Franklin Taggart's Virtual Coffee Break

I have a special empathy for people intimidated and even terrified by marketing. I've been there, and I know how big, overwhelming, and scary it can feel, especially for new business owners who know how much is riding on it. In this Coffee Break, I gained a few insights from observing a couple of different people in the music world. One felt they had to be marketing constantly, showing up everywhe...

Thought Leader is one of the most popular marketing, business, and entrepreneurship buzzwords of recent years. In this episode, we pause to think about what it really means, learn the historical background of the term, and investigate how its use has changed. We wonder out loud if a person can declare themselves a thought leader, identify people who may or may not be thought leaders, and shift int...

Sometimes solopreneurs find job opportunities appealing enough to take some of their time and energy away from their businesses in favor of the job. Recently, I had a person ask if taking a job meant that they weren't committed enough to their business and should close it down. My answer has more questions than resolutions. I want to know more. Are they ready to be done with their business? Do the...

After getting ghosted on a copywriting job I was hired for by a colleague, I have some things to say about the professional treatment and attitudes you need when you work with creative contractors. It shouldn't amaze me anymore to see just how little creative talents and professions are valued in the marketplace. Anyone who has ever mastered a craft seen as artistic or creative is not treated with...

Or rather, don't pay attention to my ten-year-old blog site, last-minute copy on my sales page, and disdainful approach to social media.  For my clients, the work is easier. I can see it objectively, find the gaps, fill them in, and we're golden. They get great results, and we're all happy. Behind the curtain, a guy throws spaghetti on the wall, lets it all fall to the floor, and doesn't clea...

I've had a couple of hard days. Feeling emotions that are bigger than their trigger. Feeling clueless and unfocused as I try to show up for my work. And aware of a sense of loss that has been affirmed by a few recent dreams of loved ones who've passed in the last few years. I don't fight these days, feelings or movements. They're just as important as the positive feeling days. The reflections and...

Creators are frequently asked to contribute their talents to events, promotions, and venues, and instead of being paid for their time, talent, and craft, they are asked to pay to participate. This has been going on in the music world for years.  At some point, venue owners realized there were enough musicians who were desperate for exposure out there that instead of paying for musical perform...

Back in February, I made a book recommendation video for a book I had just read called Quiet Marketing: A Calm, Minimal Approach to Business and Online Visibility for Highly Sensitive Solopreneurs (Amazon Associate link: https://amzn.to/3oMCxES ) This short book is packed with essential insights, principles, and practices for highly sensitive and intuitive people who have found their way into busi...

A few years ago, I was introduced to Susan Cain's first book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking , and was deeply affected by what she had written. She was describing my repeated experience in such accurate detail that I wondered if she'd been able to do a Google search of my thought banks. Turns out I'm just not as unique as I thought I was. My book group of two tha...

You may have heard the old sales trope about people don't buy the drill; they buy the hole. I take that even further and suggest that people buy the enhancement to their life from the painting hung on the hook held by the screw in the wall that was put into the hole drilled by the drill. For the creators I work with who struggle with their pricing, I like to say that your price isn't for the objec...

I was referred to a coach early in my music career who had helped another musician friend of mine get her business started. When I hired her I found that most of the business things she was teaching were already things I knew, but the area where I really needed help was marketing. The marketing advice she gave me was great for coaches but not so much for musicians. I ended up finding some people w...

Don't make making money harder than it has to be. There are opportunities all around you. If your fancy automated marketing funnel isn't working yet and you need cash, find someone to help and charge them for it. Know how to design a logo? Visit some websites until you find someone who needs a logo, and then be bold about telling them they need to hire you. Do you know how to make an animated intr...

Today my being came to an almost full stop. Despite the list of things I wanted to accomplish and the regular things I would do on a Sunday, today was a day made for silence. Not just quiet - silence. There is a depth of silence that isn't always easy to reach, but it's always here, and it is the silence that restores, replenishes, and nourishes. It doesn't manifest as more energy but rather as de...

I've loved ZZ Top's music since I bought the 8-Track tape of their Fandango album when I was a freshman in high school. I even loved them when they added the fake drums and synthesizers. Last year, when Dusty Hill died, I felt like I'd lost a personal best friend. So I've watched the Netflix documentary, ZZ Top: Just a Little Ol' Band From Texas, three and a half times, and I'll finish the fourth...

For coaches, consultants, and other experts, reaching new audiences with your messages, experience, and offers is one of the biggest business challenges. You'll be given a litany of options that will include blogging, YouTube, social media strategy, public speaking, podcasting, and whatever marketing soup of the day everyone is raving about. Erica Holthausen has a better idea. Share your expertise...

Many years ago, a good friend of mine spent over five thousand dollars on a digital recording system featuring ProTools's latest and greatest technology. My friend had never had any experience with digital recording, although he'd had decades of experience with analog. His sole reason for purchasing the system he did was that the salesman told him it was the industry standard, which was a true sta...

I had a realization the last few days that doesn't come as much of a surprise, but it is liberating to finally see. Several people wondered why I had a small mailing list after being perceived as a marketing expert. It felt good to finally articulate that I don't really want to be found, and I don't think I'm the expert that others see. I do love marketing because it's the most human thing about b...

This morning started out with a thud. Listen for more details. I love walking my dog. I think he knew he was about to go to the groomer, so he tried to throw a kink in the works. I had her cut his hair extra short this time. I am OK, but I've had a lot on my mind since then.  Circumstances happen quickly, but our lasting experiences don't appear to be caused by the events themselves but rathe...

Talking to my friend Teresa Funke today and was inspired by her fun idea for celebrating her birthday. Buy one lottery ticket for every year of her life and give those tickets to anyone she meets. Celebration is a central part of our life together as humans. It's a central aspect of living in community and we are unique as a species in that we look for reasons to celebrate - milestones, rites of p...

Where do you get ideas? Is it difficult to find subjects for your creativity? Today's Coffee Break answers a client's question about where I get ideas to talk about in these videos. My ideas come from whatever I'm thinking about. Sometimes they're interesting, other times not so much. Putting my thoughts in a video gives me a process of making my internal world more external. Similar to Seth Godin...

The frequency of calls from people concerned about jobs and economic changes is increasing, so I'll talk a bit in this Coffee Break about what I'm seeing.  We are hearing seemingly mixed messages about jobs and worker shortages. Some companies are starting early rounds of layoffs as they anticipate an economic slowdown, so there are more corporate and professional workers re-entering the job...

Some of the most challenging times for self-employed people are those when we both need to attend to personal crises and change while continuing to do what our businesses require. In this episode of Your Own Best Company, Audrey Holst returns and offers some keen insights into her own process and experience that will help us all navigate times like these. Audrey has been my guest a couple of times...

Noticing how the state of mind I'm in when I'm creating is a consciousness that allows me to see possibilities and opportunities that weren't able to be on my screen even a few weeks ago. It's more than just a flow state. It's a level of inspiration that keeps revealing more and more potential. Seeing so many ways I can use the quiz software and course software and design tools I've been learning,...

Some encouragement for a friend who moved her whole life to a new country only to find it wasn't a good fit for right now. Coming back to a familiar place for a while isn't a bad idea.  Regroup, take stock of what you've learned and discern what's next. You may not know why this happened, in fact, you may never fully understand, but there is another way coming that you're ready for. We can on...

Thinking about Agatha Christie and how complex her plots became as she went further in her career. How did she keep track of all the twists and turns and false flags? Coming back to the idea that if we're feeling stuck in our careers or businesses, we may be making it far more complicated than it needs to be, and maybe the solution we're looking for is so obvious we've overlooked it. Maybe that id...