Franklin Taggart's Blog

This is a legitimate concern that some people face. Honestly, I don't worry about it. In these cases, I encourage people to spend their time on activities they enjoy with people they enjoy and let that be enough. And I also don't think it's essential to know or name your creative calling. There are billions of people who live happily ever after without ever knowing.  The time I think it's helpful to investigate and find your creative calling are those times when you're burned out in your career, or that you have reached a very deep level of dissatisfaction with your path. Those are the times when exploring and naming your calling can be really enlightening. Your creative calling will be something you're energized by instead of depleted.  I appreciate you being with me for these Coffee Breaks and I'll see you again tomorrow!  #notknowing #dontworrybehappy #burnout

A couple of Devil's Advocates have written with questions about whether or not atheists, agnostics, and other spiritual skeptics have a creative calling. I believe they do and in this Coffee Break, I tell you why. Call it whatever you want, every human being is capable of their own unique kinds of creativity and each human being finds ways to express these unique gifts in ways that are meaningful, if only to themselves.  Religious and spiritual people have no corner on the creativity market. In fact, many of them curb their creative impulses in the name of "humility". I haven't met a person yet who doesn't have some form of a creative gift. And they can't help themselves but find ways to express it.  #creativecalling #atheistspirituality #makeadifference

Creative Calling is more than just talent. It's about more than choosing something to do or finding an enjoyable activity. And following your passion is misleading (that's a nicer way of saying that it's a load of doodoo.)  In this Coffee Break, Franklin Taggart talks about learning about how he put limits on his own calling that kept him from realizing its power. Your calling can be delivered in an infinite number of ways. Part of the enjoyment of discovery is experiencing the unlimited nature of your calling.  #creativecalling #selfdiscovery #careerpaths

You have a creative gift and calling. That doesn't especially mean that you have an artistic gift or calling. Creative and artistic aren't the same thing.  In this Coffee Break, Franklin Taggart talks about the distinction he discovered when his music career was disrupted by a health crisis.  #creativity #yourcreativegifts #lifepurpose

▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below!▼▼▼ Businesses need video. The problem is videos take time, talent, and technology which makes you feel overwhelmed, confused, and falling behind. Old fashioned marketing isn't going to cut it. You need a multi-platform digital presence that includes video. Sheryl Plouffe brings 25 years of experience in broadcast media to help six and seven figure businesses raise the bar in their video marketing with a 4-step process she shares in this episode of Your Own Best Company. With insights in the areas of planning, production, publishing, and promotion, Sheryl will show us how to streamline our video marketing process to achieve amazing results. Sheryl is also an in-demand speaker, motivating teams on personal branding and video marketing. Her live online media simulcast, Cash In On Camera features in-depth interviews with thought leaders, influencers, and experts from around the world. Download her resources bundle and schedule your first consultation with he

Does it feel like there is a spiritual purpose to the work you do? Do you, like me, have a wincing reaction to the concept of spiritual calling? When you hear the words "spiritual calling" what do they mean to you?  In this coffee break, I have some reflections on this topic as I've come to terms in the past couple of years that a big part of my work is helping people discover and align with the spiritual nature of the work they do. Your comments and insights are welcome!  #spiritualcalling #careercoaching #findingmeaning

Creative people often have many more ideas than they have time. Projects can easily start to feel overwhelming as we start to move out of the idea stage and into the creating itself. I have struggled with this for years. Finally, I found a simple time structure that's helped me start to get more creative projects finished. In this coffee break, I share what I've learned. #creativity #projectoverwhelm #gettingthingsdone

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: