Episode 133: Popular Business Advice I Rejected (Part 1)
From being in masterminds, attending events, and taking all the programs, I am sharing the top business advice that I actually decided to REJECT and share WHY. Our problem isn't a lack of information, it's a lack of clarity on our own personal goals and defining success in a way that is true for us, and using the strategies that can help us get there. Everyone's path and journey of entrepreneurship is deeply unique and personal, and although there is a ton of info and resources out there, I hope this episode helps you have a strong filter for receiving advice that is aligned for you, while not being afraid to reject advice that others may feel is "good advice" but it does not resonate with you. Remember: your business is a reflection of you, and it's YOUR job as CEO to decide how you want to lead your business!
Here’s What We Cover and More:
Rejecting common advice and embracing quantity over quality in early content creation.
Understanding visionary leadership as a non-delegable core business function.
Embracing an abundance mindset as opposed to scarcity in information sharing.
Recognizing the limits of delegation, while maintaining control over areas that are your "zone of genius".
Strategic experimentation and rapid iteration in finding what works best for your business
As you venture through your entrepreneurial path, remember to trust your instincts, filter advice through your own lens, and run your business in a style that feels totally you! After all, it's your unique vision and values that will shape your success.
Product Businesses! Download my free HOW TO GET INTO A GIFT GUIDE/PRODUCT ROUND UP roadmap for free HERE to get more sales and traffic to your site this season.
If you want to land your first feature for free without any connections, I want to invite you to watch my PR Secrets Masterclass, where I reveal the exact methods thousands of bootstrapping small businesses use to hack their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought-after industry expert. Register now at www.gloriachoupr.com/masterclass.
Resources Mentioned:
Join the PR Secrets Masterclass
Join the Small Biz PR Pros Facebook Group
DM the word “PITCH” to us on Instagram to get a pitching freebie https://www.instagram.com/gloriachoupr
Connect with Gloria Chou on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gloriaychou
Join Gloria Chou's PR Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/428633254951941
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Transcript
00:00:00 Gloria: Hey, Small Business Heroes. Welcome back to another episode of Small Business PR where we make small business PR marketing super accessible because my number one mission is to make sure that all founders of all lived experiences are seen, heard and valued. And that starts with us really owning it and stepping into our power.
00:00:16 Gloria: So today's episode is going to be a little bit different. It's not about PR per se, but as you know, I believe that everything is interconnected. So your ability to win at PR. Your ability to gain followers and clients and really get successful. It's all connected with your mindset, your beliefs and how you take a line to action. So many times we have so many things that we're constantly consuming, whether it's Instagram posts, whether it's LinkedIn things, whether it's following this expert or that guru.
00:00:44 Gloria: And there's so much noise out there. There's a lot of good stuff out there too, but there's just a lot of noise because the barrier to entry is very low to put something online. And a lot of times we can get caught up in following someone that, you know, on paper maybe looks great and they have a great Instagram following or everything's really polished. But at the end of the day, their advice might not be suitable for your business because they don't know you and you don't know them. And I think it's so important to be okay with the fact that like not all advice is going to work for you.
00:01:11 Gloria: In fact, probably most of them don't and realize that everything is evolving. So the insights and the things that people share a few years ago may or may not be applicable to your industry and your customers and what you are seeing in the market right now. So this episode is about the top pieces of business advice that I've actually rejected. And that's coming from experience, me building my business throughout the years to seven figures. And I did the same thing, right? Following all of the gurus and coaches. And a lot of times it just kind of sounds like the same people talking.
00:01:43 Gloria: And I had to be a really good master of curation, which means that you get all the strategies, you get all the tools, but then you have to curate which one's going to work for you because we don't have time and we don't have the bandwidth to be able to try all of the strategies. And that mastery, that curation really comes from experience. And so I'm gonna share with you the top pieces of business advice that I actually maybe took in the beginning and I found out it wasn't true. And I'm gonna add some nuance insights so that you don't have to spend all the time sifting through all the strategies. And maybe this perspective will help you a little bit.
00:02:13 Gloria: So the first piece of business advice that I rejected and I found to be not true was when people say, oh, it's always about quality over quantity. And you hear this, it's almost like a proverb. Everyone just takes it as like, oh, of course. But I actually learned that, especially when we are building businesses where we need a lot of marketing and need a lot of pieces of content and touch points, I do not think that in the beginning, quantity is better than quality.
00:02:42 Gloria: I think you just have to do a bunch of stuff, whether it's content, testing out formats, testing out, like tones, whether it's Instagram reels, covers, you have to just try a lot of different things. And that same thing with your offers, your price points, how you sell it, how you deliver, are you gonna do sales calls, what sales page, even the button, you have to test a lot of stuff before it works. So I don't think that in the beginning it's about quality because in the beginning we don't have that filter, we don't have the experience to know what really is working. So in the beginning, it's definitely quantity over quality.
00:03:15 Gloria: And the people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and do more faster, meaning not hesitate and take action and just try a bunch of things, they will be quicker in finding out what works for them. And so it's kind of like a muscle where the earlier you are to build that muscle, the more it's going to compound. No one wakes up knowing exactly, well, this is the right tools, the right strategy that's going to work for my business because this expert says so.
