IAM1536 – Business Coach and Founder Helps Entrepreneurs Find Clarity and Market Themselves With Confidence
Special Throwback Episode - Podcast Interview with Liz Theresa
Liz Theresa, business coach and founder of LizTheresa.com, has been helping entrepreneurs find clarity and uniquely market themselves with confidence for the past 7 years through her strategic website design and clever copywriting services. She wants every entrepreneur to rise and be the star of their own business. She’s also the creator of Concept to Creation™, her flagship branding and web design program and you can download a free copywriting training video from her at freecopyvideo.com.
- CEO Story: Pursuing a degree in English as well as a Master’s degree. She discovered online marketing and launched her agency in the year 2009, where she is one of the pioneers in social media. Right now, Liz is offering full-service website design, social media consulting, and copywriting.
- Business Service: Website design, social media consultant, and copywriting.
- Secret Sauce: Bring your personality into things as much as possible. It’s not your product that distinguishes you, it's your Youness.
- CEO Hack: Time auditing, accounting for every minute.
- CEO Nugget: It's okay to say no if the next client is not right for you.
- CEO Defined: (1) Being a leader to your team, industry, and client. (2) Showing up for love as a mentor
FreeCopyVideo.com (Free Downloadable Copywriting Training Video): http://FreeCopyVideo.com
LizTheresa.com/podcast (Liz on Biz podcast Website) – https://liztheresa.com/podcast
Internet Fame Now Facebook Group – www.facebook.com/groups/InternetFameNow
Facebook – liztheresa
Instagram – liztheresa
Twitter – liztheresa
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Transcription
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00:23 – Intro
Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.
00:48 – Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today at Liz Teresa of LizTeresa.com. Liz, it's awesome to have you on the show.
00:57 – Liz Theresa
Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
01:01 – Gresham Harkless
Yes, I'm definitely excited to have you on. I've definitely been looking forward to this one. And I wanted to read a little bit more about Liz so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Liz is a business coach and founder of LizTeresa.com. She has been helping entrepreneurs find clarity and uniquely market themselves with confidence for the past 7 years through her strategic web design and clever copywriting services.
She wants every entrepreneur to rise to be the star of their own business. She's also the creator of Concept to Creation, her flagship branding and web design program and you can download a free copywriting training program from her at freecopyvideo.com. Liz, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
[restrict paid=”true”]
01:42 – Liz Theresa
Yeah. And I'm so grateful for everybody lending us their ear.
01:45 – Gresham Harkless
Yes, definitely. Definitely. And just to kind of start everything out, I wanted to hear a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business.
01:53 – Liz Theresa
I know I always have to remind myself I am a CEO because it sounds so freaking cool. My background is a little funny. I actually was pursuing a degree in English at Bridgewater State University. And so I was getting my master's there. And the reason why I went to pursue my master's degree is because there were absolutely no jobs when I graduated with my bachelor's in 2009. And so I thought, what better way to pass the time than to just continue my education? And so I ended up going to Bridgewater. And it was there actually that I discovered online marketing.
Because, just to give everybody a little bit of a flashback, Back in 2009, I mean, that's when Twitter was invented, and that's pretty much when I started graduate school. So to talk about online marketing in 2009, 2010, 2011, which is when I started to get into it, I was like a pioneer. I was very much a cool cat. And the way that it happened is I was actually a really experienced person in camera presence. So like being on camera. And so I was trying to teach someone who was an administrator of the school how to use video with his students. And then it turned out that he said my personal brand had something wrong with it. He was like, oh, you're using Twitter so wrong. And I looked at my Twitter and I thought, wow, I look so pleasant.
Like I had a cowboy hat on and I was like, yeah, you know, like, cause I was 21 years old and that seemed like a great idea. Then he told me all about personal branding. And then given my literature background, I read everything I could on online marketing and I got totally addicted and I started my business just after graduate school. And I would say I had definitely soft-launched. So I had a job while I was launching my business. I did try to work in English and try to get into social media marketing with my English degree, but everything, you needed 3 to 5 years of experience.
