Franklin Taggart's Virtual Coffee Break

I can tell when I'm in a self-protecting frame of mind when my first reaction to ideas and opportunities is the list of reasons why I can't. I'm too old, it's too expensive, I can't afford it, it'll never work, etc. ad nauseum. I'm not one of the people who suggest that ego is a bad thing. It's just a self-preservation mechanism that we all have. Its size is commensurate to the wounding it's tryin...

I know many people who have experienced significant losses this year. Jobs ending, loved ones dying, moving to new locations, leaving old situations behind. Sometimes when we are going through the grieving process, it's hard to access a sense of gratitude. In one conversation this morning, I was reminded of an observation I've made in my own experiences of grief that gratitude may be one of the st...

Do you want your plan to determine your lifestyle or your lifestyle to determine your plan? Much of my work is focused on strategy and planning for career direction, business and marketing decisions, and some other transitional times. People often want to dive into the safety and structure that planning provides before they can answer a more basic question. How do you want to spend your time? Mich...

Fill in the blank; Life is happening __________ me. Changing one word in that blank can change our entire experience. At various times in my life I've felt like life was happening to me, though me, for me, and in me. In each one of those times, I had wildly different worldviews accompanied by wildly different experiences.  The movement from victimhood to freedom was one of several stages in w...

In our last visit with author and publisher Teresa Funke, we heard about her life and pandemic imposed sabbatical and how she knew her path was changing, but she wasn't sure how. In this episode, we find that she's reached a new place with very few conclusions but a new appreciation for not knowing yet what's ahead and being OK with it. Many creatives are entering a time of questioning and reflect...

My son got his driver's license this morning and drove himself solo to school for the first time. We've been hearing all day that snow was coming, and there was a dusting by noon that didn't add any challenges. Even an hour before school got out, roads were clear, and all appeared to be well. In that last hour, the snow finally started to fall, and the roads covered over quickly and became very ic...

My friend Teresa forwarded an email she received from Andrew Simonet, an amazing resource for professional artists ( Blog here: https://www.artistsu.org/blog ) He was taking a pretty bold stance against a marketing professional who had addressed a gathering of artists and told them that their main problem was one of branding. I share his consternation about this.  I've been the guy with the P...

I've talked about shifting attention before and mentioned the limitations of my faith in self-assessments. The theme is back today as I remembered a presentation I gave last year called Changing Your mind About Marketing. That talk was inspired by my experience of creating a different experience of marketing and selling by changing my thinking about those activities. And changing my thinking didn'...

While searching for enriching activities for her children and family, Yat-Yee Chong discovered the martial art, Tae Kwon Do. While her family eventually left the practice behind, Yat-Yee found that she had both an aptitude and an attraction to the sport. In 2020, after multiple black belts and a 2015 World Championship win, Mrs. Chong has taken her passion for Tae Kwon Do and opened her own studio...

In this "Best of" clip from Your Own Best Company, Silver Paw Studio Pet Photographer Monique Eckes shares her idea for a book-centered marketing project called NoCo for Doggos. This week, we share the excitement of the book's release and send congrats to Monique for yet another vision realized. If you are a pet photographer or would like to take better pictures of your pets, see Monique's Pro Pet...

In part 1 of this episode, Andrew Rogers of Human Design Solutions told his own story of journey and discovery. In part 2, he will explain the Human Design body graph chart using Franklin's as an example. Part 1 is available here: https://youtu.be/YAvC6NLY02I If you'd like to get your free Human Design Report, visit: https://www.humandesignsolutions.com/free-reports/ Connect with Andrew on LinkedI...

Andrew Rogers started his career as a management accountant, where his analytical skills were put to good use. Five years into that path, he realized that he wanted something different that would allow him to travel. A random conversation with a housemate led to a decision to see Australia. Serendipitous events have opened doors for him ever since and ultimately led him to explore meditation and,...

The topic of a morning discussion was on becoming remarkable. Referenced in the conversation was the Seth Godin book, Purple Cow, and it later brought to my mind the book, So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport. Newport is the author of another of my favorites, Deep Work. I was struck in the discussion by a paradox I've experienced in which I do work that I think is remarkable, but it doesn'...

I wasn't deeply involved in the election this week except for the voting part, and today I feel like I've been run over by a truck. I limit my intake of news and media as much as possible around election time because the heightened stress and vigilance are way past too much, and there is no resolution gained through our traditional process. There is no period of relief after the elections now. The...

I mentioned the Clients Everywhere workshop the other day, and one of the activities that tend to be most surprising - Communicating Your Specialty. There were some questions floating around about that today, so I wanted to say a bit more. Talking about what we do can be confusing and frustrating because of a few inherent challenges and a persistent belief. Starting with the belief - many of us as...

Two unexpected changes in the schedule today tanked my original creative plans but turned into welcome but unexpected opportunities.  Landing on your feet is a good skill to have.  Things never go exactly as planned. That's not up to you.  Learn to see the possibilities in front of you. #flexibility #specialty #marketing 

The holiday shopping season is starting in earnest now that Halloween has passed. Before you spend a ton of money on Black Friday deals and e-commerce that takes your money well outside the local area, consider making significant purchases from creative people you know. There are many reasons to consider, but these are my tops: ** It's validating for the person you buy from and helps them feel val...

In this "Best of " clip from Your Own Best Company, Jason Van Orden shares how he and Michael Roderick came up with the idea for an online mixer that makes other online experiences pale by comparison. Now called the Generous Entrepreneurs in Media mixer, Jason tells the origin story and the ongoing vision for these monthly events that bring together media producers, potential guests, and collabora...

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 a...

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...

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...

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 technologi...

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 co...

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...

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 buildin...