Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player. For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Beyond Labels: Exploring the Spectrum of Neurodiversity and Its Impact on Relationships

Mon, 25 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina engages in a thought-provoking conversation with behaviour specialist Andy Baker. They explore the complexities of behaviour management, particularly in the context of neurodiversity, and how understanding behaviour as a form of communication can transform interactions in both personal and professional settings. Andy shares his extensive experience in the health and social care sector, emphasizing the importance of empathy and the need to approach behaviour with curiosity rather than judgment.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

All Behavior is Communication: It is crucial to understand that behaviour, whether it's a child acting out or an adult struggling, is a form of communication.
Be a Detective, Not a Judge: Instead of jumping to conclusions about someone's behaviour, it's important to investigate the reasons behind it.
The Importance of Self-Esteem: Many individuals, especially those who are neurodivergent, may struggle with self-esteem due to repeated negative feedback about their behaviour.
Understanding Neurodiversity: Neurodivergent individuals, such as those with ADHD, may process information and respond to situations differently.
Flexibility in Expectations: It's vital to adjust expectations based on an individual's developmental level rather than their chronological age.

BEST MOMENTS

"The general premise is that all behavior is communication. I'm telling you something; I may not like the language you're using, but I'm communicating that at least I'm not happy."

"Your response is your responsibility, right? Because we're the adults in that situation."

"If I look at something like ADHD, one of the analogies I love for understanding attentiveness is like the bingo machine analogy. Some individuals with ADHD, their brain is like a bingo machine."

"It's almost like I hate it when people say everyone's on the spectrum. I hate when people use the spectrum as an excuse."

"If a kid doesn't know how to behave, then we should teach them. But there's still a philosophy there of sometimes punish them."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Positioning Yourself as a Problem Solver: Effective Techniques for Building Credibility and Trust

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0000

In this episode of the Christina Talks podcast, Christina delves into the concept of becoming a thought leader and positioning oneself as an expert in their field without coming across as egotistical. She discusses the importance of focusing on the value you bring to clients, highlighting benefits rather than personal accolades, and sharing success stories that build credibility. Christina emphasizes the need for authenticity, defining your niche, and using data to support your insights. By maintaining a genuine passion for helping others and continuously evolving, listeners can effectively position themselves as trusted advisors in their respective industries. Tune in for actionable strategies to enhance your personal brand and attract more business opportunities.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Focus on Value and Benefits: Position yourself by emphasising the value you bring to clients and the benefits they receive from your services, rather than boasting about your own achievements.
Share Success Stories and Testimonials: Highlight client success stories and let them share their experiences. This builds credibility and trust more effectively than self-promotion.
Identify and Address Pain Points: Understand the challenges your target audience faces and provide actionable solutions. This positions you as a problem solver and keeps your audience engaged.
Maintain Authenticity: Communicate your passion and care for your work. Authenticity resonates with people and helps build a genuine connection, making them more likely to trust you.
Stay Adaptable and Evolve: Continuously learn and adapt to changes in your industry. Share new insights and experiences to keep your messaging relevant and dynamic, reinforcing your position as a knowledgeable expert.

BEST MOMENTS

"The more we can do this without selling, actually, the more business opportunity comes our way."

"Talk about the benefits, not just your own experience. Share the testimonials. Let other people do the talking for you."

"Authenticity is about communicating how much you care about something."

"If you give them 75% of that solution, you are positioning yourself as the person that has the rest of that answer."

"It's the passion that really positions you. And you've got to allow people to see that."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

From Temporary Jobs to Entrepreneurial Success: Gary Das's Journey in Financial Services

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina is joined by the dynamic Gary Das, a multifaceted entrepreneur, coach, and mentor with a wealth of experience in financial services. Gary shares his intriguing journey from temporary jobs to becoming a successful mortgage expert and business owner, highlighting the challenges he faced along the way, including the impact of the credit crunch and the importance of personal growth. Gary also discusses his innovative program, "Leads to Lifestyle," which emphasizes achieving balance in business and life through strategic planning and incremental growth.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Recognizing personal responsibility in business challenges is crucial. Acknowledging that one may be the bottleneck in their own business can lead to significant growth and improvement.
In industries like financial services, building a personal brand is essential. Clients prefer to connect with individuals rather than faceless companies.
Implementing a seasonal structure for business activities can enhance productivity. By aligning tasks with the natural rhythms of the year, entrepreneurs can focus on strategic planning, execution, and reflection at appropriate times.
Choosing the right mentor is key to success. It's important to find someone who has relevant experience and can provide actionable insights rather than just theoretical knowledge.
Building a strong team with experienced individuals can free up time for entrepreneurs to focus on high-value tasks. Effective delegation is essential for scaling a business and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

BEST MOMENTS

"I realized I was the problem... I can't continue to keep doing this. It must be me."

"People still ring up and say, you know, I interviewed Neil Patel... and they expect me to do their SEO."

"You need to have a stack of cash to be able to do it because I've bought 100 before and got no sales."

"You're not paying me to be nice to you. I will care for you and I will love you, but you're paying me to get a result."

"I think balance is one of those really tough things as a business owner and an entrepreneur that is hard to deal with."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

The Art of Listening: Why Not Every Prospect is Ready for Your Services

Sun, 29 Sep 2024 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina shares her thoughts on the importance of recognizing that not everyone wants or needs your help, particularly in the coaching and marketing realms. Drawing from her experiences with coaches, consultants, and business owners, she emphasizes the significance of understanding your audience and targeting the right people with your message. Christina discusses the frustrations that can arise from ineffective marketing efforts and the necessity of focusing on delivering value rather than trying to convert every prospect. With a candid and passionate tone, she encourages listeners to engage in meaningful conversations, listen actively, and prioritize quality over quantity in lead generation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

It's important to recognize that not everyone is seeking assistance or coaching at any given moment. Understanding this can help avoid frustration in conversations and marketing efforts.
Effective marketing requires knowing your audience and ensuring that your messages are directed at those who genuinely need your services. Conducting market research can help identify the right target group.
Focusing on generating a smaller number of highly qualified leads is more beneficial than trying to attract a large volume of unqualified prospects.
When creating content or engaging with an audience, prioritize delivering value rather than pushing for conversions.
Pay attention to the responses and feedback from your audience. This listening approach allows for a better understanding of their needs and helps tailor your offerings accordingly, rather than imposing solutions they may not want.

BEST MOMENTS

"Not everybody wants or needs your help... sometimes it's just not appropriate."

"If you talk to everyone, you're talking to no one."

"It's about targeting the messages. It's about being realistic when it comes to what we're putting out there."

"I'm not hung up on converting everybody into a Christina fan... I do that based on trying to create valuable thinking points."

"Start from a place of offering value. Don't try to ram what you're doing down everyone's throats."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Manifesting Change: The Law of Creation vs. The Law of Attraction With Rebecca Shannon

Sun, 22 Sep 2024 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina is joined by Rebecca Shannon, who identifies herself as the "queen of heart-led leadership." The conversation delves into the essence of heart-led leadership, emphasizing the importance of leading from a place of empathy, vulnerability, and self-awareness. Rebecca shares insights on how to connect with one's inner leadership and make decisions that align with both the heart and gut instincts. They discuss the challenges many face in practising self-love and kindness, highlighting societal beliefs that often label self-care as selfish. The episode also introduces the concept of being a "time warrior," focusing on how individuals can shift their mindset around time management by prioritizing their intentions and setting strong boundaries.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Leading from the heart involves connecting with empathy and vulnerability, allowing leaders to inspire and motivate others by being authentic and open. This approach emphasizes that true leadership begins with self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
Effective decision-making should involve a holistic approach that includes the mind, heart, and gut. By physically connecting with these areas and seeking alignment among them, individuals can make more informed and heartfelt choices.
The concept of being a "Time Warrior" focuses on how individuals can shift their mindset about time management. Instead of relying solely on tools and techniques, it emphasizes the importance of being intentional about priorities and commitments.
Many struggle with self-love due to societal beliefs that prioritize caring for others over oneself. Practising self-love is essential for personal well-being and enables individuals to better support those around them
Embracing vulnerability is crucial for effective leadership. It allows individuals to connect deeply with others, fostering trust and collaboration. Recognizing and addressing one's own needs is not a sign of weakness but rather a demonstration of strength and self-awareness.

BEST MOMENTS

"When we drop into our hearts and lead from there, something very different occurs, and we get more from ourselves and our lives than when we come from just up here."

"I consider myself to be very much a heart-led leader... I've embraced that part of me that is an empathetic leader."

"Our problem is not procrastination. Our problem is priorities. If my heart isn't in something, I haven't prioritized it."

"If I love myself, I can love you more. But because we've been taught that that's not true, we love everybody else and then have nothing left for ourselves."

"There's this fear of recognizing vulnerability as weakness, where no, it isn't. Recognizing that doing something about it, that is strength."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Leveraging Educational Content to Highlight Your Expertise

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina explores the importance of effectively communicating the experience of working with your business through social media content. She emphasizes the need to balance industry-related insights with the direct promotion of services and products. Christina shares practical strategies for showcasing behind-the-scenes moments, client interactions, and testimonials to build authenticity and trust. She also discusses the value of case studies and educational content in demonstrating expertise and creating emotional connections with potential clients.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

It's important to balance industry-related content that addresses pain points with content that directly promotes your services or products.
Sharing behind-the-scenes insights, such as daily operations and client interactions, can effectively communicate the experience of working with your business.
Collecting and sharing testimonials, especially in video format, can enhance credibility and trust. Highlighting client stories and their successes can provide valuable insights to potential clients.
Detailed case studies that outline challenges, solutions, and specific services used can demonstrate the effectiveness of your offerings and showcase your problem-solving abilities.
Sharing educational content, such as tips and insights, positions you as an expert while also illustrating how your services have positively impacted clients, fostering an emotional connection with your audience.

BEST MOMENTS

"Testimonials can work really, really well. And I think when you can capture them in that way, where there's a bit of joint value there, that's even more impactful."

"It's not just about positioning yourself as an expert. It's not just about selling your stuff. It's about creating an emotional response in people. And let's face it, I would hope you do what you do because you love it."

" 'Oh my god, like it actually works, you guys know your shit'. That's a direct quote, by the way."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Navigating the World of Podcasting with Kane Baron

Sun, 01 Sep 2024 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina interviews Kane Baron, an expert in the world of podcasting and a prolific member of Progressive Media. They discuss the journey of podcasting, the challenges new podcasters face, and how to make a podcast successful. Kane shares his personal experience of transitioning from a law degree to digital marketing and eventually into podcasting. He emphasizes the importance of consistency, building a back catalogue, and engaging with the audience through competitions and giveaways.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Building up a back catalog of content is crucial to avoid running out of content and maintain consistency.
Tying a relaunch to a specific reason, such as an anniversary or a special event, can help create momentum and interest.
Hosting a competition or giveaway related to the podcast's target audience can incentivize listeners to engage and potentially convert into paying customers.
YouTube is predicted to become a central platform for podcasts, emphasizing the importance of incorporating video content into podcast strategies.
While AI content may be useful in the short term, it is expected to lose effectiveness over time, highlighting the importance of authentic and engaging content creation.

BEST MOMENTS

"The number one way to monetize it is selling your own stuff. It leads into your business 100%."

"Podcast downloads are anonymous, so nobody can see it. So Apple charts is like the UK top 40, right? Every Sunday that you've released your top 40, there's some sort of credibility."

"YouTube will be the future of podcasting for sure."

"Rob wanted the benefit of the staff and people doing all the hard work and the difficult things with podcasting and social media for him. He just wanted to interview people he found interesting, and he wanted to make a living doing it. And then basically, in comes me, and he was like, oh, cool, you manage these things. And I'll go out on the road and I'll record all these podcasts."

"I was struggling to make the time to sit down and record my solo episodes. I kind of, I felt like I'd peaked with guests and I'd had some amazing people on."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Kane's Instagram

Kane's LinkedIn

Email: podcast@progressiveproperty.co.uk

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Unlocking Opportunities and Creating Personalized Solutions Through the Question "What Can I Do for You?"

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina considers the power of asking the simple yet impactful question, "What can I do for you?" She emphasizes how this question shifts the focus from oneself to the person being asked, making the conversation more about them. Christina discusses how asking this question in various contexts, such as sales, marketing, and personal relationships, can lead to more personalized and tailored interactions.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Asking "What can I do for you?" is a powerful question that shifts the focus onto the other person, making the conversation about their needs and desires.
This question can be used in various contexts, such as sales, marketing, relationships, and even with family members, to show genuine interest in helping and supporting others.
By asking this question, one can tailor their services or assistance to meet specific needs, creating a more personalized and impactful interaction.
Acting on the answer received from asking this question not only feels good but also demonstrates authenticity and selflessness in helping others.
Incorporating this question into conversations can empower the dialogue, create intentional support, and ultimately strengthen relationships and connections.

BEST MOMENTS

"What can I do for you? It shifts the focus from you to the person you're talking to. It makes the conversation about them."

"If someone does something for me, I'm asking, you know, it's one thing to say thank you, but to follow that up with, is there something I can do for you?"

"It's massively powerful. Business-wise, asking that question can just empower the whole conversation that you're having and is something I invite you to do."

"It's so powerful in terms of building relationships with people, not just your clients, but all of your contacts, even with family members."

"It's massively powerful. Business-wise, asking that question can just empower the whole conversation that you're having and is something I invite you to do."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Understanding the Role of a Non-Exec Financial Director in Business Growth

Sun, 18 Aug 2024 23:00:00 -0000

In today's episode, Christina interviews Stewart Roberts, owner of Maia Kai, on the importance of understanding finances in business. Stewart shares his extensive experience in the back office accounts and funding side of recruitment for over 24 years. He highlights the value of non-exec finance advisory services for recruitment agencies and emphasizes the need for directors to have a solid grasp of their financials.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

It's crucial for businesses to prioritize understanding their finances from the very beginning.
Hiring a non-executive financial director can provide valuable insights and guidance, even for smaller businesses.
Monthly management accounts can help businesses stay on top of their numbers and make informed decisions.
Outsourcing tasks like bookkeeping, accounting, and IT can be cost-effective and efficient for businesses of all sizes.
Accountants should not only provide financial services but also actively help businesses succeed and grow.

BEST MOMENTS

"I think people think if they get these softwares it's going to actually eliminate the need of their accountant."

"I always say to get monthly management accounts. I know a lot of people would say quarterly. I think monthly, really, you've got to know what your numbers are on a month by month basis."

"I think that accountability piece is really important, especially in those smaller organisations, when there's no one to have those hard conversations with."

"People don't understand things like VAT, corporation tax and things like that, so what they will quite often do is they'll look at their bank account and use that as a judgment on how successful their business is."