And I did have one interview, even though the economy was still terrible in 2011, I did get one interview. But then they actually told me that I was too creative to work there and the job would suck the soul from my body. So then I, that's really like verbatim and I never forgot it. It's just one of those things, you know? And then, yeah, and then I guess fast forward to now and I'm offering full-service website design, social media, not social media marketing anymore, but that was kind of how I got started. But I do some social media consulting, as well as copywriting.
04:08 – Gresham Harkless
Nice. Yeah. That makes perfect sense. Funny enough, I too was an English major and I too graduated in 2009. I didn't go to Bridgewater. I think you said that's where you went, but I knew firsthand kind of like all the craziness and funny around that time. It seems like the business world changed a lot and a lot kind of moved towards social media and a different type of digital marketing, so to speak.
04:28 – Liz Theresa
Yeah, it was all kind of rapidly changing at that point and everybody seemed to want to use Facebook. And so like I became an expert on that just because it was so, I mean, I don't want to say it was easy to, but it was because there was so little information that it was easy to know everything about it. Yeah. Back then.
04:44 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah. And it helped that Facebook wasn't what it is now as far as business pages and all that fun stuff.
04:50 – Liz Theresa
So yeah, it's a real animal now.
04:52 – Gresham Harkless
Exactly. So I know you touch a little bit more on it, touch a little bit on it. And I wanted to drill a little bit deeper to hear a little bit more about like how you serve the clients that you work with.
05:00 – Liz Theresa
So I actually got my first client who is on this show, by the way, Laurie Tobin was the first client I ever got. And I actually got her at a networking event, you know, those old-fashioned ones where you kind of just walk around and it's very awkward. I met somebody who hooked me up with Laurie and it's been true love ever since. So that was really awesome. As far as how I got my first, I feel like it's like you get clients in funny ways when you're really starting.
And then like all of a sudden it's like you meet one person and that one person opens up like a whole hallway of doors for you. And I met someone on Twitter who ended up, her name was Caitlin and she was really, she just became like a friend and I would say a great mentor to me. And she introduced me to like the next 6 or 7 clients I had, I mean, at least like, and then after that, they, some of those people are still with me today and that was now like 7 years ago. This was a while you know it and it's just so funny I feel like it's like who you know can be so impactful.
05:55 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah definitely definitely and like you said if you happen to meet that right person it like you said it opens up a whole entire hallway for you where there are endless doors as it kind of seems. And yeah, Lori was awesome. We had her on episode number 65, I believe. And yeah, she had an awesome interview. So it's great to kind of hear, you know, how everything comes full circle.
06:11 – Liz Theresa
I know. Now we're all connected. We're like a family.
06:16 – Gresham Harkless
There you go.
06:17 – Liz Theresa
Podcasting family. Exactly.
06:19 – Gresham Harkless
Exactly. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this could be for what you feel kind of distinguishes you or sets you apart.
06:27 – Liz Theresa
So I think for me and I think for service providers, it should really you could kind of borrow from my secret sauce. But my secret sauce is my Lizness is what I would say. So the things that make me so essentially Liz, which is not to say I'm like the rock where I was talking to the third person. It's not like that. But what I believe is that if you are a service-based business, And if you're a personal brand, one of the best ways to distinguish yourself from your competition is to bring your personality into things as much as possible.
And I will tell you with absolute certainty that one of the biggest reasons people hire me is because they'll read the copy on my website and think to themselves, gee, she sounds really fun. And I mean, like with more enthusiasm, but like, they'd be like, gee, she sounds really fun. And then they would, they actually ended up scheduling a call. That's like one of the first things that, you know, the good consultations, this is the way they go.
They usually say something like, oh, I read your copy and I just knew I had to like, I have to have you in my life and in my business. I just have to have you around. Like that's how it starts. It's not that they know that they want to buy something specific. Like they don't know that they need a website or just consulting or how I fit into their world, they just know I have to fit into their world. So it's not your products that distinguish you, it is your you-ness that distinguishes you.
07:39 – Gresham Harkless
I love that, I love that. And you might have to trademark the word, Liz-ness, I think that is definitely a great word as well too. And yeah, a lot of times people forget that you, you know, you don't buy necessarily products and services. You buy from people you know, like entrust, and those people you develop relationships with. So it's great that you have been kind of authentic to yourself and by being authentic to yourself and showing who you are, you have attracted, it sounds like the right people in your life.