00:03:41 Gloria: Now to a certain degree, maybe but at the same time, you're not doing a complete copycat of what they're doing. So how can it 100% resonate and be 100% a fit for your business? So it's really about taking bits and pieces of different people that you respect and then modifying it to where you are in your business, what season you're in and what you're launching.
00:04:02 Gloria: So no, I do not think that in the beginning, quality is better than quantity. And the people who are waiting for the perfect thing, hey will be waiting around for a long time and delaying your progress because that success comes from trying many things and giving yourself that time to test and iterate and test and iterate.
00:04:21 Gloria: And the people who have done that the most, the people who are most willing to get feedback and test and iterate, they will be the ones on top because they are the ones that have paid their dues in terms of testing and flexing that muscle of curation. So again, mastery comes from doing a bunch of things in the beginning. So I do not believe that quality over quantity is true in the beginning.
00:04:41 Gloria: Okay, so the second piece of business advice that's commonly told, right, is don't give it away for free. Or a lot of people say it's like, oh, you know, like, you know, give them like the overall, like general thing, like the what, but not the how. You know, I don't actually agree. I think that there's so much information out there. No one is doing something completely groundbreaking, right? So how you do like your products, your services, it's not 100% original. So I don't really think that there's a reason why we need to gatekeep.
00:05:14 Gloria: And I think the only way that we can cut through the noise and be different and establish ourselves as truly someone who is in the business of supporting people because that's what people wanna feel when they encounter you, that's what's gonna make them buy. They're gonna want to know if you are gatekeeping information or if you are leaning into abundance.
00:05:33 Gloria: And someone who I love, a marketer, Simone Grace Seol said this, she said, if you want to have a successful business and a ton of clients, just get really freaking good at helping a lot of people for free. And that's actually how I started my business. So I started my business with no leads, no audience, no budget for Facebook ads. And so how did I gain an audience? I created a signature PR workshop that I just gave for free many times in different founder networks.
00:05:57 Gloria: It was all value. It was all of my steps. It's all of the things like no, there was nothing that was hidden. It was like exactly, this is how you do PR. This is how you write a pitch word for word, actually screenshot and walk them through it. And so people love that so much because it's A, it's refreshing and it shows that you're so confident about what you're delivering. People are going to want to lean in. So think about it in your shoes, right?
00:06:20 Gloria: If someone is trying to sell you something, but they're being very vague, or they're maybe over-complicating things and like, oh, well, you know, if you want this to be done, then you have to, you know, it's behind a paywall. You're probably not going to be very enthusiastic to work with someone. You're probably going to be like, well, there's a lot of options out there. Let me go do my due diligence.
00:06:36 Gloria: I think in the past, when people didn't have Instagram and the world at their fingertips, a.k.a. a smartphone, you could position yourself as someone who maybe kept the secret sauce and you have to pay to get access to that. But I think now because there's YouTube and Google, information is, there's not really a premium on information. I think what a premium is, is abundance, is value, is really holding someone's hand, making someone feel seen, like mission values. Those things are at a premium.
00:07:08 Gloria: But in the age of data and AI, I don't think information is as valuable as it was. And so that's why what I'm doing now in my business is I'm actually getting on free calls with people. And I'm actually checking in with all of our customers, even though these calls are not listed on the sales page, I'm doing like yearly check-ins, quarterly check-ins like finding out like how they're doing, like what they need help with.
00:07:31 Gloria: And that's really great for multiple reasons, because not only do they feel supported, which is great for me, because then they can renew or they can recommend me, but I'm also getting valuable feedback. So I really think that being in an abundance mindset and really giving away as much as you can for free in the beginning.
00:07:50 Gloria: Now, obviously if you have something that's like super proprietary, you know, don't give them access to that, but like make them feel like they can do it on their own because when you have a customer who is making a decision from an empowered place, instead of you gatekeeping or driving fear into them, that's going to be a customer that you're going to want to keep for life.
00:08:07 Gloria: Because when you attract people based on scarcity and fear, and you're maybe hiding information, these are the types of people who maybe aren't in a position to really take a line action. People who are probably not going to get the results, people who are not ready and willing to do what it takes to be an active member of your community, and you only want people who are empowered.
00:08:24 Gloria: So that's how you can attract the right people who are going to give you glowing reviews and refer you is by helping them and serving them and giving as much as you can upfront. So it's definitely a value exchange. And again, I am a little bit woo woo, but I do think that your energy matches like what you receive, your vibe attracts your tribe.
00:08:45 Gloria: So if you're coming from an abundant place where you're not gatekeeping, people will sense that and they will wanna lean all the way much closer to you. And they're gonna wanna be around you. So I think that's really the law of the universe.
00:08:57 Gloria: The third piece of advice that I actually flat out rejected is this whole notion that we have to delegate everything. And if you're not a good manager, just delegate it to an online business manager or a project manager. And we hear this a lot. And actually, I was taught this in my mastermind that I joined, like a 20K a year mastermind. It was constantly like, if you don't like to manage your team, just hire someone to do it.
