How to Build a 20-Hour Work Week Business & Avoid Burnout with Holly Chantal

Kathi: Hi everyone, I am back and I am with Holly Chantal. She's a messaging expert and she's going to teach us how to reach out and really, really connect with our clients. So welcome, Holly. I'm so glad you're here.

Holly: I'm so glad I'm here. Thank you for having me.

Kathi: Absolutely. So talk to me about this journey that you've been on as an entrepreneur. Where did you come from and how did you land on this messaging? Because you're really, really good at it. So how did that all evolve?

Holly: Yeah, so I got my start back in 2009, and at the time I was struggling, like a lot of folks are, with who did I want to serve, what did I want to do. I wanted to start off business coaching, but I was 24. People really didn't take me seriously. I had zero experience; I can't really blame them. So I actually went into website design first, because it was something that was tangible. They got an outcome. I had a little bit of a track record with the previous business, where I built my own website and I was getting clients. I was the only one in the company that would get my clients through my own website. It was a direct sales, home party company. And I partnered up with an artist, because I'm not artistic. So he did the design and I did the strategy, and through that I began to develop systems for what to put on your website, how to structure the website and how to create that user experience, really just in the trenches with people as we're going through that development process. Because if any of you have been through a website development process, you know that it's much more intensive than you probably expected. My clients would come in and we would take six months, 12 months to complete a website, because there were so many decisions that needed to be made. So I started putting systems in place for making those decisions and writing the copy and doing all those things, and shortened our timelines from six to 12 months down to three months, which meant we could do more websites. Since then my partner and I split ways. He retired from design and is now doing something else, and I have stuck with the copywriting, messaging, website strategy side of things.

Kathi: That is so smart. First off, what I noticed is you delegated. You found someone to do what you couldn't do. A lot of entrepreneurs, I think, when we start, we think, okay, I have to design it too, I have to do that too. So for starters, you're a smart girl and started out perfectly, and everybody should remember that. If you start a business, even though you know what you want to do, you don't have to do it all right from the start. So that was brilliant.

Holly: Yeah. When you find those people that really complement what you're doing really well, talk to them about partnering, because that really happened organically. I knew his wife, who was also in the direct sales company that I was in, and she had asked me to do some work on her website. She came to me with this gorgeous design and I was like, I need to know who did this. She said, oh, it's my husband, but he doesn't develop websites, so can you build it for me? And I said, if he promises to work with me on other clients. It ended up being a really good, it ended up being a seven-year partnership.

Kathi: I love that. And it helped him expand and grow, and it helped you expand and grow. And boy, I remember my very first website, when it went out, like 2003. It was excruciating. There was so much involved, and I would love to have someone like you lead me down the road to creating the best website in the shortest amount of time, because there are so many decisions and so many left turns, right turns, and who knows. When you're first launching a business, you don't know what you're supposed to be saying.

Holly: Even when you're rebranding and you've been in business for a while, you'd be surprised how suddenly it feels like you don't know anything.

Kathi: Exactly. Even though you've been in business for a long time, if you're too close to the topic, you're way too close to the topic to even have objectivity about, what am I, is that message okay? I don't know. Yeah, I am with you on that. So if you were to do this again, and I think you did it so smartly, what's the first thing that you would do? Would you do it the same way, or would you go into it a different way, now that you're looking back from 2009?

Holly: You mean if I were to restart my business?

Kathi: Yeah.

Holly: So that's an interesting question. I'm not sure I would do anything differently, for that quintessential reason that I don't think I'd be where I am right now if I did. The way my business unfolded was very organic, and I'm someone that really follows my intuition. I have a plan of where I want to go, but I let it unfold as it does to get to where I want. So back then in 2009, if I were to write down what I wanted my life to look like at this point, I'm absolutely there. I have my kids, I have a dream house, I'm working 20 hours a week, I'm making the money that I want to make, and I don't think I'd want to change anything, just in case some of these things didn't pan out.

Kathi: I love that. So you were very smart from the very beginning, just being really strategic about it. So what would be your best piece of advice for others who want to go on this journey of becoming an entrepreneur? Perhaps they're there and they're just not quite there yet. What would you suggest that they do?

Holly: Yeah, so knowing where you're headed is probably the most important piece. Not just financial goals and what's on paper, but really qualitative things, like what do you value in how you're spending your time? What do you value outside of your business? Are there causes that you want to be contributing to? And really, what does your business feel like, and what do your clients feel like, working with them? Really just understanding on a fundamental level what it is you want to be doing. Because I feel like we go into business with a goal of starting a business, and what happens is we start settling on what's going to be the easiest path to meeting those goals, and you can very easily get taken off course and end up with a business that's successful on paper but doesn't necessarily feel awesome to be in. And that's where people end up burned out. That's where you end up realizing that you've built a job for yourself and you're very trapped. So if you can make decisions up front on what you want, how you want everything to be, it'll help you make decisions down the line that are completely in alignment with that.

You can very easily get taken off course and end up with a business that's successful on paper but doesn't necessarily feel awesome to be in.

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Holly: A prime example is marketing. Marketing can be a double-edged sword for some folks. It's that necessary evil that you need to do in order to grow your business, but a lot of different methods don't feel great to do, and there's reasons for that. If it's not natural for your communication style, you're having to be pushed too far out of your comfort zone, or it straight up feels manipulative, you're moving away from what's natural for you, and, one, it's probably not going to be as successful as it could be, and two, you're creating a job for yourself that's not really that satisfying. On the other hand, if you know what your communication style is, if you know what you value and the lines you're not going to cross in your marketing, and what's a good step out of your comfort zone and what's a maybe-I-shouldn't-be-doing-this step out of my comfort zone, when you can identify those things, you'll continually make the right choices that will move you in the direction you're going to head much more quickly.

Kathi: That's fantastic. Being an architect of your destiny by knowing in advance where you want to go is what I'm hearing. And I think you're right. I think as entrepreneurs we have this message, this is what we want to do, but we don't take a step back to see how do we want to be doing it.

Holly: Part of it is you don't know what you don't know. You're put into these situations where you're making decisions and you don't have all the information. You don't know what it's going to look like, you don't know what it's going to feel like, so you're listening to experts and you're giving away a lot of your power by listening to what other people are telling you to do. And it isn't until you've actually experienced it that you realize, oh, in hindsight maybe that isn't how I would do it; I would do it this way. So when I'm working with emerging entrepreneurs, one of the things we do is we create a compass. We call it your brand compass, but really it is: Does this align with my personality? Does this align with the promise and that mission that I have for my clients and why I want to work with them in the first place? Is it following my unique philosophy and my methods? What it does is it helps you make decisions to make sure that you're not being led off into a distraction that is actually taking away from your goals. Or maybe it's going to reach your goals, but it doesn't really align with your personality and who you are, so you're making things a lot harder for yourself. Just having something like that, that little gut check as you're making decisions, can really, really help streamline your path to where you're going.

Kathi: Yeah, because there are so many different ways to do it, and there are so many experts who say this is the way, this is the way. I've been sidetracked so much in the past by going one way and then going another way, and this expert said this is the only way to go. I agree, having that compass I think is extraordinary, to really say, okay, this does feel organic to me, this does feel authentic. It's really good advice. So I know pre-show you were saying that you got very organized, and I'm very interested, of course. Anytime I hear that word it's like, what's your tool, Holly? What's your favorite organizing tactic or device that you use in your life right now that works for you?

Holly: So, Trello. It's where my brain is. Trello and Google Docs are my two go-to's at this point. It took me a long time to get on board with Google Docs. I don't really like how it's organized so much, but I've been using it quite a bit. Trello is kind of like sticky notes, but you can get them on all your devices and it syncs on every device. So I have my to-do list there. I have my network: I have a lot of JV partners, and my network's there, who I'm meeting with, who I need to reach out to, who I need to follow up with. Everything is there, and it makes such a big difference, because I have kids, I sleep very little, I cram a lot of work into four hours a day, and I forget things if they're not specifically written down. So, like I said, it's my brain on the computer, so that when I turn off my computer I can turn off my brain and focus on other things and know that I'm not going to miss something.

It's my brain on the computer, so that when I turn off my computer I can turn off my brain and focus on other things.

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Kathi: Yeah, I love Trello, and I agree, it is the place to put everything. And I like the fact that you can do different boards for different segments of your business. I have a podcast board, I have a regular website board, I have my marketing board, so I have all the different things. And you're right, you can brain dump. And I love the fact that you can collaborate and tag your team within it, so I can write something and say, okay, this person, read this, here's the document and this other question, please post it. So yeah, Trello is brilliant. And I agree with you about Google Drive. I'm getting into it, and I'm learning now how to organize docs better, because you're right, at the beginning it was a little bit inorganic, just like when you first start on Gmail. It's a little bit weird. You're like, what is Gmail?

Holly: You're kind of relying on the search feature, which makes sense because it's Google, but I feel like I would rather just know how to find something in my folders. And I have to know, okay, what did I write in that document that would pull up just that document, so that I can search for it. So I've gotten very good at labeling things, but when you're sharing documents with different people, you don't always have control over what everything's labeled as.

Kathi: Exactly. But yeah, I love Trello too. Thanks for bringing that up. And for anybody who's out there checking it out, Trello is free to start out with, so everybody can have Trello and check it out and see if that works. There are so many different ways to be organized with your brain, like I said, because I agree with you, Holly, that it's a place to put my brain. Whatever one is going to resonate with you is going to be the one that works. There's no one perfect app, but Trello is a great place to start. So tell me about a time before you were uber organized and only working 20 hours a week. Tell me whenever you felt overwhelmed and you were stuck in busyness, or whenever it still happens, because I'm sure it still happens to you. What do you do to defrag and take a step back and get your bearings?

Holly: So I make lists. That's how I get un-overwhelmed. Because normally what's happening if I'm feeling overwhelmed is that I'm trying to hold too many things at once. It's like you're spinning a lot of plates. I get panicky when I start forgetting things, because it's like, what am I missing? It's that eerie feeling that there's something I'm supposed to be doing, there's something I'm supposed to be remembering, but I'm not. But if I sit down and list it all out, then I usually realize that, okay, all this is pretty doable. Now that I have a list, I can check them off, I can reprioritize them. Not everything is going to take me hours to do; some things will take a few minutes and I can check them off right now. For me, just having it all on paper in a visual way is invaluable, and it just helps get everything in order, so I can feel really good about what I'm moving forward with.

Kathi: That's what I was going to ask you: if you use pen and paper for your list, or if you use another app. Is it pen and paper for you?

Holly: So it depends. If I'm in my bedroom, then I use pen and paper, because I have notebooks everywhere. But in my business world, I have my iPad. So for those of you that are watching on video, I have an app called GoodNotes, and it works like, yeah, you can't really see it. It's paper; it looks like paper. In the GoodNotes app you can create notebooks. I have a notebook that's called Scratch Paper. That's where I take notes, that's where I put lists, just brain dumps, et cetera. And then I also keep a notebook for each of my clients, so that all the material and all the things we talk about are in one place. That's another really invaluable tool. And I use it when I'm doing webinars. I can mark up PDFs, so I actually create my slides, export them as a PDF, put them in GoodNotes, and then I can draw on them as I'm going, which is a really engaging way to present. So that's another recommendation if people are looking for really sweet software for their iPad.

Kathi: Yeah, that's sweet. I use Evernote extensively, but I don't know if there's actually the drawing capability in Evernote.

Holly: I think you can, but GoodNotes is actually created for presenting. What's cool about GoodNotes is when you are presenting, if I were to share my screen, you wouldn't see all the controls. You would only see the slides.

Kathi: Sweet.

Holly: And I feel like that's really nice. It just makes it look more professional when you're presenting.

Kathi: Absolutely. Yeah, that's amazing. Y'all check that out for sure. Good tips. We're learning all this juice today from this expert who is branding and marketing and messaging. What I really like about you, Holly, is that the message is loud and clear on what you do and who you are. Okay, one question. What's the best piece of advice that you've received that sticks in your brain from time to time?

Holly: When you asked that question, the first thing that came to mind was eat dessert first, and I don't know what that means. Eat dessert first. So let's pretend that's a business aspect. We'll say, focus on what you enjoy and the rest will follow. Yes, that's my profound advice for the day.

Kathi: We're going to put that in the show notes, because I think it actually follows your business model exactly. Figure out where you want to go and enjoy being there even before you're there.

Holly: Right. You should enjoy every aspect of your business. If there's something that feels off, burning you out, draining your energy, there's usually a solution to make that not feel like that anymore and actually become a very enjoyable aspect.

You should enjoy every aspect of your business.

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Kathi: Yeah, I love it. Okay, good. So I know that you have a valuable free resource to offer to people, and we're going to put the link down below. So talk to us about what you're giving away, Holly.

Holly: Yeah, so I have a PDF called the Buyer's Arc, and it's a marketing guide. Let me give you the premise behind it. When we're making decisions, we go through a very distinct decision-making process, and when someone's looking to hire you for your services, they're going through the exact same process. So the Buyer's Arc is what I'm calling that process, and the PDF will show you what the different decision points are that they're making, and then how you align your marketing with those decision points, so that you can guide the person through their decision in a very empowering way. We're not using scarcity, we're not creating pressure or any marketing tactics, but we're really empowering them with the information they need at every turn, so that they can make an informed decision, and positioning your product or service in the best way possible for what their situation is.

We're not using scarcity, we're not creating pressure, but we're really empowering them with the information they need at every turn.

Kathi: Yeah, I love that. I was just checking it out pre-interview, and it's really a valuable resource. I think no matter where we are in business, you can use it, if you're an old seasoned professional or brand new starting out. It's going to make sense, and I think it's going to help you be authentic, which I think authenticity is really the magnet of all. You want to draw people that are attracted to you, not that you're wrangling them in and trying to hold them to you. You want those who want to be like magnets to you.

Holly: Right. And I just want to mention the URL is BuyersArc.com, just for those that aren't actually on the page. BuyersArc.com, and if you see it somewhere, you can download it.

Kathi: That's fantastic. Well, Holly, I really appreciate your time, and I always enjoy speaking with you, and I always learn something. So thank you so much for being on the show. Everybody, make sure to grab the Buyer's Arc. It will help you no matter where you are in your business, even if you haven't even started; it'll just help you get clarity. And thanks a lot, Holly, for being on the show.

Holly: Yeah, thank you for having me, and everyone have an awesome day.