08:01 – Liz Theresa
Well, it's even like how, you know, if Apple made like the iBooks, you know, and they were like these special boots that like synced with Apple health and told you about your foot health. I don't know, I'm just making something up. I'd probably buy them because Apple made them. I mean, I don't know. I feel like that's a good example of a brand. So it doesn't have to be a personal brand. I guess you could think about corporate kind of borrowing from that by creating no interest, which is what you got at. Definitely.
08:24 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. When you start to build that relationship that person starts to identify themselves with everything that is you, like the Lizness that you talked about. You start to want to be involved and have every product and service that that person is putting out because you feel so tied in and it feels like you connect with it.
08:40 – Liz Theresa
Yeah. And we should say put more Lizness in your business. Oh, man.
08:44 – Gresham Harkless
I like that.
08:45 – Liz Theresa
Oh, so cheesy. I have to use it. It's just like watching people roll their eyes and we'll all have a good laugh. But yeah, I love it.
08:52 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Definitely. So now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an Apple book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient. That's a business song.
09:03 – Liz Theresa
So my favorite, favorite thing that I do is I do something called time auditing. And have you done one of these?
09:11 – Gresham Harkless
I haven't, I'm afraid to do it.
09:13 – Liz Theresa
Okay. And you know what? That's very normal because it's kind of weird and it's it's kind of it's overly insightful maybe for some people but basically for people who don't know the way that I like to describe a time audit is if you open the notes app of your phone which is how I like to do it and then I write a minute by minute account of everything I do in a day. And the reason why I think time auditing is incredibly awesome is because, well, one, it tells you how you're spending your time. And so for anybody that like if you end a work day and you're like, I didn't get anything done, this will make that go away because you'll have written proof that you did.
So that's super helpful. Additionally, you're less tempted to waste time. So you end up finding more time and you end up accomplishing more because you're actually more conscious of, you know, like when 5 minutes passed, what did you do? You know, like, I mean, I write down everything. I write down like from 1023 to 1027 Liz walked downstairs got some water and then maybe used the bathroom and then came back like I might do that it's so impactful you know, especially for entrepreneurs where like if you're a person you're doing everything for your business your every department You need to be so intentional with how you spend your time.
10:20 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, I would definitely agree with that. And it's funny like I try to do the time blocking, but I think time auditing goes to a different level because you start to figure out like where all those nuances are and those lost maybe 30 minutes to an hour where you're not sure exactly what happened, you can start to look at your log so to speak and see exactly how you're spending it and if you can kind of adjust that to be more effective.
10:40 – Liz Theresa
And I had, I talked to this lady honestly yesterday, this is so random but related, and she said, this quote that I'm gonna repeat, And her name is Jamie Palmer from a company called Outlier Marketing Group. So she's like a marketing person, but she said work expands to time allowed. So like, if you have like blocks of time, cause I still use blocks of time as well. Like You can't use one. I mean, you really should use a bunch of different ways to manage your time. But if you say, I have an hour to finish this email, that email is going to take you an hour. You know, that email is not going to take you 5 minutes. And so I thought that that was also a really cool way to think about it.
11:14 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And it's a lot of times when you have that conflict or you don't have enough time, you start to become creative on how you can kind of accomplish those goals. So when you have ambitious goals, you have a short deadline. Sometimes you figure out exactly how to reach those goals.
11:27 – Liz Theresa
Oh, yeah.
11:28 – Gresham Harkless
Definitely. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice, or if you could hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?
11:37 – Liz Theresa
Oh, that it's okay to say no if the person that's calling and ready to give you money isn't right for you.
11:43 – Gresham Harkless
That's powerful. It has power. Yeah, yeah.
11:45 – Liz Theresa
And people are afraid though. That's why people are afraid to say no.
11:49 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, you always have and wonder if that next client is gonna come in So you have to say yes to this person or you may not be able to pay your bills and do all those things So definitely fear associated with that.
11:59 – Liz Theresa
And I'm big like I mean I'm big on also aside from saying no, it's better to say no early or just not say anything. So like, if you say, I don't know, like I had somebody ask for a quote, this is just an example and they wanted a website just to give you an idea. And they were very complimentary on the phone and then they emailed a follow-up, trash-talking a bunch of my clients and she was like, I hope you didn't make their website because it looks awful and embarrassing. And I was like, hi. And actually, lucky for my ego, I didn't make those websites.