00:09:23 Gloria: And while I think maybe that works for some businesses, I think that at the end of the day, no business will truly thrive and become a market leader without a visionary, inspiring leadership. And that comes from you, the CEO, because you are the driver of your ship. You are the person that is leading the vision. You are the spokesperson of your business.
00:09:42 Gloria: And sure, you can hire people for certain specific tasks, but ultimately leading the team, that's up to you. And no one that you throw money at to lead the team for you is going to do a better job than you because you own the vision. And so people are looking to you. And we also know this, and maybe you know as well from your own personal experience, certainly from mine, that money is not the main motivator.
00:10:05 Gloria: Sure, it can motivate your team members to a certain extent, but at a certain point, it's really not about money. Because now people can work on Fiverr, like they can make money at home. So there's really such a flexible workforce now that people are only gonna work for people they truly respect whose vision that they feel aligned with and compel. And that's gonna get better work out of the people you employ.
00:10:28 Gloria: So much better than a transactional way of leadership where it's like, okay, well, like I'm just project manager and I clock it in, clock out. If you wanna kind of cultivate a team that really does more and really is like driving for this vision, then I think you need to be the leader of the ship. And it doesn't matter if you have an unpaid intern or a paid intern, definitely pay your interns, by the way. Pay everyone.
00:10:49 Gloria: There is still leadership involved. And so that's something that I really try to work hard at. I know that that is a weakness of mine that I'm constantly trying to get better at is how can I be a leader? How can I stop being a micromanager and actually lead with vision? And I never thought this applied to me. I really thought this was something that Fortune 500 CEOs talk about, but now I understand why it's so important.
00:11:10 Gloria: Why it's so important, even if you have a tiny small business or a team of one, there will be a point where you need to delegate and you need to lead the ship. So I think delegation is inherently a good thing. I think we need to delegate to elevate, but I think there are certain critical things as business owners that we need to know, which is you cannot delegate everything. So leadership, one thing you shouldn't delegate.
00:11:32 Gloria: And another thing is knowing what type of business you're in and what is your zone of genius. So for me, for my type of business and a lot of online coaches and programs, like marketing is our bread and butter. We're not doing consulting work over a long time, so we have to always keep getting new people in our audience. We have become very good at marketing and getting our message out to as many people as possible.
00:11:54 Gloria: And so that volume of content that we have to create has made us really good marketers. I actually tried to delegate my entire marketing to someone and it didn't work out, not only because we had creative differences, but also our Instagram account just wasn't growing for like five months. And the moment I took it over, I grew at like 200 within two weeks. So that taught me a very important lesson, which is that I am the best marketer for my business.
00:12:17 Gloria: Now it doesn't mean that I'm doing it all alone. So it means that I am implementing the strategy, the vision for the marketing. And I have a couple of assistants who can help me like, you know, edit videos and put captions on things and turn it into content. But overall, the strategy is coming from me because I realized from this exercise that I can't delegate marketing and leadership to other people. I am the best marketer and leader for my business. Now I can obviously delegate the tactical part of it.
00:12:45 Gloria: So I have someone who's updating our scorecards. I have someone who is updating our project management. That's different. That's inherently different than being the strategic visionary marketer and leader that my business needs me to be. So this is just for something that I learned for my business. It might not apply to you.
00:13:02 Gloria: So like, if you don't think that marketing is your strong suit, or maybe you are in an industry where like, you're not doing tons of like high volume marketing might not be aligned to you or might not resonate. But the point of me saying this is just know your strengths and don't delegate that out. That is your zone of genius and your business needs it to survive.
00:13:22 Gloria: So thank you so much for listening to this. We're probably going to have to do a part two of this, but I appreciate you all here listening week after week. I hope that this has given you some insight as you grow your business. And I look forward to the next time that I record this, so this is to be continued. But hopefully this gives you something to think about as you grow your business because I think, oh, there are just so many strategies out there and it can get really noisy.
00:13:46 Gloria: And it's really about knowing what works and what doesn't and being a good curator and lens to filter that out. So that's really where the success comes is having that good filter. Thank you so much. If you know any small business owners who could benefit from this episode or any episode. Please feel free to share it with them and thank you so much for tuning in.
00:14:08 Gloria: Hey, small business hero, did you know that you can get featured for free on outlets like Forbes, the New York Times, Marie Claire, PopSugar, and so many more, even if you're not yet launched or if you don't have any connections? That's right. That's why I invite you to watch my PR secrets masterclass, where I reveal the exact methods thousands of bootstrapping small businesses use to hack their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought after industry expert.
00:14:36 Gloria: Now, if you want to land your first press feature, get on a podcast, secure a VIP speaking gig, or just reach out to that very intimidating editor, this class will show you exactly how to do it. Register now at GloriaChouPR.com/Masterclass. That's GloriaChou, C-H-O-U-P-R.com/Masterclass. So you can get featured in 30 days without spending a penny on ads or agencies. Best of all, this is completely free. So get in there and let's get you featured.