"I've had some bad luck with accountants, right? And a big part of that was over-reliance on automation by the accountant without something strong enough on my part, as well as theirs, to make sure that where we were relying on automation, that things were getting picked up, checked."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Unveiling the Power of Kindness in Leadership with Jeff Mask

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 23:00:00 -0000

Today, Christina speaks with Jeff Mask, a CEO coach. Jeff shares his personal experiences and professional insights on leadership, purpose, kindness, and self-awareness. Throughout the episode, Jeff emphasizes the importance of leading with love, being kind to oneself, and understanding that challenges are not as dire as they may seem internally. He also discusses the significance of finding one's purpose and being at peace with the past to create a fulfilling future.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Kindness is not a weakness, but rather a display of abundant strength. It involves clarity, conviction, and love, allowing for difficult conversations and decisions to be made with compassion.
Being kind to oneself is crucial for personal growth and well-being. It involves treating oneself with the same compassion and understanding as one would offer to others.
Having a clear vision of the future helps in navigating through present challenges and struggles. It provides meaning to the obstacles faced and motivates progress.
Leadership and love go hand in hand, with love being a powerful motivator for inspiring growth and change in others. Leading with love fosters trust, confidence, and positive relationships.
It's important to remember that things are never as bad as they seem from the inside or as good as they appear from the outside. Every individual and business faces challenges and imperfections, highlighting the importance of self-compassion and perspective.

BEST MOMENTS

"I love to help CEOs confidently grow their business without losing their mind, losing their priorities, losing their soul."

"The more at peace we can be with our past, the more we can create a great future."

"Kindness isn't weakness. Kindness is abundant strength."

"It's never as bad as it feels from the inside and never as good as it looks from the outside."

"Kindness is clarity. Kindness is conviction. Kindness is love."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

How to Land Speaking Gigs and Grow Your Personal Brand

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina shares her insights and experiences on how to secure speaking gigs and grow as a speaker. She refers to the importance of building a personal brand, networking with other speakers, and how this can help create opportunities for oneself. Christina discusses the value of offering unique and valuable content to event organizers, as well as the significance of starting small and gradually moving up to larger stages.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Dedicate time and effort into building a personal brand to attract speaking opportunities.
Sometimes you need to create your own speaking opportunities, whether in-person or online, to showcase your expertise.
Deliver webinars and create video content to showcase your speaking abilities and attract speaking gigs.
Reach out to event organizers, podcast hosts, and other speakers to build relationships and secure speaking opportunities.
Begin with smaller speaking engagements and gradually move up to larger stages, investing time and effort in your speaking journey.

BEST MOMENTS

"I dedicated a lot of time and a lot of effort into building a personal brand. I looked for those opportunities to connect with other speakers, to see where they were speaking, to ask them about their contacts."

"Sometimes you need to create your own stages. And again, I put a lot of time and effort into that."

"So putting content out there of you on stage, of you presenting a webinar is one thing. Another way you can do this is actually just recording your video content."

"Reach out to people with podcasts. Reach out to me. If you think you've got something of value to offer my audience, reach out to me."

"Getting on those stages has brought me massive opportunity, has introduced me to some magnificent people and overall has helped me to grow my brand as Christina and also my business brand as well."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

From 37 Pence to 200 Million Pounds - Neville Wright's Journey In Entrepreneurship

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina interviews Neville Wright, a successful entrepreneur who started a business with just 37 pence and grew it to a value of £200 million. They discuss Neville's journey, from his struggles with dyslexia and ADHD to building a thriving retail business, Kiddy Care. Neville shares his own insights on entrepreneurship, leadership, and the importance of creating a positive customer experience.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Neville Wright's journey exemplifies the importance of having an entrepreneurial mindset, where he started with just 37 pence and built a business worth millions by saying "yes" to opportunities and challenges.
The focus on providing an exceptional customer experience was evident in Neville's approach to retail, where he emphasized creating a welcoming environment, offering assistance, and anticipating customer needs.
Neville's emphasis on training and developing his employees, recognizing their individual strengths, and empowering them to take responsibility contributed to the success of his business.
The implementation of systematic processes and procedures, from training employees to managing suppliers and customers, played a crucial role in the growth and success of Neville's business.
Neville's ability to adapt to changing circumstances, embrace new technologies like online retail, and innovate in response to challenges highlights the importance of flexibility and creativity in business.

BEST MOMENTS

"I wasn't very good at school. That was one of the main drivers, I think."

"Life's not fair. And yeah, so it got to rock bottom and I do think very often people are not low enough in a way or desperate enough to make a difference to their lives."

"Forget I can't, focus on I can."

"People forget the basics. They go to the seminar and they read the book and they listen to the podcast and they're going through all this shiny stuff and they forget the basics."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Leveraging Trends for LinkedIn Success

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina delves into the topic of achieving virality on LinkedIn. She emphasizes the importance of personal content, discussing trending topics, building an engaged network, timing of posts, and utilizing various content formats. Christina provides valuable insights on creating hooks to draw in the audience and shares practical tips for maximizing engagement on the platform.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Share real photos, videos, and passion to connect with your audience on a personal level.
Utilize trending stories on LinkedIn and mainstream media to create relevant content that sparks engagement.
Connect with individuals who share mutual interests and potential business opportunities to increase engagement.
Experiment with posting times to determine when your audience is most active and engaged.
Utilize various content formats on LinkedIn, such as text-only posts, videos, carousels, polls, and articles, to keep your audience engaged and interested.

BEST MOMENTS

"LinkedIn's one of those platforms where people are kind of almost scared of it. And I don't know why, because it's no different to anywhere else."

"Personal content is all about real photos, real videos, people seeing the whites of your eyes, the smile on your face, and being able to engage in you in that way."

"If you are just constantly connecting, connecting, connecting, connecting with anyone and everyone, you're probably not going to have an engaged network."

"Timing is another one as well. Pay attention to the timing that works for you. You will find there's particular times of the day, perhaps, or days of the week, where when you post those moments, that's when you see more engagement happening."

"What's that first line of text in that post? What is that caption on that photo? When you are recording your video, what's the first line out of your mouth that people are going to see there?"

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Navigating Overwhelm as a Business Owner

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina discusses her hiatus and the overwhelming feeling of taking on too much. She reflects on the pressure she felt to keep up with the podcast, her main business, and other ventures, leading to a sense of failure. However, she shares a valuable lesson she learned about looking back at her journey and focusing on the next steps rather than the current obstacles. The host expresses her excitement to be back, ready to share intimate thoughts and insights with her audience. She teases upcoming guests who are either inspirational, motivating, or experts in their fields, promising to deliver valuable content that will resonate with listeners.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

It's important to recognize when you need a break and prioritize self-care to avoid burnout.
Instead of focusing on current challenges, reflect on how far you've come since starting and the successes you've achieved.
Break down tasks into manageable steps to avoid feeling overwhelmed and maintain a positive mindset.
Embrace the freedom of expression and ownership that comes with personal platforms like podcasts to share openly and authentically.
Surround yourself with inspirational and motivating individuals who can trigger positive changes and growth in your own journey.

BEST MOMENTS

"I had not been recording episodes. I'd not been booking in guests. And the weeks had passed where I'd not published a podcast."

"I felt like a failure. I felt the worst thing in the world, which was that I felt that I'd let myself down."

"I forgot about all those successes. I forgot about the speaking gigs that I was booked for and paid for because someone had heard me on the podcast."

"I looked at it as: I've got to record all these episodes. I've got to get all these guests. And that overwhelm just fueled that negative spin I had going on."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/?originalSubdomain=uk

HOST BIO

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

From Tokenism to Transformation: Advancing Diversity & Inclusion with Martin Mason

Sun, 10 Sep 2023 23:00:00 -0000

Join host Christina as she interviews Martin Mason, a talent and diversity and inclusion specialist. Martin shares how he helps organisations improve their recruitment, talent, and D&I practices. They discuss the difference between diversity initiatives that are tokenistic versus intentional. Martin explains important but not yet mainstream concepts like social mobility and how organizations can remove unnecessary barriers to create more equity. He provides insights on how businesses can foster inclusive cultures through education, seeking diverse perspectives, and focusing on desired outputs. Martin talks about trends like neurodiversity and leveraging different talent pools. He also introduces his company's new tech platform, Talent Mapper, which helps businesses understand their existing workforce capabilities.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Don't just do tokenistic activities for diversity - have the intent to create impact.
Social mobility is about removing unnecessary hurdles for people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Broaden recruitment outreach beyond top universities to increase diversity.
Discuss desired outputs first, then work backwards to build an inclusive recruitment process.
Seek perspectives from people different from you when making big decisions.
Emerging trends are neurodiversity and tapping into wider talent pools through social mobility.

BEST MOMENTS

"It's not in the mainstream because people don't realize that they need to take some responsibility to fix this."

"You've got to go to the right advisors."

"The smart businesses are the ones that are seeing it as a long term investment, because if you can outthink your competition and innovate, then your business is sustainable."

"Stay curious and educated. The more that you can keep your mind open and learn, the better it will be."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Unlocking Lifelong Health with The Medicinal Chef Dale Pinnock

Sun, 03 Sep 2023 23:00:00 -0000

Get ready for a fun and enlightening ride with nutrition guru Dale Pinnock. Dale talks about his decades of experience in the nutrition field, simplifying healthy eating into practical lifelong habits. You'll learn the science behind anti-inflammatory foods like turmeric and oily fish, how certain mushroom extracts can boost brain power, and why quality supplements are key. Dale gets real about the declining state of metabolic health today and how we can start fixing it through proper nutrition education and cooking skills.

Tune in to soak up Dale's expansive wisdom and walk away with simple, doable steps to eating healthier and living your best life!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Simplify healthy eating into practical, lifelong habits rather than short-term diets
Turmeric, ginger, and oily fish provide potent anti-inflammatory benefits
Certain mushroom extracts like lion's mane can enhance cognitive function
Quality is critical when choosing supplements for them to work effectively

BEST MOMENTS

"Quality is critical when choosing supplements for them to work effectively."
"Turmeric and oily fish provide a powerful one-two anti-inflammatory punch."
"You ask for what you want. Be discerning. Make the effort."
"Just write what you wanna write. Otherwise what is the point."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Medicinal Chef

Dale Pinnock website

Dale Nutrition YouTube

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE GUEST

Dale Pinnock, aka The Medicinal Chef, has been a nutrition expert for over 30 years. With 7 bestselling books and regular TV appearances under his belt, Dale has become a leading voice on simplified, practical health advice. His passion lies in creating lifelong healthy habits and dismantling fad diets. Dale's wisdom comes from hands-on client work, extensive research, and a genuine desire to help people live healthier lives. When he isn't writing or seeing clients, you can find Dale whipping up medicinal recipes packed with science-backed nutrition in his kitchen.

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

How to Unleash Your Inner Maverick with The Shari Teigman

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 00:00:00 -0000

“The Shari Teigman” is a performance coach and creative strategist who works with individuals to unleash their maverick in their life and business through being who they truly are. Shari joins Christina to discuss the vital importance of expressing your true self and why the journey to finding out and understanding who you are, who you have been and who you truly want to be is pivotal in creating your unique life and business and impacting on the world as a unique individual

KEY TAKEAWAYS

You can get lost in branding but you can also find in it yourself too, and when you ask, ‘Who am I?’ there is a silent inner revolution and the realisation that you can’t be anyone except yourself
If you don’t reconcile internally who you truly are, you can experience imposter syndrome, and struggle to find where you fit in
There is justice and rebirth when you face who you think you are, who you’ve been and who you think you want to be over and over again
There is the knowing and there is the habit, when we are expanding into learning how to think differently we are facing our primal habitual self
We learn in a state of openness and do in a state of panic, go mode and excitement, we don’t use the same parts of ourselves
Leadership is connection and to connect you need to be vulnerable because you can’t build trust without it
No one else lives your life and knows how you feel so why would you ask everyone else’s opinion about what to do next
We can’t change anything until we have space and perspective, when you have space you can see the difference and act differently
You go on a ride knowing you have your self-leadership, how to ground yourself, manage your state and who to lean on and how to read your own clues and that all that needed in your toolbox
You have to know what you are ready for, who you are and who you want to be before you look for a coach
The reason we have those ‘not them’ moments with the wrong mentors is because we are going to be saved by someone but you need to find out what you don’t need, you learn by doing and undoing

BEST MOMENTS

08:00 “Am I going to battle and have balls to survive or am I going to battle and have balls to drive”

11:49 “I’m so vulnerable and messy, I’m human, and I like the relevancy of knowing exactly what my clients feel like on a day-to-day basis”

17:53 “The environment you learn in is not the environment you do in”

35:12 “When we become more rich in our internal world and are intrinsically led all our interest in the world has a better pacing to it”

38:33 “Your greatest growth points are in the buckets you avoid and are not willing to go to on your own”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

All About Anxiety with Jennifer Roblin

Sun, 06 Aug 2023 23:00:00 -0000

Jennifer Roblin is an anxiety coach, who specifically works with teenagers and young adults.

After spending 30 years in the corporate world, Jennifer quit her job, realising her lifestyle wasn’t what she wanted for her and her family. Jennifer joins Christina to talk about why she changed career and what drove her to work with young people. They also talk about what anxiety is, how it can manifest and how we can become aware of our own beliefs and behaviours and how this impacts others.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

One of the main things Jennifer enjoyed in her corporate role was big teams of people, she now realises she was coaching these people.
Anxiety is evolutionary, the sole purpose of anxiety is to keep us safe, it’s looking for danger all the time.
The amount of information we as individuals have to deal with on a day-to-day basis in the modern world is astounding, this can have a profound impact on our levels of anxiety.
Jennifer felt she could have the biggest impact coaching those under 25, changing their future but also having a positive impact on those around them including their parents. Jennifer also became more passionate about helping young people when her friends' son took his own life at just 19.
There are different types of anxiety, including generalised anxiety disorder which impacts children on an everyday basis.
Parents can imprint their own anxieties onto children, leaving a long-lasting impression on them. Children learn these behaviours at an early age and it becomes their identity and who they are.
There isn’t a one size fits all approach to coaching people through their anxiety, you have to figure out what motivates that person and what it is they want to achieve.
Many of the approaches that Jennifer uses are about individuals realising and recognising their behaviours and what they can do to take control and influence their lives.
Try and be more aware of the media you take in, for example with songs, ensure you listen to the lyrics. If we listen to negativity we take it on board.
Ask yourself how you are feeling and stop and truly think about what your answer is and the words you use.

BEST MOMENTS

04:15 “I realised there is such a job as coaching”

14:25 “Once you’ve proved to yourself you can do it, you can’t ‘unprove’ it”

17:20 “Children are so frustrated they’re venting their anger in the family home”

20:01 “We don’t realise how we are affecting the people around us”

49:20 “I just didn’t have the words to label my emotions”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE GUEST

Jennifer Roblin | Anxiety Specialist

www.betteryourlife.co.uk

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

What is Your Hearts Art? Talking Business, Change and Passion with Dawn Willock

Sun, 16 Jul 2023 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina is joined by a woman she relates to on many levels and whom she holds a lot of respect and admiration for, an ‘absolute powerhouse of a woman’ Dawn Willock. Dawn is a business owner who stands for truth and integrity in business. She talks to Christina about why this is important to her, how this translates into her business practices, and why peer support is essential to any entrepreneur or business owner. Dawn also talks about the importance of embracing change in business, why covid had some positive influences, her book writing process and even a story about DMing Russell Brand!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Many are fearful of change, but it’s necessary and is often how we make a name for ourselves in business. You have to get out of your comfort zone to make progress.
Covid forced change, it pushed some businesses into the modern world. Those who had already implemented change effectively previously had an advantage over those who resisted it.
You have to be bold and take chances to become successful, if you don’t try things in the first place then you will certainly fail!
You must weigh up the balance between your work and personal life. It’s not worth doing everything 100% at work if your personal life is falling apart.
Dawn fell out of love with her business which then impacted her energy, drive and passion which in turn influenced the metrics and health of the business.
Your business challenges aren’t unique, you have to be honest and then seek support and help. Masterminds can be invaluable for this.
Book writing has been cathartic for Dawn and allowed her to feel joy in new and unique ways. She has written her book for her, if it sells well that’s a great bonus!