But it didn't mean that I didn't love those clients. So then I thought to myself, I was like, wow, how about the golden rule? Treat others the way you wanna be treated. Talk about people like that. But then I was like, I'm just gonna let this puppy go and just not respond anymore. Because she was ready to do something. She kept following up and I was like, I just don't want to talk to negative Nancy's like you. And I say it on my website too. So don't be afraid to say that somewhere that you like to work with people that are good and nice people.
12:59 – Gresham Harkless
There you go. Yeah, definitely. You know, don't be afraid to ask for what you want because sometimes you'll get it. And if you don't ask for it, sometimes you'll get what you don't want. So definitely a good reminder. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So I wanted to ask you, Liz, what does being a CEO mean to you?
13:18 – Liz Theresa
I am very emphatic that I think that it's so important to be a good leader. It's being a leader in your industry being a leader to your clients and being a leader to your team. So it's about exhibiting positive and strong leadership skills. And I think in those 3 different arenas, and I would say of the 3, most importantly to your team. So when I onboard people who work with me, I try really hard. And by work with me, I mean like contractors, I hire whoever. I try really hard to show up as love is what I always say.
Like always show up as love and then in showing up as love, saying to that person I'm hiring, what are your strengths and how can I make you feel stronger? What strengths can we play to? So how can I give you tasks and delegate things that you'll enjoy doing that will light you up? And what do you wanna learn? How can you grow? And how can I be a mentor for you? And so that's kinda how I show up as a CEO. I equate it so much with showing up as being a positive leader or mentor.
14:19 – Gresham Harkless
I love that. And I love what you're saying, show up as love. That definitely makes perfect sense. And when you kind of set that standard and set that kind of culture, so to speak, you start to attract really great people and you start to do, of course, really great work. So I think that's a phenomenal definition. And Liz, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule. What I want to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, and just see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and also how everyone can get ahold of you.
14:43 – Liz Theresa
Oh, I would love that. I think if I had any more nuggets of advice, I would say don't wait to start something. Don't wait for perfection. Just go ahead and start because if you don't start, you're always going to have reasons not to. And there is no time when you'll feel ready to launch a business or even to shift a business. There's no ready period.
There's just kind of deciding if it's important enough to do it or not So just know that and then as far as like where you can find me and fun things that you can do I am on iTunes and I have my own amazing show It's called Liz on biz and you can find it on iTunes or Google Play You can also find me at Lizteresa.com, which is LIZTHERESA. Or if you are just feeling really crafty, you could download my free copywriting class, which is available at freecopyvideo.com.
15:30 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And we'll have those links in the show notes to your podcast and also your website. And of course, the free training that you have as well, too. But Liz, thank you so much for taking some time out. I truly appreciate you and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
15:42 – Liz Theresa
Thank you.
15:43 – Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
00:23 - Intro
Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.
00:48 - Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today at Liz Teresa of LizTeresa.com. Liz, it's awesome to have you on the show.
00:57 - Liz Theresa
Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
01:01 - Gresham Harkless
Yes, I'm definitely excited to have you on. I've definitely been looking forward to this one. And I wanted to read a little bit more about Liz so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Liz is a business coach and founder of LizTeresa.com. She has been helping entrepreneurs find clarity and uniquely market themselves with confidence for the past 7 years through her strategic web design and clever copywriting services.
She wants every entrepreneur to rise to be the star of their own business. She's also the creator of Concept to Creation, her flagship branding and web design program and you can download a free copywriting training program from her at freecopyvideo.com. Liz, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
01:42 - Liz Theresa
Yeah. And I'm so grateful for everybody lending us their ear.
01:45 - Gresham Harkless
Yes, definitely. Definitely. And just to kind of start everything out, I wanted to hear a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business.
01:53 - Liz Theresa
I know I always have to remind myself I am a CEO because it sounds so freaking cool. My background is a little funny. I actually was pursuing a degree in English at Bridgewater State University. And so I was getting my master's there. And the reason why I went to pursue my master's degree is because there were absolutely no jobs when I graduated with my bachelor's in 2009. And so I thought, what better way to pass the time than to just continue my education? And so I ended up going to Bridgewater. And it was there actually that I discovered online marketing.
Because, just to give everybody a little bit of a flashback, Back in 2009, I mean, that's when Twitter was invented, and that's pretty much when I started graduate school. So to talk about online marketing in 2009, 2010, 2011, which is when I started to get into it, I was like a pioneer. I was very much a cool cat. And the way that it happened is I was actually a really experienced person in camera presence. So like being on camera. And so I was trying to teach someone who was an administrator of the school how to use video with his students. And then it turned out that he said my personal brand had something wrong with it. He was like, oh, you're using Twitter so wrong. And I looked at my Twitter and I thought, wow, I look so pleasant.
Like I had a cowboy hat on and I was like, yeah, you know, like, cause I was 21 years old and that seemed like a great idea. Then he told me all about personal branding. And then given my literature background, I read everything I could on online marketing and I got totally addicted and I started my business just after graduate school. And I would say I had definitely soft-launched. So I had a job while I was launching my business. I did try to work in English and try to get into social media marketing with my English degree, but everything, you needed 3 to 5 years of experience.
And I did have one interview, even though the economy was still terrible in 2011, I did get one interview. But then they actually told me that I was too creative to work there and the job would suck the soul from my body. So then I, that's really like verbatim and I never forgot it. It's just one of those things, you know? And then, yeah, and then I guess fast forward to now and I'm offering full-service website design, social media, not social media marketing anymore, but that was kind of how I got started. But I do some social media consulting, as well as copywriting.
04:08 - Gresham Harkless
Nice. Yeah. That makes perfect sense. Funny enough, I too was an English major and I too graduated in 2009. I didn't go to Bridgewater. I think you said that's where you went, but I knew firsthand kind of like all the craziness and funny around that time. It seems like the business world changed a lot and a lot kind of moved towards social media and a different type of digital marketing, so to speak.
04:28 - Liz Theresa
Yeah, it was all kind of rapidly changing at that point and everybody seemed to want to use Facebook. And so like I became an expert on that just because it was so, I mean, I don't want to say it was easy to, but it was because there was so little information that it was easy to know everything about it. Yeah. Back then.
04:44 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah. And it helped that Facebook wasn't what it is now as far as business pages and all that fun stuff.
04:50 - Liz Theresa
So yeah, it's a real animal now.
04:52 - Gresham Harkless
Exactly. So I know you touch a little bit more on it, touch a little bit on it. And I wanted to drill a little bit deeper to hear a little bit more about like how you serve the clients that you work with.
05:00 - Liz Theresa
So I actually got my first client who is on this show, by the way, Laurie Tobin was the first client I ever got. And I actually got her at a networking event, you know, those old-fashioned ones where you kind of just walk around and it's very awkward. I met somebody who hooked me up with Laurie and it's been true love ever since. So that was really awesome. As far as how I got my first, I feel like it's like you get clients in funny ways when you're really starting.
And then like all of a sudden it's like you meet one person and that one person opens up like a whole hallway of doors for you. And I met someone on Twitter who ended up, her name was Caitlin and she was really, she just became like a friend and I would say a great mentor to me. And she introduced me to like the next 6 or 7 clients I had, I mean, at least like, and then after that, they, some of those people are still with me today and that was now like 7 years ago. This was a while you know it and it's just so funny I feel like it's like who you know can be so impactful.
05:55 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah definitely definitely and like you said if you happen to meet that right person it like you said it opens up a whole entire hallway for you where there are endless doors as it kind of seems. And yeah, Lori was awesome. We had her on episode number 65, I believe. And yeah, she had an awesome interview. So it's great to kind of hear, you know, how everything comes full circle.
06:11 - Liz Theresa
I know. Now we're all connected. We're like a family.
06:16 - Gresham Harkless
There you go.
06:17 - Liz Theresa
Podcasting family. Exactly.
06:19 - Gresham Harkless
Exactly. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this could be for what you feel kind of distinguishes you or sets you apart.
06:27 - Liz Theresa
So I think for me and I think for service providers, it should really you could kind of borrow from my secret sauce. But my secret sauce is my Lizness is what I would say. So the things that make me so essentially Liz, which is not to say I'm like the rock where I was talking to the third person. It's not like that. But what I believe is that if you are a service-based business, And if you're a personal brand, one of the best ways to distinguish yourself from your competition is to bring your personality into things as much as possible.
