year, and he just finished his first semester of sophomore year with a 3.65. He is on th

  ▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below!▼▼▼ Are you feeling like technology is putting more distance between you and the people and communities who matter to you? Has all of this virtual reality really delivered the kinds of connection we need to thrive? Is content really something that brings us together, or is it a distraction from real connection? Audrey Holst and I departed from our standard interview format and had a good conversation about these questions and more in this episode of Your Own Best Company. You might have heard Audrey’s recent chat about perfectionism. In her company, Fortitude and Flow, she works with people who have reached a certain level of success and recognition, but who are still living with an uncomfortable level of dissatisfaction with where they have landed. Contact Audrey at fortitudeandflow.com We also talk about returning to real world interactions with new perceptions and insights gained from our time apart, end-of-year rituals, and seasonal traditions. I mention

▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below!▼▼▼ Understanding your strong innate talents and those of others has a wealth of benefits for entrepreneurs, businesses, and organizations. From building exceptional teams to better communication to identifying your best opportunities, clarifying and refining personal strengths and talents has both immediate and long-term payoffs. CliftonStrengths™ is a powerful assessment tool that will help you identify and understand your unique combination of strengths and how they can be refined, leveraged, and combined with the strengths of others to lead to improvements in job performance, team cohesion, and reaching goals. In this episode of Your Own Best Company, Gallup certified coach, Dr. Joanie Connell walks us through the simple process of completing the assessment and gives us a look inside a CliftonStrengths™ coaching session. Find Joanie online:  https://flexibleworksolutions.com LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanieconnell/ Reinventing Nerds Podcast: 

Craig Cannings from Freelance University gave me an opportunity to share some of my story on The Freelance Podclass. We talked a lot about how unexpected life events often turn into opportunities to find new expressions of our gifts. I shared a few lessons learned from choices I made that could have prevented many difficulties. And we talked about getting your business bases covered when life interrupts your normal. Please remember to subscribe and review, and definitely check out the many resources Freelance University offers to freelancers and solopreneurs. Thanks, Craig! Listen, subscribe, review, and share from your favorite podcast app or here:  https://www.freelanceu.com/freeupodcast/overcoming-lifes-disruptions/

  I'm thrilled to be one of the speakers for the upcoming Soulful Entrepreneur Summit on January 24-28, 2022. This online event is the creation of Alison Proffit and Amanda Mundo, two incredible entrepreneurs who are creating a movement of soul-driven creators, coaches, consultants, and business owners who will join together in delivering a powerful impact wherever they live and work. I'll be speaking on Thursday, January 27th at 1PM Mountain Time on one of my favorite topics, Community: The Source of All Opportunity.  Event passes are available now. Limited access passes are free and will allow you to join and participate during the event itself and for a couple of weeks following. All-access passes feature some added benefits and ongoing access to event recordings. Definitely a steal at the full price of $97, but if you order your passes before December 11, you'll save $50. Click on the photo to get yours today or scan this QR code to go right there:  I've also includ

▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below!▼▼▼ When someone asks you how you’re doing, is your automatic response “I’m so busy”? Have you bought into the trending belief that hustle is worthy of a badge of honor while self-care is only permissible for people who don’t want to accomplish as much? Do you ignore your own warning signs that you’re running out of steam just so you can tick another five items from your to-do list? Is being busy all the time really bringing about the quality of life you most desire? Joseph Bennett would like to challenge these ideas and habits. Joseph is the author of the forthcoming, Rest, The Art of Doing Less , a self-healing book that looks at our addiction to busyness. He lives in San Miguel de Allende, México with his husband and some-time business partner Eli Hans and their 3 nearly perfect rescue dogs. Joseph can most often be found in his studio making art with other people's trash, sitting by the backyard pond writing poetry or on the hunt for a great cup of s

▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below!▼▼▼ Is it challenging to stay focused, on task, and productive? From your desk chair do you sometimes wish you had someone to bounce an idea off of, or someone to review something you’ve just created and give you feedback? Or maybe it would be nice just to have another human to check in with throughout the day. In recognizing her own desire for these kinds of connections, Heather Chavin made her first leap into entrepreneurship and created GoGoDone, a virtual connecting and co-working space for a growing variety of remote workers, creatives, and even some who work for corporations and organizations. Since 2019, GoGoDone has grown into a worldwide community of people who offer each other support, accountability, ideas, feedback, and connection around the clock. In this episode, we’ll hear about how different kinds of people seek connection, how each of us has our own set of needs and preferences when it comes to balancing solitude and connection, and the im

▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below▼▼▼ Since 2008, Adil Amarsi has helped clients generate over $821 Million in sales directly from his copywriting. Add to that the amount his consulting clients, copywriting mentees, and students have generated and the total is $1.2 Billion. He’s written advertising copy for top marketing agencies in the UK and US, high-performing ads for Tony Robbins, and campaigns that have added millions to his clients’ bottom lines.  He has also developed a copywriting structure called the StorySelling Matrix that incorporates strong brand identity with a message balanced between emotion and logic, finishing with a Call-To-Action that builds anticipation. To learn more about the StorySelling Matrix, access your download here: https://greatestcopywriteralive.com   Now as a mentor to other copywriters and business owners, Adil teamed up with Shiv Shetti  to form the CMMP: The Copywriting Mastery Mentoring Program. Their purpose with this program is to help mentees generate the

  I recently had a wonderful conversation with my friends, Meridith Grundei and Joseph Bennett on their Are You Waiting for Permission podcast. We covered a lot of territory in our short time together, but there were some lovely nuggets to be found. Some of our topics: ** The important distinction between gifts and talents. ** Your gifts define your purpose. ** There are people here who are waiting to find you because they need your gifts. ** The creativity we imagine doesn't usually include the messy parts. ** A part of becoming masterful at something is the willingness to suck. ** Very often our struggle to master something becomes most difficult right before the breakthrough happens. Thanks, Meridith and Joseph for the fun conversation! You two are lights in my world! Listen here now: Be sure to subscribe and review! You can find Meridith: Meridith Grundei Coaching You can find Joseph: Joseph Bennett the artist/coach extraordinaire

▼▼▼Watch or Listen Below!▼▼▼ Perfectionism is a part of the human experience that has many definitions and is perceived by some to be a positive character trait while others view it as an obstacle to success. It’s a common factor that isn’t related to one personality type over others, isn’t limited to high achievers or low, and can affect people at every level of self-image. If you’ve ever believed that you had to show up a certain way to be accepted or had to have all your circumstances exactly in order before you could start working on something or have hidden something you’ve done after comparing it to the work of others, you’ve experienced perfectionism. Audrey Holst is a coach who guides perfectionists and stressed-out high achievers and performers that are ready to start enjoying and living the life they've worked so hard for. She teaches her clients simple and practical tools of self-discovery to move through old patterns of perfectionism into greater freedom and open-hearte