BEST MOMENTS

02:55 “Be brave, question things, fundamentally I stand for truth and that has been something that’s been a gift”

07:34 “Those who were going to survive, were willing to change or had already changed”

12:40 “From a business perspective, not everybody is on the breadline”

21:40 “That’s where the magic is, where you take 100% responsibility for yourself”

39:20 “Because I’ve given myself something with so much joy you don’t mind the graft of work in the things that you don’t necessarily want to have to do”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Utilising Tech in Your Business and The Future of AI in Recruitment with ‘The Tech Guy’ Stephen O'Donnell

Sun, 09 Jul 2023 23:00:00 -0000

Fellow podcaster Stephen O’Donnell has been in the world of recruitment for 36 years, including owning and running recruitment agencies before building a website and branching out into the technology side! He joins Christina to talk a little about his personal journey and why he has such a passion for utilising tech in recruitment. Stephen also talks about the role of AI as well as outlines the red flags to watch out for in tech!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

People often play down their expertise, especially in the UK. You need to recognise where your expertise lies and then share that with others.
Stephen was drawn to the tech side of recruitment out of pure curiosity and then discovered his unique talent for it.
Some tech can be utilised for almost instant results, but some take time to work, such as things that focus on marketing.
There is some promising AI in recruitment right now, including tech where the system is learning from both candidates' and recruiters' behaviour and experience and matches them accordingly
When you are looking at recruiting someone you don’t just look at who they are and what they can achieve today but what you expect to get from them in the future and technology is exactly the same.
Bear in mind which apps your customers will use, what you prefer to use or think is in favour might not be what your ideal client uses. You don’t want to spend time and money developing your product onto apps they will never use or convert on.

BEST MOMENTS

05:05 “I want to be known as someone who knows what they’re talking about within recruitment”

29:07 “There are some technologies I’d expect to make an immediate effect, there are some that are gonna take a while to pay dividends”

30:57 “It was one of those, this is gonna change everything moments”

41:49 “Just because something can be done, doesn’t mean it should be done”

51:16 “I’m never ever working on the launch of an app ever again”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

The Next Generation of Employees with Steven Rothberg

Sun, 18 Jun 2023 23:00:00 -0000

Steven Rothberg is the founder of college recruiter, a job search site. He believes that every student and recent grad deserves the right career and finding one should be easy and inexpensive for employers to reach them and this is what they facilitate.

He joins Christina to talk about the current generation of people entering the workforce, who the winners and losers of AI and automation will be as well as the different approaches of businesses in regards to recruitment and progression.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The current generation of students and graduates have more opportunities than ever especially in regards of flexibility, doing what they want when they want and where they want.
Everything is going to be changed by AI and it will happen faster than most people realise.
Universal basic income would not be as much of a far-fetched idea in a world filled with AI. In the best-case scenario, the world would become less about output and making money and more about fulfilment and purpose.
As most larger organisations have many opportunities and specific graduate programmes, this is where most university and college leavers start their careers, whether they want to or not.
Having a specific set of skills won’t always serve you, being versatile and having more general knowledge can protect you in harder economic times, allowing you to be more flexible and avoid layoffs.
It’s good for a business to develop their employees but it needs to take into account that they are individuals rather than the ‘cookie-cutter’ approach.
One of the benefits of small organisations is that they are generally more nimble, meaning they can be flexible with the skillset of those they hire. If someone fits culturally they are more likely to hire them even without the required skills.
Try and think of ways you can include and demonstrate your company culture in job ads, to ensure you attract the right candidates.

BEST MOMENTS

07:21 “We’re gonna know in a couple of years whether AI is going to be beneficial for most or just the few”

14:38 “We’re going to get to a Star Trek workplace where people aren’t going to have to work nearly as much”

20:28 “The vast majority of university grads go to work for large organisations whether they want to or not”

22:14 “People with more generalised skills tend to survive layoffs better”

35:19 “We try very hard to include in there a sense of our culture”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Building a Commitment Culture and Empowering Others to Make a Difference, Innovate, to be Creative and to be Themselves with David Roberts

Sun, 11 Jun 2023 23:00:00 -0000

David Roberts has successfully grown multiple businesses and is the host of the ‘People with Purpose’ podcast, along the way he has learnt lots about business, life, relationships and purpose. He talks to Christina about finding your purpose and passion and why as a leader building an environment with psychological safety is crucial in creating a commitment culture where purpose and commitment are shared by all. He also discusses the powerful role of feedback in building rapport and trust in relationships

KEY TAKEAWAYS

If you can fill the start of your day with the highest priorities for you that align most strongly with your values then your day is starting well
Write down what you love, what the world needs, what you are good at and what you can get paid for and try and do one of those things in your day
Building rapport and maintaining rapport with others is about developing empathy and when you can openly give and receive feedback you are in a really strong relationship
It’s important to be open to all feedback but you don’t need to act on feedback, it’s a gift and you can decide what you want to do with it
Knowing you’re in an environment with psychological safety where you can be yourself and bring your best self to a situation is crucial
People knowing they have psychological safety and that their emotional and mental well-being is being looked after and they are empowered to be able to make a difference to innovate, to be creative and to be themselves in what they are doing is what brings long term commitment
Everyone has a story to tell and we can all learn from each other
When you are trying to unlock your purpose use a story arc (awareness, reflection, create

BEST MOMENTS

02:36 “What’s been the most meaningful thing is seeing people achieve things they didn’t think they were capable of when they started and that’s what really floats my boat and what I really like doing”

10:56 “Having a focus on what you want is definitely the holy grail and the end game but understanding what you don’t want so you can stop doing it is equally important”

20:17 “I open myself up to it, I ask for feedback all the time and it’s so, so powerful”

20:45 “If someone feels they can trust you with what they really think then you’ve broken through a barrier and boundary that keeps people apart”

31:44 “The ultimate culture is where you have a commitment culture, everyone’s aligned on the why and everyone is committed to working together”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

How to Build a Better and More Inclusive Workplace with Recruiter Russell White

Sun, 04 Jun 2023 23:00:00 -0000

Russell White is a co-owner of a recruitment company after years of experience as a recruiter including working with a variety of FTSE 500 companies. Russell joins Christina to talk about his wealth of knowledge in the industry including what real inclusion in the workplace looks like, the demands on agency-style businesses and account managers and how the pandemic revolutionised how we work forever.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Recruitment has evolved over the years that Russell has worked in the industry, it now has recognised value across industries
Sadly Russell still comes across unconscious bias and attitudes towards people based on their race, age, neurodiversity and other traits.
It’s up to businesses to accommodate those who are neurodiverse in the workplace. Bias towards them or not understanding the differences can be a detriment to the company, being neurodiverse is a positive.
Inclusion can look very different depending on the company and the employee, it’s about looking at workers as individual people and recognising their needs, seeing them as part of the organisation.
Making your people and employees feel part of something is a key element in creating good company culture as they will respect your company ethos, values and approach.
Meeting people face to face is much more nuanced, the communication flows more freely and the conversations had are different and have a different energy.
As a business owner you have to wear many different hats, you need to be analytical yet great at relationships alongside knowing all the moving parts of the business and its people.

BEST MOMENTS

04:05 “[recruitment] Supported the life and careers of so many people who have gone on to help other people”

04:34 “You evolve the values of what a recruiter should be doing, for me it’s very much about helping the individual whilst understanding the cultural ethos and values of a business”

12:33 “Businesses need to adjust how they talk to them [neurodiverse], the environments those people work in”

16:31 “Being neurodiverse is not a negative, it’s a positive”

24:10 “It’s all about making people feel part of something, your people will respect the brand, the organisation, the ethos, the approach”

41:26 “As a business owner I do feel like a bit of a chameleon at times”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

How to Integrate Automation and AI into Your Business with Darin Adams from Keap

Sun, 21 May 2023 23:00:00 -0000

Darin Adams from Keap (previously Infusionsoft) joins Christina in this episode to talk about the strength and power behind AI and automation for businesses and entrepreneurs. Darin has shown people across the world how to run their businesses via the power of automation and how to utilise this to make their small and medium-sized businesses more successful. He talks with Christina about how he does this and shares the many benefits of automation and AI beyond just saving time as well as defines why no one needs to feel worried or overwhelmed when integrating these tools into their business.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Small businesses and entrepreneurs often fall into the trap of thinking they need to do everything themselves but automation is one of the best solutions to this.
Automation isn’t new, it’s just being talked about a lot at the moment. Keap actually started using automation over 20 years ago.
People are often intimidated when they hear the words automation and AI, but it’s simply because people don’t understand it.
You don’t have to automate from start to end, you can break processes down and automate parts of it, this alone can save you a lot of time.
To make a business successful you need good processes and structures, automation can aid you in doing this.
Automation and AI aren’t just about saving time, the benefits go way beyond this.
Sometimes we can get too focused on various new tech when instead we should be focusing on one thing at a time and making it work for us and our business.
If you can use automation to compile and validate the right data you can then use this to aid your strategy, marketing and follow-ups.
It’s actually a benefit of being smaller when start to integrate automation and AI into your business. If it is just you, you build the systems first before having to teach anyone else.

BEST MOMENTS

02:17 “If you can automate things you can grow your businesses without manually having to do it”

05:47 “If it’s a technology we don’t understand and it feels overwhelming to us…it seems intimidating”

09:58 “Just find one or two things that you’re crap at the things that you can just streamline and maybe get the most amount of impact from the smallest investment”

14:16 “If you want to build a business that has value you need to build structure, you need to have process, and that’s all automation is”

17:35 “There are so many benefits beyond saving time”

45:10 “They’ve looked at the data but they haven't read the data, they haven’t understood the data, they haven’t taken intelligence away from it”

50:39 “If you get it right, the urgent things on your to-do list are presented to you”

53:53 "It's [AI] so flexible, we just need to get started with it"

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Why Content Creation is the New Gold Rush: Talking Marketing, Mindset and Business with Nishi Patel

Sun, 30 Apr 2023 23:00:00 -0000

Nishi Patel is a fellow podcaster and specialises in helping businesses with their cashflow management and getting their pricing right, which is even more important in the current economic crisis.

He joins Christina to talk about his approach to business and marketing, including how he created his business as well as budgets, podcasting and mindset.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Focusing on content creation has allowed Nishi’s company to build interest and generate leads for a part of the market that didn’t exist.
Results take time, there is always a delay of at least six months in marketing.
A mindset shift was necessary for Nishi to transition from simply accountant to becoming a marketing director.
Marketing is an investment, not a cost.
Surround yourself with the right people with the same mindset as you.
Content creation and the social media age are the new gold rush.
The podcast space is still growing. Nishi likes to compete where others aren’t competing as you get better growth, and this is why he is focusing on podcasts.
The more time people spend with you the more they trust you which is why podcasts are a unique vehicle for developing relationships with potential clients.
Build a referral strategy, it’s an essential way to generate strong leads.
Marketing is important but you have to spend just as much time on your offering.

BEST MOMENTS

06:32 “The results you get today are the benefit of what you put in place 6 months ago”

11:02 “That’s the bit that really got me down about marketing, is the amount of money we wasted to get it to work”

18:11 “You spend money on marketing, your business gains value”

25:38 “Content creation is the goldrush, social media is the vehicle”

30:25 “There’s no hype you can generate that with override a weak offering”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Why Wellness Matters in Business and Entrepreneurship with Lauren Lepley

Sun, 16 Apr 2023 23:00:00 -0000

As entrepreneurs, we can’t underestimate the importance of health, both physical and mental and Lauren Lepley joins Christina in this episode to talk about exactly how we can prioritise it. Lauren is a multiple business owner including a wellness centre she also coaches and mentors people around strategizing them as a human, to better themselves and their business.

She joins Christina to talk about all things wellness including the importance of sleep, finding out the things that count for you and gives tips and advice on what we can do to make a difference in our health to impact our lives and business. Christina and Lauren also talk about aligning your people, clients and business relationships with your vision and goals and why it’s ok to say no.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

When it comes to business, there are a few things we need to prioritise staying on top of and one of them is our health, both mental and physical.
If we can be the best version of ourselves, recognise our weaknesses and utilise our strengths then we can create better businesses too.
The world itself is simple, the only thing that complicates it is human beings.
If you can only do one thing for your wellness and commit fully to it, then focus on sleep as it impacts everything. Sleep is how our body regenerates, including our brain.
There is often a domino effect for health and wellness. As individuals, we have one element or habit that then impacts everything else, for the better. For Lauren, eating well is the thing that keeps her on track and dictates her sticking to other good habits.
Lauren doesn’t believe we should think of life as being balanced, as it gives the illusion that different areas should be equal and this is never the case. Instead, we should think about things as being ‘blended’, that we blend them alongside each other to suit our needs.
If we aren’t living in alignment with our needs then we won’t be living in our flow state, we will feel out of control and overwhelmed.
You need to have someone you can talk to, who is in your corner, whether that is a friend, coach or mentor it is vital.
Be authentic and unmasked whenever you engage, communicate and talk with people. Just be you and stay true to your vision, values and mission and the right people will find you.
You need the bad times and negativity to feel and be positive. The lows have to come with the highs.
There is nothing bad about saying no and turning clients down. You need to recognise when you can’t work well with someone. Think about if you are the right person for the job as well as if they are the right client/partner for you.

BEST MOMENTS

03:28 “I work with people on their health, their psychology to help them become better for themselves and that makes their business better”

03:40 “Whenever there is an obstacle with in business, a human has created it”

07:22 “The way you feel today is dependent on the way you slept, it always starts with sleep”

16:22 “People say listen to your body, it’s quite a hard thing to do and then your head gets in the way”

27:28 “To be in flow is a complete control state, overwhelm is a lack of control”

31:08 “There’s so much pressure to always be Instagram filtered, to live that trailer life that we forget, rewind, that I’m human”

41:15 “Things don’t happen to you they happen for you”

45:10 “I work with as many people as I say no to”

46:43 “It doesn’t take a lot anymore for someone to say they are a coach which is a sad thing because it’s such a powerful place to be in”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

https://www.businessbydesign.co.uk/

How to Exit Well With Cliff Spolander

Mon, 20 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0000

Cliff Spolander, CEO and founder of Business by Design talks with Christina about the importance of having an exit plan in place right from the very beginning

He explains the importance of working on financial, personal and business plans to make sure that you can successfully operate your business with effective strategies in place that mean you are prepared for the future and can exit well, whenever this happens

KEY TAKEAWAYS

It’s a flexible framework that people can use to understand where they are from a business personal and financial perspective
A successful exit is when the personal and financial plans of the business owner are met
Exit planning is a good business strategy and by removing the emotion you can view the company realistically
Its understanding the objective of the seller looking at it through the eyes of the buyer
If you are going to sell what are you going to do next
Most people start with a vision but can find the business all-consuming resulting in the business becoming their identity
For the majority of people, their business becomes their baby but around 50% will end up being forced out
People exit for a variety of reasons but the key is to be prepared and have a plan in place

BEST MOMENTS

‘I’m getting a double buzz of building something helping people in the business world and it's kicking off cash that I can give away’

‘Over time the owner's identity can become completely wrapped up in the business’

‘Exit planning is like insurance you hope you’ll never have to use it in a bad way but should life throw you a curveball you are prepared for it’

RESOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE

https://www.thesmarterexit.com/

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SMEs since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Belonging to a Business Community

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0000

Richard Osborne Founder and CEO of the Business Forum Group talks with Christina about

the emotional rollercoaster of being a business owner and how being part of a community with other business owners with shared experiences makes such a positive difference

In a time where being a business owner is more accessible than it’s ever been, hear about the key elements you need to get in place and why building the right team is so important

KEY TAKEAWAYS

It’s a human need to want to be part of something and belong
There is a shift in drivers and values when you start a business and you can end up feeling isolated
UKBF takes people who all have shared experiences and brings them together
These communities are a massive support for small business owners and their mental health
Small businesses are small teams, they are micro families and you can’t not get close to people
Being a business owner has become more accessible and the pandemic resulted in a huge increase in e-commerce-style businesses
There are more people starting up in business but education doesn’t include any of the necessary aspects of starting a business

BEST MOMENTS

‘You spend more of your time with the people you work with than your spouse and children’

‘There is no education about starting a business’

‘There are more people starting businesses than ever before

ABOUT THE GUEST

Richard Osborne is the founder of UKBF, the UK’s largest and most active community for startups and small business owners. He also founded Business Data Group which, among other things, is the UK’s leading company formations platform.

You might also know Richard as the host of the DRIVE podcast, where he shares small business owners’ stories and what motivates them to keep pushing despite all the odds.

Christina Talk podcast

Richard Osborne is the founder of UKBF, the UK’s largest community for startups, and Business Data Group, developer of the UK’s leading company formations platform. In this episode, we talk about the challenges Richard’s faced, from overcoming a difficult childhood to scaling a community.

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Defining Your Tone of Voice for Your Business: How to Identify Your Brand's Voice

Mon, 20 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -0000

In this episode with Christina, she talks about the importance of having a distinct tone for your business when outsourcing social media and marketing activities, and why working on, and with, that tone throughout all you do is essential in remaining authentic and trustworthy to your audience.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The more conversations you have with the people helping you with marketing, the more they can help you and your brand get your messaging right.
Using something like AI for your copy can be a fast solution but you can also easily lose your tone of voice and with it, your authenticity.
Think about the perception of the words you use with your audience. What words would you want your clients and audience to use to describe you?
What values are important to you and your business, these will provide clues to what your tone of voice should be.
Look at businesses in the same sector as you and what they are doing, there are lessons you can easily learn here, what is working for them? Can it work for you?

BEST MOMENTS

02:11 “It’s so important that you do it in a way that protects your sound, the voice that you have for your market”

03:11 Your tone of voice is how you say what you say, it’s how you communicate your message”

04:27 “Think about how you communicate naturally when you talk with people, listen to how you speak”

07:20 “If we define our tone of voice we can define what we’re not going to sound like as well”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

How to Get PR with Founder of PR with Perks Laura Perkes

Mon, 09 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0000

Laura Perkes is a PR strategist, brand storyteller and the founder of PR with Perks. She joins Christina in this episode to talk about how she supports and teaches entrepreneurs and small business owners, what PR is all about in the modern world and also her most recent book How to Get PR

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Laura has over 18 years of experience in the PR industry and alongside her PR consultancy business, has also started to coach entrepreneurs on how to manage PR themselves.
PR is communicating yourself and your message to your audience, to influence behaviours.
In terms of marketing, PR is a ‘top funnel’ activity as you are taking one message and broadcasting it to as big an audience as possible.
If you are trying to get the attention of a journalist you need to put yourself in their shoes. Mainly you need to stand out to get their attention and do your research, this begins with the email title.
Copy and pasting emails and responses are no longer good enough. You need to personalise it.
Your audience isn’t always where you immediately expect. Especially in the b2b world, not everyone reads industry press.
You need to decide what you want your PR message to be. Then the next thing to do is to test it, testing it via social media is a great first step because it tests your audience too.
When you are new to PR it can feel overwhelming. But you just need to focus on what you want to achieve and take it step by step.
PR visibility isn’t just about how you look, but about your message and whether you are being heard.
Becoming visible isn't about volume. You don't have to post more on social media, you need to instead be intentional and purposeful with what you post; does it align with your message?

BEST MOMENTS

01:20 “There’s so much stuff that gets in the way of entrepreneurs knowing where to start, how to start [in PR]”

02:54 “Technically everything we’re doing is PR”

05:07 “For me, PR is getting as many people into your business as possible the role of PR is done, we are then going to pass you over to marketing”

12:35 “Personalisation always works from a marketing perspective”

24:16 “Get your message down first and the best way to test your message is on social media”

40:28 "Everyone is born with a personal brand, you choose whether to leverage it or not"

42:30 "Be intentional, why are you there? What are you sharing [on social media]"

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Talking Trading and Investing with Ben Knight of Trades Tribe

Sun, 25 Sep 2022 23:00:00 -0000

Ben Knight is the founder and head trader at Trades Tribe. The Trades Tribe was created from Ben’s belief that trading should be so easy that anyone can do it. Listen in to learn all about all things trading and become more educated about investing for your financial future!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

When Ben started trading, he set out to look for a strategy that was quick, simple and collaborative. This is how Trades Tribe was born.
Ben avoids day trading as that’s one of the most popular strategies, he instead focuses on what he called ‘medium investing’.
Christina’s mentality around investing was that she could instead spend that money on something like horse racing. She feels like she might as well do trading and have a chance of getting a return.
Ben advises that investing and trading should never feel like a gamble and it isn’t a gamble if you have the right strategy.
Money mindset affects how a person views trading and investing. You have to bear this in mind when working with them, to know what risks they will take but also how you explain and rationalise things to them.
Time, risk and lack of self-belief are the three main deciding factors that are why people prevent or stop themselves from trading.
Risk is such a large deciding factor on whether people invest because of two main reasons, one because of the number of horror stories out there and second because people don’t have the right education around trading and strategy.
Anyone can trade successfully in just 5 minutes a day using Ben’s Strategy.
Tap into the power of compounding, by reinvesting most of what you make
Never invest more than you can afford, no matter how tempting it may be.

BEST MOMENTS

03:07 “I invested a lot in my education”

09:30 “How the hell do you know what to buy, what not to buy”

12:17 “There should be no doubt in your mind when you know you’re going to exit”

17:25 “Risk is one of the biggest reasons [people don’t invest] because there are so many horror stories out there”

23:02 “It’s taking something that’s just so complex and just bringing it down”

39:47 “A good company to invest in will be dependent on what strategy you’re using”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Marketing Mindset

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 00:00:00 -0000

What is a marketing mindset and what impact does it have on your results? Join Christina in this episode to find out the answers to these questions and why it’s important to determine your clients' mindset before working with them.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

One of the key things behind your marketing, particularly in social media, comes down to mindset.
Social media marketing won’t bring you overnight success unless you are willing to put all the work in that’s needed including time and money.
Having realistic expectations and self-belief allows you to become more open-minded about what can be done to help you achieve the results you want.

BEST MOMENTS

02:52 “When you really want results there are certain things you’re going to have to do”

04:13 “ If we don’t fix this mindset before we begin then we’re going to be disappointed”

07:10 “We know this stuff works over a long period, not over a few weeks”

08:30 “Our mindset is this is going to work so we’re open to all the ways it’s going to work, open to all the results we are going to see”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Innovative Ways to Build Your Email List!

Sun, 11 Sep 2022 23:00:00 -0000

Do you need to build your email list, have you run out of ideas on what you can do? Join Christina in this episode where she shares over 20 innovative ways to build your email list!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Sign up form on your home page and contact us page
Make sure you have a call to action in your emails
Allow people to sign up for content that they will only receive via email
Create personalised sign-up options, and allow people to pick and choose what they want to be emailed about
Put together a mini-course delivered by email
Create a competition with an email opt-in
Previews and teasers, incentivise people to sign-up to find out/hear more about something
Collaborate with a business that serves the same audience as you and collect email addresses from their audiences too
Reactivate ‘stale data’
Create quizzes that give personalised reports

BEST MOMENTS

05:19 “Now you’ve got their data, you can market to them”

13:07 “Who do you know who serves the same audience as you, the same ideal clients, maybe you could do guest blogs for each other”

13:46 “Think about collecting your email addresses when you’re offline, things like old-school networking, giving your details seems like second nature but asking for theirs does not”

23:19 “Make sure all your systems are integrated correctly, so everything is tidy”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

How to Live and Deal with Depression – Speaking with ‘The Happiness Doctor’ Dr Ikhenemoh

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 00:00:00 -0000

Dr Ikhenemoh is a GP, mental health specialist and author. He joins Christina in this episode to talk about how he found his passion for psychological health, what it means to have a mission in life and how you can help yourself, or others when they are struggling with their mental health.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Starting medical school in Nigeria, Dr Ikhenemoh then spent some time in Russia, he left Russia for Holland where he continued his medical studies.
¼ people have an episode of depression in their life.
Asking the right questions, in the right way for the individual, is essential when talking with an individual with mental health issues.
Dr Ikhenemoh believes the word depression is often misused. All humans feel down sometimes, this is normal, but it doesn’t mean you are depressed.
In order to diagnose clinical depression, there are two questions you can ask a patient, if they have feelings of hopelessness combined with a lack of interest in life and they have been feeling this way for two weeks.
There are conditions that can mimic depression, such as thyroid gland dysfunction, it’s important to be able to distinguish when something physical is affecting a patient's mood.
One of the upsides of the pandemic is that it lead to people talking more about mental health. It has become less stigmatised and more recognisable.
Depression doesn’t define the individual, Dr Ikhenemoh doesn’t believe anyone was born to be depressed, he believes you have to find yourself outside of depression.
You have to be able to recognise your own symptoms of low mood and/or depression. You can then start to deal with them, preventing spiralling.

BEST MOMENTS

08:05 “We are all human beings; we can’t be happy all of the time”

18:08 “Depression is not you, it’s a state, it’s a condition, it’s not you”

22:30 “No human being should suffer depression”

33:50 “Every second of every day, I have the power, I have the control, I have the responsibility to choose my state”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Mindset, Covid and Sales – Speaking with Entrepreneur, Leader and Sales Extraordinaire Simon Leslie

Sun, 28 Aug 2022 23:00:00 -0000

Christina is joined by Simon Leslie, an author and entrepreneur who founded and built one of the biggest Travel Media Companies, Ink Global.

They discuss mindset, the severe impact of covid on businesses, how to rebuild after a major setback and more!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Innovation was critical to Simon’s business as both travel and media have continually and vastly changed over the past few decades.
In tough times, you need to be united as a team. You need to recognise opportunities and stay focused on what you can do in difficult circumstances.
The easiest way to build rapport is to ask questions and remain interested.
It may take time for your message to hit a customer. It’s about building trust and loyalty over time.
We are all given opportunities every day, we just have to be able to recognise them and be in the right places, with the right people.
People are focusing on the wrong benefits when looking at employment, what they should be looking at is whether the company is going to look at you as a human and invest in you as so.
The pandemic has accelerated so many aspects of businesses, especially in marketing and advertising.
In over 30 years of experience, nothing has ever stopped Simon from doing business, until covid. He recognised it wasn’t his fault but it was his responsibility to deal with.
If you find yourself asking multiple people a question, it usually means you’re scared to make a decision and take action.

BEST MOMENTS

09:58 “The only thing the person in front of you cares about is are you a good listener, do you understand what my problem is and can you help me fix it”

11:20 “At the end of the day if you want that conversion to happen you have to have a human involved”

18:34 “Every day we are presented with opportunities”

30:20 “Culture is everything, stop selling jobs, no one is selling jobs”

45:20 “If you ask yourself poor questions, you’ll get a poor answer”

51:38 “You’ve got to get rid of the negativity in your life and find people who have done what you want to do”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE GUEST

Simon Leslie

https://www.luckyleslie.com

Over the last few decades, Simon has learned one or two things about surviving – and thriving – in global business. His company, Ink, has helped some of the world’s largest brands advertise across hundreds of airlines and airports worldwide, in media that’s been translated into over 17 languages. As a leader, and a salesperson, Simon has weathered a few storms, and overcome some massive hurdles. The thing that kept Simon going throughout all the years has been belief. Belief in himself, his product, and his team.

Books:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/There-Sales-selling-market-condition/dp/1916105106/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=no+f+in+sales&qid=1566911923&s=gateway&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Equanimity-Diary-Crisis-Simon-Leslie/dp/1916105130

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Quick Wins to Build Your Instagram Audience

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 00:00:00 -0000

A short but informative solo episode with Christina. Christina talks about how you can build your Instagram audience, the mistakes you might be making and some quick wins to help you in your audience-building journey!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Think about what you want to get out of your Instagram before then focusing on your content.
Look at the past 10 posts and stories you have been using, are you being authentically you? Can you see the people behind the brand?
Engagement is key, it’s not just about likes but people meaningfully engaging with your content. Can you ask questions or deliver content that invites people to comment and respond to your posts?
Think about where your audience engages with you already, is it on your stories, your grid or are reels going to build your audience faster for you?

BEST MOMENTS

00:45 - “Instagram requires a lot of effort and sometimes it feels like a lot of effort for not a lot of reward”

03:08 “We just have to be persistent…earn your audience, make it genuine”

05:55 “I know the things the people tend to engage with more”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

https://www.novaassociates.co.uk/radio-shows\

What is Emotional Fitness and How Can You Develop It? Christina as a guest on The Women’s Power Hour with Clare Davis

Mon, 04 Jul 2022 00:00:00 -0000

Christina joins Clare Davis on the Women’s Power Hour. Clare is an expert on emotional fitness and she talks to Christina about all the things she has done and continues to do to work on her emotional fitness. Christina also opens up about the trauma and difficulties she had to face before developing her own emotional fitness and how you can work on yours too!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Success is about how you feel, it doesn’t have to be something big it’s actually all about a feeling and this is what Christina is addicted to!
Emotional fitness to Christina means awareness. Being self-aware of your emotional state, knowing when to take a break and having the strength to recognise what you need and advocate for those needs.
Being able to say ‘I love you’ to yourself is an incredibly hard thing to do. But when you can do it, it’s so powerful.
At age 21 Christina was doing really well, But just a few months later she had lost everything. This happened because her emotional fitness didn’t exist.
By her late 20s Christina had resigned herself to things just happening to her, she almost had a victim mindset. But in 2018 she decided enough was enough and she was going to change the course of her and her families life.
Realising that her life wasn’t supposed to be how it was, made her recognise that she had control over what happened next.
Build yourself a support network that can recognise when you are struggling and help you with the tools to getting back to being emotionally fit!

BEST MOMENTS

11:17 - “If you don’t work on it, it will trap you”

13:13 “You kid yourself that you’re such a failure that you have to do the next thing”

20:05 “That message changed, the thought in my head is my life isn’t supposed to be like this”

20:58 “Sometimes you get out of bed and you don’t feel right, that just being human, that’s normal”

29:02 “When your emotional wellness drops, so does the self-love, so does your self-worth”

31:45 "We all deserve to put ourselves first, if we can love ourselves we can love other people"

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Why Teamwork, Strategy and Mindset are Essential to Success - with ex-Pro Rugby Player George Chuter

Sun, 26 Jun 2022 23:00:00 -0000

After meeting at a charity event Christina has invited retired professional rugby player and Public Speaker George Chuter onto the podcast. It was during their conversation at the event Christina realised George had a wealth of wisdom, knowledge and skills relevant to business.

Christina and George talk about George's career, the importance of strategy and instincts in decision making as well as why relationships and teamwork are essential to success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

George never anticipated being a professional rugby player when he first started playing. The sport only became professionalised during his first year of University in 1995. George discusses with Christina how he has relied on his intuition during career decisions and following what makes him happy rather than strategy and planning.

George outlines the transferable skills which being a profession sportsman has given him. These include the ability to connect with lots of different kinds of people, self motivation, discipline, confidence and learning to talk to people.

What are the secrets to good rapport when interviewing people during public speaking? Since he has started doing interviews George has tried to create an open conversation. Know your subject but then just talk and try to get behind the usual stories. This creates a more engaging talk rather than hearing the same stories.

The best advice George can give is just to talk to people. Step outside your comfort zone and make relationships with people.

Taking the opportunity to speak with lots of different people brings lots of rewards, including making you a more rounded human and opening networking opportunities.

Hard work is key. George explains how he wasn't the most gifted athlete but he worked hard to maximise himself to compete at the level he was at.

In sport, like in business, reflection is key to success. Analysing what went well, what didn't and how to improve.

Resilience and stubbornness to succeed is essential. Better athletes than George fell away while he rose to professional level.

A great team has honest and open communication. George suggests the best coaches are able to hand over control to the team, this builds resilience and learning. Christina agrees and notes how her team will tell her when her ideas are bad as well as good which allows business to grow. She trusts her team to perform without her.

BEST MOMENTS

15:40 - “The sort of things that are almost natural to sports people in general, but in my experience rugby in particular, are [also] priceless commodities when you get into a world of business”

33:45 - “If you want to be successful for a sustainable period of time you've got to work on your weaknesses”

34:32 - “Having a growth mindset, having the mindset of an elite performer because actually we’re not focusing on the fact we didn't succeed in that moment, we’re focusing on what we do to make sure we do it next time”

38.21 “I wasn't the best player by any means, certainly not the best athlete or anything like that but I had a bit of resolve and a bit of grit about me. Better players than me fell by the wayside and I ended up making a career out of it”

43:17 “Good teams contain good people, simple as that”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Christina’s 10-Point Checklist for YOUR Website!

Sun, 19 Jun 2022 23:00:00 -0000

2022 has been quite hectic for Christina but exciting things are starting to happen now so Christina wanted to come back with a renewed focus to share her knowledge and expertise as well as what she has learnt from the great people she is surrounding herself with at the moment.

When people first start in business, their website isn’t always their first focus. They can mistakenly think it’s something that will be expensive and time-consuming to organise but this doesn’t have to be the case at all. Listen in to this episode to hear Christina's 10-Point Marketing Website Checklist she created to help score her clients websites.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

When businesses are first starting, they just need something that will help them be found on google, will help reassure potential clients and somewhere that can generate leads. You can just think of it as a shop front but even then you should be making it work to help generate something for your business.

A call to action is one of the first things Christina looks for on a website. The website should take her on a journey, with every click she is building trust with that brand. The call to action that is created should be the most logical next step which also engages them.

When reading the website content, the individual needs to feel like they are being spoken to personally. Think about the language you are using on your website and how you can make the user feel like it’s aimed directly at them as an individual.

News or blog pages are a great way to ensure people keep coming back to your website. Ideally you want to try and get people to come back every two weeks. This is a good regularity to have, it’s enough for google to pick it up without overwhelming your potential customers. It’s also a good tool to use and share on social media too.

Make sure there is a lead generation capture on the website, for example a blueprint, guide, poster, quiz or even filling in a form to receive a freebie.

If you can get data from potential customers, try and mix up the communication. For example, sometimes send an email, sometimes send a text message.

People love sharing. On your high value pieces of content, include a share button!

Always include your social media accounts on your website banner.

Make sure your website is mobile friendly, always check it.

Have a visible phone number, make it easy to find and also make it ‘click to call’. If people find it difficult to contact you then it creates a negative start to their interaction with you.

Include testimonials on your site. You don’t need a specific section or page necessarily, you can simply scatter them through the web pages.

One of the best ways to communicate your brand on your website is simply through images. The more visual your site is the easier it is for people to engage with the content that is there.

Consider the variety of media you use on your website, can you add audio or video to make it more interesting and engaging to your potential clients?

BEST MOMENTS

01:15 - “I’ve got some really cool guests lined up!”

05:27 “When I land on a website I’m looking for there to be a call to action”

08:15 “How can you make the content, how can you make the text on your website feel more personal?”

21:34 “If you can have one page where they are all there [testimonials], they probably won’t look at that page much but when you’re pitching, it can be really powerful”

22:49 “We need to use visuals to communicate the message of the brand”

25:29 “How can you make your website more interesting through the use of imagery, video, audio”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

The Power of Passive Income

Sun, 03 Apr 2022 23:00:00 -0000

Lisa Johnson is a successful business owner and coach. Lisa grew up in poverty and was bullied her entire life. She worked incredibly hard to build a career in an investment bank but it was when she had her twins that her perspective changed; this was the start of her journey to building a passive income.

Listen in to hear all about her story and what it takes to run a successful business, how you can turn that into passive income and the personal development industry. Christina and Lisa also talk about how adversity fuels success, what needs to change in the business world and the importance of patience.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Everyone in Lisa’s family had lived in poverty, she made a conscious decision to change the pattern. She could only do this by taking risks and making changes. She didn’t want the poverty to continue on to her boys so this is what she did.
After turning her own business round into a success, Lisa found people kept asking her for advice so she decided to create a consultancy firm and teach people what she did!
Unfortunately, although the business was successful, it was burning her out and she was working far too much. So, she began to consider different business models and then learnt about passive income.
Having a tough life where you have faced adversity prepared Lisa for business. It meant she always found a way to do things and to make things happen. She continues to use adversity to fuel her fire in everything she does. It’s ok to use the negative things that happened to you to push you forward.
You don’t learn from one person. You learn from many. Lisa understand that’s the strength in her business comes from her entire team not her alone.
Not everyone’s measure of success is about money. It’s easy to lose sight of this.
Patience in business is essential. It’s incredibly unusual to have success overnight, it takes time and hard work to make a successful business.
Hurt people hurt people and Lisa recognises this. She was passionate about doing something to help both those who are bullied as well as the bullies themselves so she became an ambassador for Bullies Out.
People think women can and want to do it all. But that isn’t the case for so many, women don’t want to do everything, they want help.

BEST MOMENTS

02:20 - “I realised that I was going to have to leave that job that I had worked so hard to get”

05:10 “Business isn’t complicated, but people really make business complicated”

11:07 “There is always another way, there is a million ways to find a million pounds you just have to choose one”

28:52 “It’s definitely not passive in the first year, you’ll work harder than you ever have in your entire life”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE GUEST

Lisa Johnson

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

How to Grow Self-Belief and Master Your Life: Speaking with Nick James of Expert Empires

Mon, 21 Mar 2022 00:00:00 -0000

Join Christina in this episode as she speaks to entrepreneur, coach, speaker and fellow podcaster Nick James! Nick has a growing business empire and contributes a lot to the world of entrepreneurship in the UK, through various means including his podcast Empire Builders and his own event company Expert Empires.

Christina and Nick talk about entrepreneurship, Nicks own story and the importance and value of self-development for everyone.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Nick was exposed to personal development and self-improvement from a young age. Nick’s mum was actually a trainer for Tony Robbins so it was no surprise that at just 12 years old he had a natural interest in events, coaching and self-development and by his late teens he was working for Tony Robbins himself!
Expert Empires is Nick’s event company. It is the culmination of over 27 years of being in and around the world of personal development. It’s Nick’s version of giving people the best experience in self-development and building their business.
When you surround yourself with the right people, those who have a growth mindset, the lessons you learn are huge.
The best way to introduce your children to ‘alternative education’ is to be the best example of that education and what it can do.
Education, information and self-development is more accessible than it has ever been. You can simply go onto Spotify or Apple Podcasts and find millions of hours of education for free. The success of Podcasting has changed the landscape of self-development and the information world.
Christina compares events like Empire Builders to a retreat. It gives you time to stop the everyday, refocus and realign yourself to work on your own development, business development or both. You can take the time to work on your life rather than in your life.
Everyone has at some level, limited beliefs. Whether that is what they can achieve in work, at home or even financially. You get what you believe you are capable at that point in time so it is so important to increase and grow your belief in yourself throughout life.

The vision comes first the ‘how’ comes later. Make a decision and create the space for it to happen. Vision is made up of purpose, mission, and values

BEST MOMENTS

04:33 - “I learnt about running amazing events from Tony Robbins all through my teens and early twenties”

13:09 - “You can get access to this information for free, so easily now. This is why I believe self-development is becoming more mainstream because it’s becoming more accessible through podcasts and social media”

33:36 – “I do believe that everyone has, at some level, limited thinking”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE GUEST

Nick James

Nick dropped out of university at the age of 21 and failed spectacularly with his first coaching business, which forced him to take a £16k/yr telesales job.

Within 12 months he was the top performer and left to start his second business at 24. This time he discovered a winning formula and before long had a multi-six-figure company.

He then made a huge mistake which nearly put him out of business and cost him £50,000 in personal cash!

Fortunately, Nick kept it afloat, turned it around, and sold that business 2 years later in a seven-figure deal.

He then co-founded a multi-million-pound marketing company, which he exited in 2015, and created Expert Empires.

Today, Expert Empires is known as the UK's number one business event for Experts, with world-renowned celebrity speakers like Gary Vaynerchuk, Grant Cardone, Chalene Johnson, David Goggins, and Lewis Howes gracing the stage.

Nick also specialises in helping Coaches, Consultants, Speakers, Trainers, and Authors take their businesses from zero to six figures and beyond through his Expert Empires Mastermind programme.

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

The Impact of Social Media, Money and Our Senses on the Human Experience: Speaking with Dillon Dhanecha

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0000

Dillon is a philanthropist, economist, consultant and most of all, a humanist. He has so much love and understanding for the world and this alongside his passion for everything in life is why Christina was drawn to his message. In this episode Christina and Dillon talk about media, how the tech world is changing, the impact this is having, and will continue to have on our evolution as well as mindset and how we can all have a net positive impact on the world around us.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We all learn from our parents, they and the trauma they have had often unwittingly gets passed down to us. Both Christina and Dillon are the children of refugees and this has shaped them in more ways than one.
We all exist on a dual field of existence. Both the material and the metaphysical. Dillon believes having a true understanding of both is important for true and lasting success.
When Dillon thinks of how humans should move forward, he thinks about evolution and how moving past the 5 senses is necessary to move the entire human species forward. Right now, we are stuck in living to own, living in our senses, in fear and in insufficiency.
Facebooks shares and followers have dropped, could this be the beginning of the end for big tech? Dillon supports TikTok because it has created a true opposition to the giants such as Facebook. He welcomes change and the 'alternative'.
It’s important to think about how world events, rhetoric and the media are linked. Are we playing into the hands of those who want to remain in control? Can certain things be linked and if they are, think about why?
We are living in a shareable world. We need to protect ourselves in this sense but also, if you have something positive to share then you have a responsibility to do so.
It’s not a numbers game, it’s a passion game. The more passionate you are about what you are talking about the more likely people are to listen to you.
We can all have a net positive impact on the world by elevating our individual levels of consciousness. Moving away from compulsive actions, thoughts and behaviours and instead, monitoring how we are thinking and how and why we are behaving as we do.

BEST MOMENTS

04:53: “If I was to label myself as anything, I think it would be a humanist”

15:14 “The highest good of all is defined as moving the species forward, on the evolutionary spectrum”

19:21 “TikTok might be the thing that has broken the mould”

28:04 “It’s like being on the cusp of a revolution”

39:46 “We live in a world where we expect things to happen quickly, not we live in a world where we expect the success we desire if we continue modifying the action”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

How Strategic Partnerships Can Strengthen Your Business and Allow you to Offer More to Your Customers!

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0000

Strategic partnerships in business is something Christina has been focusing on recently. When you are growing your business the options to increase growth can be overwhelming but what often gets overlooked is the value of strategic partnerships. Listen in to this episode to hear why!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

There are different types of strategic partnerships but essentially, it’s having an agreement with another to share resources and working together to reach your own goals.
Having an alliance with a similar business to you can strengthen your offering to customers, deliver skill sharing and/or help you achieve your end goals quicker and more efficiently.
As a small business, aligning and partnering up with other small businesses means you can give a better offering to your customers together. Especially if your market is quite niche.
Strategic partnerships can allow you to be more innovative and bring unique prospects to your customers.
To ensure you have a successful partnership you need to establish good communication, that everyone is getting what they want out of it, your values are aligned and being upfront about what you expect to happen.

BEST MOMENTS

04:23: “That allows you to create things that are a bit more niche in some sectors”

08:36 “Innovation would happen quicker and it would probably be better in the long run”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

The Importance of Goal Setting in Your Business and in Life with Doug Bennett

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0000

Christina talks to financial advisor, author and podcaster Doug Bennett. They have a conversation about the importance of goal setting, how you can make it an everyday part of your life. They also discuss managing clients, the value of joining peer groups and how you can benefit from a mentor.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Doug was impacted by the global financial crisis and almost went bankrupt. This made him create some goals, leading him to him selling his successful business several years later, writing the book Goals Do Come True and creating a podcast!
Doug’s first book was geared towards other financial advisors but he went on to rewrite it towards Entrepreneurs, so they could learn about everything they need to know to have successful journey: Think Simple, Win Big: How to Build the Business of Your Dreams With A few Simple Goals.
If you can structure your goals in the right way then you can transform your life. This is what Doug is so passionate about, helping others actualise the lives they want and achieve their goals.
Your subconscious plays a big part in making your goals a reality, this starts by writing them down. A simple task to start with this is to write 10 goals down every day for around 10 days, without referring to earlier entries. You will then end up with your very important goals left at the end of the 10 days, usually narrowed down to 2 or 3.
When being an entrepreneur and running your own business, alongside goal setting, mindset is essential in creating and maintain your success. Especially in difficult or turbulent times such as during a recession. Finding a peer group can really help with this, being around likeminded people who can also offer you support.
It’s important to recognise if working with a client is going to be the wrong decision. You need to learn to say no in a professional but honest way.

BEST MOMENTS

05:15: “It’s such a bizarre journey that I have been on that has taken me to where I am today but it is all about goal setting, I think at the start of that I didn’t realise I was setting goals”

16:45 “Do I really want to expose myself and my vulnerabilities in this way?”

19:38 “For anything you do there will be a group of people, some of them behind where you are and some of them ahead of you, so find them, because you need someone likeminded”

26:03 “Go where you’re celebrated not where you’re tolerated”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE GUEST

Doug Bennett

Books:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Goals-DO-Come-True-Financial-ebook/dp/B08NK89FNR

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/dp/B09MYXXS88

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/goals-do-come-true-with-doug-bennett/id1530802197

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

The Three Keys to Using Social Media as a Launch Tool

Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:00:00 -0000

If you are in the marketing or business space you probably have something that needs to be launched! In this episode, Christina talks about how and why social media is the perfect tool to help you launch a whole host of things from a new business to a new product. She also talks about the three key elements you must focus on to enable a successful launch.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Start to understand the process of launching. The first thing you need to do is think about your audience. Consider who your audience is and what things they would be interested in other than what you are launching. You can then use this to pivot your launch and ‘seed your content’.
If you don’t have a lot of awareness around your product/service or much of an audience yet you may need to allocate a budget for ads.
Having a pre-launch plan can make all the difference in whether your launch is successful. When creating your campaign, include a pre-launch plan and incorporate things such as hints and teasers. Your aim needs to be to build anticipation, excitement and get buy in.
Focus on highlighting to your audience how you are going to help them, make it clear how your service and/or product will help their lives.
Make sure you use the right social media channel for your product/service and ensure you integrate it with other forms of marketing such as email campaigns.

BEST MOMENTS

02:52 “The last thing we want to do is go out there and shout about it to an empty room”

06:29 “They’re so caught up on perfection they don’t realise they need to ensure there is some kind of pre-launch plan in place”

15:57 “You want to make it really clear how you can help people, we don’t want to be aggressive, we don’t want to be blatant we don’t want to be tacky and we definitely don’t want to lose momentum”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

The Importance of Personal Development - Speaking with Construction Industry Expert Richard Stone

Tue, 18 Jan 2022 00:00:00 -0000

Christina and Richard Stone met at a business mastermind and after learning how many things Richard had a passion for in his life, Christina wanted to bring him onto the podcast. Richard owns and runs a building contract business, is a property developer, podcaster, public speaker, a mentor and a coach! They have a great conversation all about personal development, the need for diversity in the construction industry as well as the power of seeking therapy.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Richard spends 30+ hours a week on personal development. It’s something he is passionate about but came across quite late in his career after being headhunted. He now believes that everyone always has more to learn and preaches the importance of mindset.
Counselling is still not commonly talked about and discussed in the UK. Yet it can, and does, truly transform peoples lives. Richard has mentored and coached people that have gone on to run large and very successful companies yet his proudest moment was when he put up a social media video about why he had started seeing a counsellor. He helped many people that day reach out and do the same.
People have a need to fit in and be accepted but a lot of this is based around our own personal trauma and needs. If we worry about what others think of us then we won’t ask the difficult questions or reach out of our comfort zones to achieve the best we’re capable of.
You don’t need to know about building work to run a construction company, Richard believes what is actually important is that you know about people.
There is a real lack of diversity in the construction industry, this can't continue. Richard is trying to change this by going into schools and educating young people about the construction industry as well as helping them recognise and realise their potential.
Recruitment at the moment is a candidate driven market. There are a lot of skill shortages in many industries, especially construction. It is increasingly difficult for employers to get the quality candidates they desperately need.

BEST MOMENTS

10:59 “The funny thing is I can actually feel in my body right now the feelings I felt on that day”

14:01 “Counselling in the UK is that thing that people don’t want to talk about…yet it’s one of the most powerful exercises”

26:28 “Working with young people at that level, they then start to understand that they are worth something, that people will invest time in them and you can then start to have conversations with them about what their potential is”

36:10 “I would rather have a harsh truth any day of the week”

48:49 “Go back to the very beginning and ask yourself who you really are”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/the-4ps-of-personal-branding/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Continuing to Make Things Happen in 2022; Christina's Reflection on 2021 and the Lessons She Will be Taking into 2022

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 00:30:00 -0000

Christina spent some time between Christmas and New Year reflecting on the strategies and goals she had made for 2021. It made her realise why she hadn’t achieved some things but also what had produced and generated her successes of the year too. Listen into this episode to gain insight into what 2021 meant for Christina and the lessons she will be taking into 2022.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The reality is, that Christina didn’t achieve everything she wanted to, but by doing this she allowed herself to put a ‘big tick’ against one of her main aims for the year; to not give herself a hard time.
2021 was again a very turbulent year, so much has been out of everyone’s control and Christina hasn’t been immune to this. Christina was able to pick herself up after some challenges but she has realised she didn’t follow one of her own pieces of advice, which is to realign yourself.
Despite the many challenges in 2021 Christina achieved a lot, including winning entrepreneur of the year. This is in part, due to years of hard work and skills she has built into herself and her systems that are now subconscious. But it is also down to the fact she has stopped giving herself a hard time for what she hasn’t achieved and focused on her accomplishments too.
Christina has 100% faith in herself and her team and she will be taking this faith and positivity into 2022.

BEST MOMENTS

01:24 “One of my skills is making things happen”

04:51 “If we spend our energy giving ourselves a hard time for the stuff we didn’t do, sometimes we lose focus on the stuff that we did do”

08:25 “I’m not afraid to ask for help, I have a team around me that I have 100% faith in”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/the-4ps-of-personal-branding/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Your Journey Starts with You: Overcoming Perfectionism, Discovering the Power of Mindset and Becoming Self-Aware - Speaking with Geraldine McGrath

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:30:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina talks to mentor, network marketer and mother of four Geraldine McGrath from Northern Ireland. Geraldine talks about her journey of personal development where she managed to overcome childhood pain, trauma, perfectionism and more by becoming self-aware. Listen in to this episode to hear how Geraldine achieved this and why she believes you have to make yourself uncomfortable and often endure painful truths to become your most authentic and best self.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Geraldine was working in a family business of day nurseries but after baby number four she felt stuck and wanted to see what else was out there. She began working in network marketing and this was the start of her mindset change and self awareness journey.
As a young child, due to illness, moving and then bullying, Geraldine realised her voice had been silenced. She had to do a lot of self-development and work to turn this around. She has been able to create her own self-awareness journey and harnessed something powerful within herself.
If you are feeling stuck, you need to take some action, become uncomfortable and make change happen for you and your life, then the rest of the journey can begin.
The world has changed a lot for families and women in the past couple of generations yet many of us harbour more traditional values, especially when it comes to working and motherhood, which can pile on the pressure. It can be hard to not take other peoples opinions on board and make decisions based on things that don’t serve us.
Geraldine believes you should make decisions based on your gut, then your heart and then your head, so tuning into your gut and what it is telling you is key to living a fulfilling and authentic life.
Procrastination is almost like a habit. By becoming self aware of her procrastination and how she created a narrative for it, Geraldine was able to change the trajectory of her life.
Once we are grateful for what we already have in our lives, we are then ready to allow more things in and can create a bigger and larger life.
Your inner voice is your daily narrative, what is it saying? If it’s negative, try and flip it. Once you are aware of your inner voice and what it is saying you can start taking steps to make it say what serves you.
Your journey starts with you. Everyone’s journey to self-awareness is different and when and what that looks like will be unique but what is the same is the power of the self.

BEST MOMENTS

03:15 “I was exposed to mindset, I had never heard of mindset, I have never heard of gratitude, it was all new to me”

05:30 “Sometimes you have to make yourself really uncomfortable to move yourself forward”

10:43 “You have to really step outside that comfort zone and make change”

23:10 “Self-awareness is one of the most beautiful gifts that we have in life”

37:28 “When we speak about perfectionism we are talking about low confidence, low self-esteem, people pleasing”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/the-4ps-of-personal-branding/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Selling as a Woman: Intrapreneurship, Growth Mindset and Leadership - Speaking with ‘The Entrepreneurs Godmother’ Alison Edgar MBE

Mon, 13 Dec 2021 00:00:00 -0000

An inspirational and motivational episode where Christina interviews her second MBE guest, Alison Edgar. Alison is a sales and marketing powerhouse, she is also a speaker, mentor and bestselling author.

Known to many as the ‘entrepreneurs Godmother’ Alison has worked with many start-ups including Dragons Den winners, right up to large corporate companies such as SKY and EasyJet. Alison brings her breadth and depth of knowledge to this episode and talks to Christina about women in business, her unique perspectives on sales and marketing and delves into the importance of mindset and ethics.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Alison is an author of two bestselling books. Her first book, The Secret to Success, was based on the top performers and sellers of organisations, which most of the time was and still is women. Only 5% of all books on sales are written by women, even though at least 50% of sales are by women. Women sell differently, they have a unique way of building relationships and emotional intelligence and this is reflected in their performance.
Standing out is great but you want to stand out for the right reasons. Alison believes that this can often be the difference between men and women. She doesn’t care about everyone knowing who she is, she is proud to be known for the right things: practical sales, positivity, authenticity and following through.
Alison and Christina are both passionate about the concept of intrapreneurship: When you are in a job, working for someone, but you work and believe in the same way as an entrepreneur.
A growth mindset is something Alison has always had, it is also something entrepreneurs, top performers and intrapreneurship have in common. It has made her hard to manage in the past simply because she always wanted to improve things and make change. Now, she is passionate about focusing on changing one person into an entrepreneur at a time: this is how you make significant changes in culture.
People overcomplicate business. Sell more stuff, spend less money and make a profit. That’s the formula for success.
Sales isn’t just a numbers game. Having time management, good data, great questions and effective processes can make an immeasurable difference to success.
Sales and marketing are two separate entities. They need to be treated as such.
Alison recognises that sometimes she will be asked to be on a panel to ‘tick a box’. But she doesn’t care, she just uses it to her advantage and as an opportunity and knows by the end she will have proved herself. Women have to go up there to show women that we can do just as much and more than men: when we get the opportunity, we have to take it to inspire others to do the same.

BEST MOMENTS

01:52 “Every day, all I do is bring my best and give my a-game”

05:22 “It’s great to be a woman in a space that’s not overfilled with women, so first of all that’s a great differentiator”

14:59 “One of the key factors top performers and entrepreneurs have is a growth mindset”

19:49 “Females tend to make stronger leaders because they can get people to work with them, they can get people to be part of that journey”

38:07 “There are not enough female speakers out there, there are not enough diverse speakers out there”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/the-4ps-of-personal-branding/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Don't Over Tech It! Christina Talks Marketing Tools, Technology and Keeping Things Simple and Relevant

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 00:00:00 -0000

Christina has been working in a marketing role with recruiters with businesses since 2013, and she has found time and time again that clients, before coming to her, have been ripped off. In this episode, Christina talks about the misconceptions around cost, automation and technology in marketing services and what can be done to challenge this.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Part of the problem is people often have the incorrect preconception that the cost of getting marketing or web design is a lot. So then when they are quoted high amounts they don’t question it.
The more tech you have when it comes to marketing activity, the more things you have to consider and think about.
If you ask for help, people will always want to help you. However, be mindful of where you get your advice from. Go to people you deem to be an expert on the subject you are asking for help about.

BEST MOMENTS

01:01 “It’s heart-breaking because they hadn’t come to me first, they went to someone locally instead of looking for someone in their niche”
02:52 “Don’t over-tech it”
05:55 “We should only be investing in it when we actually need it”
07:06 “Be really mindful of actually what advice you are taking on board where, everyone’s got a motive”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/the-4ps-of-personal-branding/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

We All Have the Ability to Design the Life We Want: Financial Freedom, Mindset and Entrepreneurship - Speaking with Jessen James

Mon, 29 Nov 2021 00:00:00 -0000

“If you’re not growing your dying, you’ve got life in you, you’ve got soul in you, who says you can’t take over the world”

Jessen James gained financial freedom at just 31 and was a millionaire 2 years later. Listen in to this episode to hear Jessen and Christina delve deep into Jessen’s journey to entrepreneurship, why he has such passion for people and how we all have the capability to create impact and change in not just our own life, but each other’s too.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Jessen grew up in East London, his parents always worked hard and provided the best they could but they were far from being rich. Jess felt like he stuck out as he was not only bullied for having hand me downs and cheaper clothes but also because of the colour of his skin. Sadly at the time he resented his parents, he realises now that they were doing the best they could but it sparked that desire of wanting more and being resourceful. He started his first business at 11 years old.
A big turning point in Jess’ entrepreneurial career was when he was 15. He walked into a phone shop and convinced the owner to let him sell accessories at school to his peers. They sold extremely but he only got a small cut, at the time he was unhappy but he understands now that the shop owner was taking the risk and creating the supply.
Jess went on to study at university but it wasn’t for him. He got a job in a locked psychiatric hospital. At just 19 this was incredibly difficult but it made him discover how much compassion and love he had for other human beings. He wanted to become a psychiatric nurse and so that’s what he did and qualified in 2004 and worked in the private sector, going onto becoming the youngest ward manager in the UK.
As a ward manager in the private sector he was given sales targets. He made a lot of money but in the recession, was let go which he found challenging at the time but now realises it was meant to happen. It made him want to work for himself so he then launched his own healthcare company. When he found the business was bringing him too much stress, he put systems and people in place so he could be more hands off. It then led him to being financial free at 31 and Millionaire soon after at 33.
There is poverty on our own doorstep in the UK. It made Jess want to do something to help, this is what made him start the group Billion Lives Change. He wanted to use his experience and knowledge in mental health to help people during lockdown and it has only grown since then.
Community is so important. No matter what you do for a living or what stage you are at in your life, you need support with other people outside of your immediate friends and family.
Give yourself permission to live a life your business funds. So many entrepreneurs don’t let go of their business due to guilt, imposter syndrome or anxiety. But what is it all for if you can’t live the life you want? You don’t need to feel guilt, anyone has the choice to create the life they want.
Jessen’s mission in life is all about creating impact in others’ lives and helping them in any way he can. The world needs more people like Jessen, it’s a blessing to have this drive and although there are downsides, he wouldn’t change who he is for the world. He wants to and needs to share the gifts and blessings he has been given.

BEST MOMENTS

03:45 “What it sparked in that 7 year old boy, was the desire for more and the desire for resourcefulness”

06:45“He or she who brings the most value to any equation gets paid the most”

16:50 “What I do know is people are going to start suffering soon…how can I use all my skills to help people?”

21:22 “You need to be part of a community, you need to have that support outside your immediate family”

41:11 “You know what, I did the best with the resources and the opportunities that I had to create this life that I’ve got right now and I left an impact"

41:33 “If you’re not growing you’re dying… you’ve got life in you, you’ve got soul in you, who says you can’t take over the world”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/the-4ps-of-personal-branding/

ABOUT THE GUEST

Jessen James

@jessenjames_official

https://www.jessenjames.com

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Anti-Bullying: Why I am No Longer Accepting Trolls and Negativity Online

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 00:00:00 -0000

Christina wanted to speak to you all and own up to something. When it comes to bullying, Christina is worried that in the past she may have sometimes been part of the problem. Listen in to find out why and what changes she is making to be actively anti-bullying.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In the online world we have a lot of trolls, haters etc and it makes people frightened of putting themselves out there. They don’t want to have to deal with this negativity.
In the past, Christina has talked about how you have to embrace the negativity and trolls online. But she now realises this is in part because she is a strong person. Looking at it from a different perspective, she can understand why it would worry and upset other people more.
Christina is now promising to stop encouraging this kind of behaviour and be there for anyone who needs help or support for the negativity they get online.

BEST MOMENTS

01:30 “Social is great, it’s awesome, embrace the haters and trolls”

02:52 “I’m offering my help to you, if we speak regularly or if we’ve never spoken before, reach out and I will do whatever I can to help and support you in that situation”

03:40 “We shouldn’t be wearing it as a badge of pride”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/the-4ps-of-personal-branding/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

The Importance of Employer Branding - Speaking with "The Employer Brand Nerd" James Ellis

Mon, 27 Sep 2021 10:31:00 -0000

James Ellis produces an astounding amount of valuable content around marketing and recruitment, specialising in employer branding. In this episode, Christina talks with James about the journey of employer branding, why it’s so important, and what we can all learn from it.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

James recognised that most marketing it is the same: recognise your market, understand what you offer, figure out your channels, measure and adjust. However, employer marketing is different, the goal is quality not quantity. You are just looking for that one right person, anything else is waste. This is why he loves what he does and has so much passion for it.
Employment branding began in the 90s in the UK, it was a leap forward at the time but stalled in the US as was very ad based. It isn’t new but the industry is getting better at it, still deciding what the next steps are and what 'great' looks like, so it can often still ‘feel new’.
We have a lot of examples of what employer branding shouldn’t be, but not much in the way of examples of best practice and what it should be.
It’s drummed into us that we have a product or service brand and a personal brand yet not many people talk about their employer brand. This needs more focus. The best brands are the ones where the employer brand is done well and this in turn supports and creates a better consumer brand.
Employer Branders generally have either marketing or recruitment experience but they must learn to speak both languages to be truly effective. Understanding the importance and relevance of both areas.
By introducing the downsides of a job/company to a candidate, you introduce more realism to the positives you outline at the same time. You are providing them with the whole truth which makes everything feel more authentic and allows candidates to make a better decision.
People think about employer branding when it is too late. They only think about it after they start having recruitment problems.
Marketing is about telling a story and employer branding is no different. It’s important to recognise that you should tell this story multiple times reaching your audience at as many touch points as possible.
It’s imperative to remember that there is no workplace or brand that everyone wants to work for. It’s not about that, it’s about finding the right fit, for them and for the brand.

BEST MOMENTS

08:06 “Employer branding, it’s kinda like therapy, when you do it really well, it’s really saying what is the company all about?”

13:05 “The best brands, are the ones when the employer brand when done well, supports the consumer brand”

21:42 “Knowing your audience and knowing what you care about, tightening that message, that’s where the real value comes in, that allows for that transparency, that allows for authenticity”

24:44 “Every good marketer knows you can’t tell a story once and assume anybody heard it at all, let alone believed it”

32:04 “The why reason I love employer brand, the biggest one, is because it’s always challenging”

39:01 “There is no universal place where everybody loves working here, it doesn’t work that way, it’s about where do I fit”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/the-4ps-of-personal-branding/

ABOUT THE GUEST

James Ellis

Before falling in love with the art and craft of employer branding, James Ellis was a digital marketer with 15 years of experience learning how audiences think and behave online. He has taken those skills and become one of employer brand’s leading voices, developing and activating dozens of brands of every size, running The Talent Cast podcast for more than four years, writing the Employer Brand Headlines newsletter and writing for a number of industry publications. His mission is to evolve the conversation around recruiting and hiring and to support that mission, he has recently published two books: The Employer Brand Handbook and Talent Chooses You. He lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter

Twitter: @TheWarForTalentLinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/thewarfortalentNewsletter: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/employerbrandnewsWebsite: http://employerbrand.news

Books: http://employerbrandbook.com

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

There's Strength in Vulnerability - Christina's Experience Attending an Expert Empires Event for the First Time

Sun, 05 Sep 2021 23:00:00 -0000

Vulnerability isn't something that is talked about enough in business, but in this episode, Christina opens up about a recent example of her vulnerability when attending an Empire Builders event. She explains how it made her feel, how she found strength in it and demonstrates how it can create space to grow and develop yourself as well as help those around you.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Expert empires are an event and mastermind company who help people scale their business and grow their success.
When Christina first signed up to one of their events, she felt a bit vulnerable as she wasn’t already in the existing community. She could see on the event facebook page that there was a lot of people who already knew each other.
Christina decided to reach out and put a post up online, introducing herself and being honest about being new to the community, to make herself approachable before she arrived at the event. She wanted to be 'in' on the excitement that she was seeing and try and build some relationships before attending.
In doing this, she inadvertently helped others. Many people commented on her post introducing themselves too, including other newbies and people that knew who she was but she didn't know them!
There will be times where you can't control everything, however in most circumstances there is always something you can do. Always try and consider this when you are feeling overwhelmed. Not only can it make you feel more in control but it can also help improve the situation and give you focus on what you can control.
We all know we should ask for help when we need it but it’s very hard to do in practice, but because Christina was open about her vulnerability, it then allowed others who were in the same situation to benefit.
Being resilient is important but you still should allow yourself to be vulnerable. It's those moments of high stress and high vulnerability that build you as a person.

BEST MOMENTS

04:30 “You’ve got to think what can I do to shift things, what can I do to take control of this situation”

05:37 " The more comments I got the more vulnerable I began to feel"

07:12 - I think part of what makes me strong is my vulnerability, being open in that way”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/the-4ps-of-personal-branding/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Happy Birthday Podcast! The Highs and Lows of Podcasting

Sun, 29 Aug 2021 23:00:00 -0000

One year on from the creation of the Christina Talks Podcast, Christina reflects on the past year; what she has learnt, the highs, the challenges as well as her favourite guests!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

-Christina really has to manage herself to ensure she remains consistent in podcasting, there have been times where she has had to miss a couple of episodes but generally she has managed to keep on top of it. Going forward she is going to relax more on the structure of the podcast so she can ensure she gets an episode out every week no matter what!

-Although Christina provides value and great content in her podcast, ultimately she started it for her and that’s what she still reminds herself of a year on.

-Christina has had some great guests over the past year, it was difficult sometimes to stay focused when she was so excited to interview guests as well as listening to some very difficult and emotional stories.

-Having the right people around you is key to success. Christina has many thanks to those around her that have supported her in building and creating her podcast, including her close team as well as the Progressive Media Agency (https://progressivesuccess.co.uk/events/podcast-media-academy/ )

BEST MOMENTS

02:44 - “The great thing about podcasts is that they’re yours”

11:34 - “It was a lesson in resilience and the things I learnt about negotiation, I think that was the episode so far, from a business owner perspective, that’s the one you could really learn a lot from”

17:07 - I love the whole brand around the Christina Talks Podcast”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://progressivesuccess.co.uk/events/podcast-media-academy/

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/the-4ps-of-personal-branding/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Let’s Talk Personal Brand

Sun, 08 Aug 2021 23:00:00 -0000

Christina has been asked many times if a personal brand is needed. Being asked this can be irritating simply because it isn’t a choice; everyone has their own personal brand. However, the choice you make is whether you are going to leverage it and put the work in to make it work for you.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

For some people having a personal brand works. It can depend a lot on personality and what you are comfortable with sharing and how you share this information.
Something key to keep in mind when working with your personal brand is how you are going to ensure you stay true to yourself and your values when intertwining yourself so much with your business.
Consistency and persistence is key when building your personal brand. Everything you do contributes to the strength and the weight of your personal brand.

BEST MOMENTS

03:07 “We might end up compromising ourselves sometimes”

03:45 “Ultimately you have a personal brand the choice is not whether or not to have one, but whether or not to leverage it”

12:26 “Results from this are not achieved overnight”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/the-4ps-of-personal-branding/

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Speaking with Phil Burgess

Mon, 19 Jul 2021 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina speaks to Phil Burgess. Phil has been working in the I.T industry for 27 years, has a keen interest in personal development, business acquisition and runs his own successful podcast the I.T Career Energizer!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The speed and range of change in the technology world since Phil started his career has been vast. There are things we are reliant on now such as streaming and smart phones that hadn’t even been considered in the 1990’s.
Phil started the I.T Career Energizer podcast 4 years ago and recently published his 300th episode! Phil follows a formulaic approach to his podcast which keeps it structured but brings out some incredible stories and information from his guests.
The world of work has changed in many ways over the past few decades but one major way is how people progress their careers. It used to be that you would join a company and work your wat up. Now people transform their careers and progress by moving companies.
Success and what it looks like is very individual. Some people are driven by money but many individuals aren’t. It's so important that recruiters and businesses recognise this in the modern world.

BEST MOMENTS

03:19 “You have to evolve, you have to change you have to learn”

16:54 “The dynamics have changed, now it’s more about looking after your own career so people have to take more ownership rather than relying on the organisation they work for to give them direction”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Why Business Values Matter

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 23:00:00 -0000

When you are creating a business, people will tell you that you need to think about your ‘mission’, ‘your why’ and your values’. This was trickier for Christina as she came into her business as an employee and then took the business over. Green Umbrella definitely have shared values but they have never been written down so Christina wanted to take some time to share her process in thinking and defining these.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

If you haven’t taken time to think about your company values and someone asks you the question it can be a little daunting. Take some time and work out a process of defining them as well as figuring out if they are coming across in your messaging; to employees, clients and on social media.
To understand and recognise your values you need to ask yourself a series of questions and be totally honest in your answers.

BEST MOMENTS

03:42: “Sometimes you may feel like your grabbing at buzzwords a little bit”

08:35: “Have you ever talked to someone and though oh wow what they’re doing has such an impact and I want to be part of that”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Women and Diversity in Speaking - Interviewing Toni Gargan

Sun, 27 Jun 2021 23:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina is joined by property investor, coach, speaker and fellow podcaster Toni Gargan!

A few episodes back Christina talked about how there are not enough female speakers on the circuit and so she wanted to have this discussion with Toni and share their thoughts, and ideas, with you all on the Christina Talks podcast!

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Social Media Doesn't Work Unless You Do These 5 Things

Sun, 20 Jun 2021 23:00:00 -0000

Social media is always changing, but so are we. Habits and behaviours change all the time so we must embrace and adapt with them.

In this episode Christina shares a talk she recently did at the UK Recruiter Tech Event.

It doesn’t matter If you are in recruitment or not, these 5 things still apply and social media will not be successful and work in the ways you want it to without them.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The reality is that social media WORKS. If it didn’t help bring business in then people wouldn’t be using it. Regardless of sector, the way to make social media work is based on using a framework and then personalising this to work for you and your business.

What perception are you creating and is it right for your audience? Are you being human and is it authentic?

The five things Christina says you need to do for social media to work for you are:

1. Respect the algorithm.

- Content. Make your content consistent and ensure it is of high quality.

- Be Relevant. Are you using trending topics, key words etc.

- Affinity. Think about the end user. Everything you create is for them and will be served to them by the platforms-they will only serve it to them if they think it’s something they will have an affinity with as user.

- Interest and interaction.

- Currency. When was the last time they were on the platform, what will be most relevant to them when they come online?

2. Keep the balance, your content should sell but not always in the way you think. We need to ‘seed’ the message rather than just asking people to buy, give people content that is of value.

3. Stay relevant. People care about what is happening right now, not yesterday. Make sure the content you share as unbranded content is 100% ticking the boxes of those you want to work with and is up to date with your industry and sector.

4. Be the example. If you are the example on the platform, are consistent and contribute to others you will be known for creating value. It is also a great way to leverage other people’s audiences.

5. Have you followed up? Have you responded?

BEST MOMENTS

01:34: “If it works for someone else why shouldn’t it work for you?”

02:45 – “There are a few core things these algorithms are based on”

06:34 – “At the end of the day, as a user, these social media platforms want to serve that user with content that they are gonna feel an affinity with”

14:40 – “When people do engage with us we want to be someone that’s part of these communities that we are building not just someone who is standing there with a billboard”

16:42 – “We have all become really good at building human connections through a computer screen”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

The Rebirth of Podcasting: Insights, Ideas and Inspiration with Thom Luter

Mon, 14 Jun 2021 23:00:00 -0000

Today Christina talks with Thom Luter, who runs the Progressive Podcast Agency. Thom has been working with hosts and producing podcasts for more than 5 years now and there’s nothing he doesn’t know about podcasting!

They discuss all things podcasting and Thom gives his insight into the industry, including current trends, the many benefits of podcasting and tech too! An incredibly informative episode, perfect for those thinking about starting a podcast as well as those seasoned content creators out there!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We’re still only in the opening phase of podcasting and audio as a content medium. If you haven’t already, now is the time to get started in the podcasting space.
Podcasting has been around a long time but it hasn’t had the backing in the same way other social media and content platforms have. Such as sharing with friends and a particular company pushing its use, it’s has been very decentralised up until now. But the tide is changing, Spotify and Apple are now both trying to ‘own’ and monetise podcasts now.
Podcasting is far more unique than it is often given credit for and it has its own set of challenges. You have a much steeper learning curve but if you manage to overcome these challenges the rewards are greater.
When people first start their podcast, they often procrastinate a lot. Thom feels this is probably because it feels more finished and permanent than other mediums as it takes a bit more effort to produce it and get it out there. But it’s a false perception, it’s actually far easier to amend and remove content in podcasting than on somewhere like Facebook. Generally, the first 30 episodes are the hardest, it then become easier.
Consistency is key to podcasting, this is how you get your listenership. Producing a weekly podcast is the best way to become successful, you are trying to ‘steal a bit of someone’s week’ so they know when the episode will be, how long it will be and that it fits into their schedule.
In podcasting, future decisions help your previous and old content, this is pretty unique to the platform. You get a lot of long term leverage and it has a lot of efficiency.
You want your content to be what people are looking for (e.g titles, descriptions) but the host needs to be charismatic, interesting and passionate so that they come back. Most people will come for the content but stay for the host.
It’s easy to get caught up on numbers and downloads but forgetting the quality of the relationship and strength of the listenership in podcasting. If you had 50 people stood outside your house to listen to you speak for an hour every week you would find that incredible, so why do many hosts feel like that is a low number?

BEST MOMENTS

00:30 - “There’s nothing that this guy doesn’t know about podcasting”

07:55 - “Podcasting is actually really anti-social”

12:58 - “There’s the whole section of time where you’re not staring at a screen and these companies haven’t monetised that time yet”

15:06 – “It’s like it’s been reborn”

26:50 – “It’s the most enjoyable form of content to create”

43:27 – “Most people will come for the content but stay for the host”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

LinkedIn Limits

Sun, 16 May 2021 23:00:00 -0000

There has been a lot of noise and complaints surrounding LinkedIn and the new limitations they have brought in. Christina wants to turn this on its head, explain why this is actually a positive thing and will create authenticity and also what you can now do instead of your old LinkedIn tactics.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

People use software on linkedin for growth and this is something linkedin do not want you to be doing, this is part of the reason for the limitations coming in. If you want to make connections with people, then you should be putting in the effort and the hard work in and make them at a more human level. You get out what you put in.
Create better content. The more you give the more likely you will get a valuable connection and will speak to those you want to do business with.
Look at your competition and clients, what are they engaging in, what type of content are they creating? You can learn a lot about what you should be doing from this task.
LinkedIn groups is an old feature that was really great at creating communities. This could be an opportunity for them to revitalise the feature. There would have to be some changes though as they became very spammy previously; we would need to make them more value driven.
You don’t have to always ‘connect’ on LinkedIn. You can engage with people by following them instead, then continue to engage on their posts so that you become familiar to them. This also works if you want to connect with someone you feel won’t connect with you straight away.