And I will tell you with absolute certainty that one of the biggest reasons people hire me is because they'll read the copy on my website and think to themselves, gee, she sounds really fun. And I mean, like with more enthusiasm, but like, they'd be like, gee, she sounds really fun. And then they would, they actually ended up scheduling a call. That's like one of the first things that, you know, the good consultations, this is the way they go.
They usually say something like, oh, I read your copy and I just knew I had to like, I have to have you in my life and in my business. I just have to have you around. Like that's how it starts. It's not that they know that they want to buy something specific. Like they don't know that they need a website or just consulting or how I fit into their world, they just know I have to fit into their world. So it's not your products that distinguish you, it is your you-ness that distinguishes you.
07:39 - Gresham Harkless
I love that, I love that. And you might have to trademark the word, Liz-ness, I think that is definitely a great word as well too. And yeah, a lot of times people forget that you, you know, you don't buy necessarily products and services. You buy from people you know, like entrust, and those people you develop relationships with. So it's great that you have been kind of authentic to yourself and by being authentic to yourself and showing who you are, you have attracted, it sounds like the right people in your life.
08:01 - Liz Theresa
Well, it's even like how, you know, if Apple made like the iBooks, you know, and they were like these special boots that like synced with Apple health and told you about your foot health. I don't know, I'm just making something up. I'd probably buy them because Apple made them. I mean, I don't know. I feel like that's a good example of a brand. So it doesn't have to be a personal brand. I guess you could think about corporate kind of borrowing from that by creating no interest, which is what you got at. Definitely.
08:24 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. When you start to build that relationship that person starts to identify themselves with everything that is you, like the Lizness that you talked about. You start to want to be involved and have every product and service that that person is putting out because you feel so tied in and it feels like you connect with it.
08:40 - Liz Theresa
Yeah. And we should say put more Lizness in your business. Oh, man.
08:44 - Gresham Harkless
I like that.
08:45 - Liz Theresa
Oh, so cheesy. I have to use it. It's just like watching people roll their eyes and we'll all have a good laugh. But yeah, I love it.
08:52 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Definitely. So now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an Apple book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient. That's a business song.
09:03 - Liz Theresa
So my favorite, favorite thing that I do is I do something called time auditing. And have you done one of these?
09:11 - Gresham Harkless
I haven't, I'm afraid to do it.
09:13 - Liz Theresa
Okay. And you know what? That's very normal because it's kind of weird and it's it's kind of it's overly insightful maybe for some people but basically for people who don't know the way that I like to describe a time audit is if you open the notes app of your phone which is how I like to do it and then I write a minute by minute account of everything I do in a day. And the reason why I think time auditing is incredibly awesome is because, well, one, it tells you how you're spending your time. And so for anybody that like if you end a work day and you're like, I didn't get anything done, this will make that go away because you'll have written proof that you did.
So that's super helpful. Additionally, you're less tempted to waste time. So you end up finding more time and you end up accomplishing more because you're actually more conscious of, you know, like when 5 minutes passed, what did you do? You know, like, I mean, I write down everything. I write down like from 1023 to 1027 Liz walked downstairs got some water and then maybe used the bathroom and then came back like I might do that it's so impactful you know, especially for entrepreneurs where like if you're a person you're doing everything for your business your every department You need to be so intentional with how you spend your time.
10:20 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, I would definitely agree with that. And it's funny like I try to do the time blocking, but I think time auditing goes to a different level because you start to figure out like where all those nuances are and those lost maybe 30 minutes to an hour where you're not sure exactly what happened, you can start to look at your log so to speak and see exactly how you're spending it and if you can kind of adjust that to be more effective.
10:40 - Liz Theresa
And I had, I talked to this lady honestly yesterday, this is so random but related, and she said, this quote that I'm gonna repeat, And her name is Jamie Palmer from a company called Outlier Marketing Group. So she's like a marketing person, but she said work expands to time allowed. So like, if you have like blocks of time, cause I still use blocks of time as well. Like You can't use one. I mean, you really should use a bunch of different ways to manage your time. But if you say, I have an hour to finish this email, that email is going to take you an hour. You know, that email is not going to take you 5 minutes. And so I thought that that was also a really cool way to think about it.
