Do This First Podcast

You've heard them all, and you've probably believed a few of them. Elizabeth debunks seven of the most persistent social media myths that are costing small business owners time, money, and sanity — and tells you what to do instead.

If you're offering everything to everyone, you're actually offering nothing to no one. Elizabeth walks you through how to build a signature service that's clear, premium-priced, and easy to sell — the kind of offer people remember and refer.

Eric Dickman is back, this time diving into customer relationship management from a practical, small-business-first angle. Forget the enterprise CRM pitch — this conversation is about building real relationships with the people who pay you, without needing a six-figure software subscription to do it

The risk series wraps up with the part everyone skips: taking action anyway. Elizabeth talks about how to move forward when you can't see the whole path, manage the risks you can control, and stop waiting for certainty that's never going to show up.

Now that you know what risk looks like, what do you do about it? In Part 2, Elizabeth digs into how to evaluate the risks in front of you, what to weigh when making big decisions, and why playing it too safe can actually be one of the riskiest moves of all.

Now that you know what risk looks like, what do you do about it? In Part 2, Elizabeth digs into how to evaluate the risks in front of you, what to weigh when making big decisions, and why playing it too safe can actually be one of the riskiest moves of all.

Every business decision carries risk — but most small business owners either ignore it completely or let it paralyze them. In Part 1, Elizabeth kicks off this three-part series by breaking down what risk actually looks like in your business and why understanding it is the first step to making smarter moves.

Whether you're starting fresh, pivoting, or just finally getting serious about your marketing, new beginnings can feel overwhelming. Elizabeth talks about how to approach a new chapter in your business without the pressure of doing everything at once.

More isn't always better — in fact, it's usually the problem. Elizabeth shares five practical ways to strip back the complexity in your business so you can focus on what's actually making money and stop spinning your wheels on everything else.

Your website isn't a set-it-and-forget-it situation — but maintaining it doesn't have to take over your life either. Elizabeth covers what actually needs regular attention, what you can safely ignore, and how to build a simple maintenance routine that keeps your site working for you.

Chasing invoices is exhausting and completely avoidable. Elizabeth shares the exact systems and language you can use to get paid on time, reduce awkward money conversations, and keep your cash flow moving without turning into your clients' collections department.

Your computer is your digital office, and if it looks like a storage unit exploded, your brain is paying the price. Elizabeth walks you through a practical system for cleaning up your files, folders, and desktop so you can actually find things — and stop losing time to digital chaos.

Square is more than a payment processor — it's a small business Swiss Army knife most people wildly underuse. In this episode, Elizabeth breaks down the tools inside Square that can save you time, get you paid faster, and make you look way more professional without adding complexity.

Most salespeople are trying to convince people to buy. The best marketers persuade — and those are very different things. Elizabeth breaks down the distinction, why convincing people is exhausting and short-lived, and how to shift your marketing toward persuasion that actually builds trust.

Not everything deserves your continued effort. Elizabeth makes the case for strategic quitting — knowing when to stop chasing a tactic, an offer, or even a client — and how to tell the difference between quitting too soon and quitting at exactly the right time.

The hardest part of building a business isn't starting — it's continuing when it gets boring, hard, or confusing. Elizabeth shares the mindset and practical strategies that keep you moving forward even when nothing seems to be working yet.

The hardest part of building a business isn't starting — it's continuing when it gets boring, hard, or confusing. Elizabeth shares the mindset and practical strategies that keep you moving forward even when nothing seems to be working yet.

You got into business to do something that matters — but somewhere between the to-do list and the invoices, impact can get buried. Elizabeth talks about how to build a business that creates real impact without sacrificing sustainability, and why the two aren't actually in conflict

A handshake and good intentions are not a business strategy. Elizabeth talks about why contracts protect both you and your clients, what every service contract actually needs to include, and how to stop being the person who finds out the hard way why this matters.

Lifetime deals sound like a bargain — until they become a liability. Elizabeth talks about when lifetime deals make sense for your business, when they're a trap, and how to evaluate any LTD offer without getting swept up in the hype

One-time payments are exhausting. Recurring revenue is the difference between a business and a job. Elizabeth breaks down the practical mechanics of setting up recurring payments, which tools to use, and how to structure your services so clients happily pay you on autopilot

If money is your only motivator, you're going to burn out fast. But if you're pretending money doesn't matter, you're leaving your business on shaky ground. Elizabeth gets real about the healthy relationship every small business owner needs to have with money as a measure of success.

Meetup isn't just for networking events — it's an underused discovery platform that can put you in front of your ideal clients for free. Elizabeth walks through how to optimize your Meetup profile so you show up as the expert in the room before you even walk in the door.

Every client relationship goes sideways eventually, and it usually starts with unclear expectations around requests. Elizabeth shares the systems and boundaries she uses to manage client requests without burning out, overdelivering, or constantly being on call.

One book can completely reshape how you think about your business — and Elizabeth shares the one that did it for her. This isn't a book summary; it's an honest conversation about the ideas that stuck, why they matter for small business owners, and how to apply them right now.