11:14 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And it's a lot of times when you have that conflict or you don't have enough time, you start to become creative on how you can kind of accomplish those goals. So when you have ambitious goals, you have a short deadline. Sometimes you figure out exactly how to reach those goals.
11:27 - Liz Theresa
Oh, yeah.
11:28 - Gresham Harkless
Definitely. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice, or if you could hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?
11:37 - Liz Theresa
Oh, that it's okay to say no if the person that's calling and ready to give you money isn't right for you.
11:43 - Gresham Harkless
That's powerful. It has power. Yeah, yeah.
11:45 - Liz Theresa
And people are afraid though. That's why people are afraid to say no.
11:49 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, you always have and wonder if that next client is gonna come in So you have to say yes to this person or you may not be able to pay your bills and do all those things So definitely fear associated with that.
11:59 - Liz Theresa
And I'm big like I mean I'm big on also aside from saying no, it's better to say no early or just not say anything. So like, if you say, I don't know, like I had somebody ask for a quote, this is just an example and they wanted a website just to give you an idea. And they were very complimentary on the phone and then they emailed a follow-up, trash-talking a bunch of my clients and she was like, I hope you didn't make their website because it looks awful and embarrassing. And I was like, hi. And actually, lucky for my ego, I didn't make those websites.
But it didn't mean that I didn't love those clients. So then I thought to myself, I was like, wow, how about the golden rule? Treat others the way you wanna be treated. Talk about people like that. But then I was like, I'm just gonna let this puppy go and just not respond anymore. Because she was ready to do something. She kept following up and I was like, I just don't want to talk to negative Nancy's like you. And I say it on my website too. So don't be afraid to say that somewhere that you like to work with people that are good and nice people.
12:59 - Gresham Harkless
There you go. Yeah, definitely. You know, don't be afraid to ask for what you want because sometimes you'll get it. And if you don't ask for it, sometimes you'll get what you don't want. So definitely a good reminder. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So I wanted to ask you, Liz, what does being a CEO mean to you?
13:18 - Liz Theresa
I am very emphatic that I think that it's so important to be a good leader. It's being a leader in your industry being a leader to your clients and being a leader to your team. So it's about exhibiting positive and strong leadership skills. And I think in those 3 different arenas, and I would say of the 3, most importantly to your team. So when I onboard people who work with me, I try really hard. And by work with me, I mean like contractors, I hire whoever. I try really hard to show up as love is what I always say.
Like always show up as love and then in showing up as love, saying to that person I'm hiring, what are your strengths and how can I make you feel stronger? What strengths can we play to? So how can I give you tasks and delegate things that you'll enjoy doing that will light you up? And what do you wanna learn? How can you grow? And how can I be a mentor for you? And so that's kinda how I show up as a CEO. I equate it so much with showing up as being a positive leader or mentor.
14:19 - Gresham Harkless
I love that. And I love what you're saying, show up as love. That definitely makes perfect sense. And when you kind of set that standard and set that kind of culture, so to speak, you start to attract really great people and you start to do, of course, really great work. So I think that's a phenomenal definition. And Liz, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule. What I want to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, and just see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and also how everyone can get ahold of you.
14:43 - Liz Theresa
Oh, I would love that. I think if I had any more nuggets of advice, I would say don't wait to start something. Don't wait for perfection. Just go ahead and start because if you don't start, you're always going to have reasons not to. And there is no time when you'll feel ready to launch a business or even to shift a business. There's no ready period.
There's just kind of deciding if it's important enough to do it or not So just know that and then as far as like where you can find me and fun things that you can do I am on iTunes and I have my own amazing show It's called Liz on biz and you can find it on iTunes or Google Play You can also find me at Lizteresa.com, which is LIZTHERESA. Or if you are just feeling really crafty, you could download my free copywriting class, which is available at freecopyvideo.com.
15:30 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And we'll have those links in the show notes to your podcast and also your website. And of course, the free training that you have as well, too. But Liz, thank you so much for taking some time out. I truly appreciate you and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
15:42 - Liz Theresa
Thank you.
15:43 - Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
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