BEST MOMENTS

00:17: “I am kinda tired of listening to people complain”

02:09 “It is gonna happen to you sometime soon so look out for that”

03:10 “Are you really connecting with people or is it just numbers?”

07:36 “We have to think smart”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Experiences Create an Outlook - Interview with Mark Ormrod

Sun, 18 Apr 2021 23:00:00 -0000

Content Warning: Graphic descriptions of severe life changing injuries.

In this episode, Christina speaks in depth with Mark Ormrod. Christina first came across Mark in a Clubhouse room when he was talking about mindset, she found herself believing in and agreeing with a lot of what he was saying. Christina then got into contact with him and asked if he would come onto the Christina Talks podcast to share his story and why he has the attitude and mindset he does.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

When Mark was 15 and coming to the end of compulsory education he realised he needed to make some choices. He had some friends that were older than him who were already in the military, so he decided to sign up to the Royal Marines.
Mark has no qualms about saying how difficult that first year was, both physically and mentally and whilst Mark recognised he wasn’t the fittest out of his fellow soldiers, he realised he had an incredibly strong mindset. He was resilient in the way others weren’t.
At 19, Mark was deployed to Iraq. He was trained and prepped for this but it felt quite anti-climactic. He was then given an opportunity to leave the marines and he decided to do so, partly due to the birth of his daughter and his relationship breakdown.
He moved to South Africa and retrained as a bodyguard but struggled to get work, he believes this was due to his age, he was still only 21. He took work as door security at nightclubs but found that he was in trouble a lot of the time and wasn’t doing well financially, this led him to re-join the marines.
He started training to be deployed to Afghanistan and he could already tell by the type and intensity of training this was going to be different to his previous tour.
He had been in Afghanistan for over 3 months securing an area and helping civilians with supplies as well as protecting them. On Christmas eve his section were sent on a foot patrol, they had no intelligence saying it would be more dangerous than any other patrols they had previously been on, it was just routine. Five hours in they were about to finish the patrol when Mark lent on and detonated a hidden explosive device. He had split seconds to make a decision and in his mind he thought he was being attacked, in his mind he knew he needed to turn around, after attempting to move several times he realised that his body wasn’t moving. As the dust cloud disappeared around him he discovered that his legs had separated from the rest of his body. He started assessing his other injuries and just couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.
His unit managed to get him back to camp but he then blacked out. He was put onto a helicopter and they thought he was dead. Incredibly a few moments later a medic realised he was in fact alive and they tried a new technique to get fluids into him. This saved his life.
Mark has an incredible outlook on life since he became disabled. He believes we should all be grateful for what we do have rather than focusing on what we don’t, there is always someone who has it better than you and there is also always someone who has it worse. But, it's also important to remember that it was a journey for Mark to get to this mindset. He has had some very dark times since he sustained his injuries.

BEST MOMENTS

01:25 - “Everything this guy was saying struck a chord with me and this was a guy I wanted to have a conversation with”

04:37 – “For me, your story is uncomfortable”

13:28 – “It was like a baptism with fire”

42:50 – “We’re trained in this situation not to get emotional”

55:58 – “I’m a big advocate for gratitude and being grateful for everything you’ve got”

57:55 – “These experiences create an outlook, something always comes from it”

01:05 - "Just having a really good cry helped"

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Recruiting Marketing Congress Virtual Event!

Sun, 11 Apr 2021 23:00:00 -0000

A while ago Christina had an idea of running an event for recruiters and marketing and as a creative and business owner she finds it incredibly difficult to forget about the many great concepts and ideas she comes up with so had to make it happen!

She wanted to create something a bit quirky that would appeal to event marketers and would take them through everything they need to know in one afternoon, so she created the virtual event Recruitment Marketing Congress on the 22nd of April from 2pm!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

One of the side effects of Covid is that many mid-size companies have had additional time to spend on recruitment marketing. It now felt like a great time for Christina to ‘test the water’ with her concept with Louise from UK recruiter, an expert in events.
There are multiple sessions at the event including talks from SEO experts, paid advertising, speakers on content and social media and so much more invaluable knowledge and insight.
There will also be a fantastic session by James Whitelock on how you can use podcasting as a recruiter and how it fits within your marketing strategy!

BEST MOMENTS

03:32 - “The Kim Kardashian of recruitment”

04:52 – “One of the first things recruiters are gonna do is create some sort of web presence…so this session is about what is SEO, how you need to use it and what’s new with google”

06:56 – “We’ll be talking about how to use social, what your strategy should look like…I love doing sessions like this because they are short and sweet”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Recruitment Marketing Congress EVENT LINK

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Q1 2021 - Analysis, Assessing and Asking the Right Questions!

Sun, 04 Apr 2021 23:00:00 -0000

It will soon be the two year anniversary of when Christina took over her marketing agency, Green Umbrella. It’s difficult for her not to reflect and think about all that has happened these past two years and so today she opens up about her experiences and what her aims for the future are as well as assessing where they are as a business after this first quarter of the year.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Christina can truly say to her team that they are doing an amazing job. She knows that as a company they haven’t smashed every single target but they have achieved so much in a short space of time as well as thrived in a global pandemic!

No matter if your business is big or small, or experienced in marketing or not at all, Christina can and wants to work with you.
After the first quarter of this year, Christina analyses how close she is to long term goals as well as targets she set for the business and herself at the beginning of the year. It’s a great way to assess what is and isn’t working and to aid in making the tough decisions that are often needed.
Having the patterns to successfully analyse, assess and create action is why Christina is having so much success in both her business and personal growth. Just a few simple questions can give you direction and purpose.

BEST MOMENTS

01:09 - “I can stand proud, I can tell my team what a fantastic job we’re doing”

07:05 – “Maybe we’re allowing people to stay doing something their comfortable in rather than pushing them”

07:30 – “I have to have the balls to do it”

11:38 – “I’m really excited about where this business is going, I’m really excited about where my personal growth is going”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Social Media Marketing with Julia Kermode

Mon, 22 Mar 2021 00:00:00 -0000

Today roles are reversed and Christina is interviewed by Julia Kermode. Christina talks about some top level social media marketing strategies and tips for new business owners in this shorter but impactful episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In the modern world marketing is about enabling conversations to happen and this is what Christina’s firm focus on
Many people see social media as an easy win, however, it’s not that simple. Just creating an account and adding a post isn’t enough. This is where marketing firms can help.
One of the mistakes people make is they focus on the social media platforms they enjoy and are comfortable with personally, rather than the ones that would work best for their business.
The reality is people buy from people. A personal brand isn’t a new thing it’s just been given a name and more of a platform in recent years due to influencers etc.
Consider the information and value you give in meetings as content. If you make a very good point on a discussion or subject, you should be then using that for social media content.
When people read your content they should be able to hear your voice. They should be able to visualise you.

BEST MOMENTS

02:14 - “Advertising seems so last century in a way as we are all bamboozled every day”

03:30 – “The reality is it’s not about us it’s about our customers”

10:25 – “On a hit-list [for a client] there is gonna be people that can introduce you to your ideal clients, there will be people on there that you will consider as influencers”

16:05 – “Connecting to who you are, where you wanna be, what your skills are and making sure you are using people who exist already in the community you are serving”

21:00 – “People look at marketing as a cost to their business but it’s not a cost it’s an investment”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

You Have to Give to Get Results - Christina Talks Clubhouse and Marketing

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 00:00:00 -0000

Today Christina focuses on clubhouse and marketing. Clubhouse is a new social media platform and it has created a lot of fear of missing out as it is invite only and just on ios.

It’s a real time, audio only experience that you can dive in and out of. Listen in to todays episode to find out more about clubhouse and how you can integrate it into your social media and marketing strategies.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Everything that happens in the app is in the moment, it’s real time, it’s unrehearsed and that means so many more people join in the conversation.
There are quite a few complaints from some people about the app. One of Christina’s frustrations is that people don’t understand that the app was launched in Beta mode and it’s not even a year old.
Many social media platforms have come and gone over the years, Christina feels like right now, because people are so immersed in clubhouse and there is so much interest, it is probably here to stay.
If you can leverage new social media apps in the early days, when they come to market as they are building, then you will be many steps ahead of other people and businesses.
When you approach any social media, including clubhouse, every minute you spend on there in a work capacity needs to be purposeful. Christina tries to be really targeted on all social media apps.
Christina has engaged and met so many people on clubhouse. She has even found guests for this podcast on there. She is not afraid to give people better answers via a different platform and this has worked really well for her.
Like anything in marketing, being segmented truly works. If you can try and choose 2 or 3 clubhouse rooms to focus on each week that work for your target market you will start to see results.

BEST MOMENTS

04:26 - “The conversations really are the true meaning of authentic”

08:05 – “Honestly I think that’s a load of crap people just need to wake up a little bit”

12:19 – “And I just think, how much of that time has actually been valuable, been purposeful”

20:02 – “It’s got the opportunity to give us massive reward if we use it in the right way”

23:55 - “To get results out of clubhouse you have to give”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

How’s Your Heart Doing – Interview with Ray Kobeissi

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 00:00:00 -0000

Today is a slightly different episode, Christina talks to a really good friend of hers, Ray Kobeissi.

When Christina first heard Ray’s story of why she started her business and why she does what she does, it truly shook her to the core. So today she wanted Ray to share that story with you all! Listen in today to hear Ray’s journey to becoming a men’s mental health advocate and how that also led her to becoming a mental health coach, trainer and creating her own podcast.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Ray works with business leaders to work with their anxiety management, stress management and to learn and explore who they are and their true identities. She also highlights awareness around mental health, especially depression in men. She talks about depression, suicide awareness, the distinctions between different mental health issues and more.
Ray also hosts her own podcast ‘Don’t be a man about it’ where she explores male mental health and to give them confirmation that they are not alone.
Ray sharing her story meant that people then felt at ease and comfortable with her. They would open up more to her and she had automatic credibility.
10 years ago Ray was happily living with her family in Dubai. But then there was a series of issues including her Dad’s business going under. She had to leave her father and move to Beirut, this is when she started to see things that children aren’t supposed to see, including an aggressive and manipulative mother.
At 18 Ray decided to leave home, she had to grow up extremely quickly. Her Dad supported her long distance by teaching her simple tasks like boiling an egg. Then at 23 she found out her Dad died. She was told it was a heart attack but she then discovered it was actually suicide.
Ray did not have the tools to help her Dad, she didn’t know how to recognise the signs at all. She didn’t want a man or daughter to have to go through what her Dad or herself had to go through. This is her passion and drive for doing what she does.
Surround yourself with people who are supportive and understanding. Offer this to those around you too. This what really matters.
There is still stigma around men’s mental health, especially so in the middle east. In her work, Ray still finds it sad seeing the amount of men suffering in silence. She has received a lot of negative feedback around what she is doing but she believes you have to be disruptive and make people uncomfortable to change things.
You don’t have to define your happiness. You can just take each day at a time and just figure it out as you go along.
Don’t Be a Man About It, Ray’s Podcast, now has 12 episodes published and she has lots in the pipeline. She has learnt so much from doing the podcast and has developed strong relationships with the guests she has interviewed as well.
We all need to give priority to our mental health. If you do not feel good deep down then your life will not be good.

BEST MOMENTS

05:35 - “The minute people heard all the experiences I had to face…everything changed”

13:55 - “Make sure you are surrounded with supportive people and understanding people”

17:06 – “I’m just not into that debate anymore”

18:57 – “If I don’t share my story who will”

29:20 – “It doesn’t matter how positive you are there is always something in the back of your mind you want to solve”

45:00 – “If you aren’t ready to talk about it that’s ok but just know that I am here”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Speaker Line Ups & Diversity

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:00:00 -0000

Someone Christina is connected with businesswise posted on social media around a speaker line-up. The speaker line-up was ‘stale, male and pale’. Christina couldn’t get this situation out of her head so wanted to relay her thoughts to you all on her podcast.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Christina hopes to ask this person she is talking about onto the podcast at a later date to discuss this topic.
On most panels, line ups and events there is lack of diversity. They are usually white, around a certain age and often male too.
People do want to create great value when organising events so need to choose the right talent, this is paramount but also, we don’t want to just speak to one part of the audience via the affinity score. You are more likely to listen to and engage with someone who is similar to you that you can relate to.
It’s not as simple as just telling people that they need to diversify. They might not have a wider network or may be relying on people they know are reliable. But the problem is usually because the diverse speakers aren’t taking the first step.
We need to find ways to get people to speak up for themselves. To gain confidence and get great at networking. Then event organisers won’t find it so challenging diversifying their panels.
It varies in different industries, some are worse than others for diversity, but offering things like mentorship programmes can help tremendously.
Christina is vowing going forward to help those around her and put them forward for these panels and events. This is high on her list for 2021 as she has these opportunities to give.

BEST MOMENTS

01:12 - “You do tend to see quite often that those speakers, panels and line-ups are of a similar demographic”

4:20 – “They just don’t step forward and I think the problem is much bigger than the event organisers”

06:30 - “Just creating more and more opportunity isn’t enough, there is some responsibility with the speakers as well”

04:50 – “That imposter syndrome sticking in”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

It’s Not Magic, It’s Common Sense: Christina Interviews Ian Cairns on Stocks, Shares, Investing and Redditors!

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 00:00:00 -0000

Over the last few weeks there has been a lot of news stories around investing, stocks, the Robin Hood app and Redditors. Christina wouldn’t ordinarily delve into the world of ‘newsjacking topical’ subjects, but she happens to know Ian Cairns! Ian is extremely knowledgeable in these areas and so Christina wanted to interview him to share his thoughts with you all.

Disclaimer: The content within this podcast episode is intended as general information and not a recommendation to act. Please seek independent investment advice before entering into any financial transaction. Entering into any financial transaction that involves securities or derivatives puts your capital at risk. The content creator is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and relies on journalist exemption. The content creator is not an investment professional and is likely to have a financial interest in the company mentioned. The companies mentioned may have been held personally by the content creator. The content creator will not be held responsible or be liable for action taken by any listener of this episode. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Ian is someone that has given Christina lots of education regarding the trading world. She thought it was an opportune time to bring him onto the podcast to give you some great ‘nuggets of wisdom’.
Ian created software company Market Fluent out of a pet project of his. He based it on a book from the 40s by Benjamin Graham called Intelligent Investor, that outlined how to find undervalued companies in the stock market. It helps makes decisions and is now known a ‘value investing’.
What has happened with Gamestop and Redditors didn’t happen overnight, it started as long as 18 months ago. It was based on research and due diligence.
The internet has levelled the playing field on how we can research businesses and how they are performing. Because of that some of the individuals on Reddit have been able to do some incredible things.
Ian’s interpretation of the Gamestop/Reddit situation is that there is a big outcry as millionaires and billionaires are losing cash. He doesn’t think that things have become too accessible but he does think that there is a problem with people selling this as a dream of just buy buy buy and sell sell sell. It’s too simplified.
As long as you are sensible about investing then you will be ok. Only invest money you can afford to lose and look at investments as long term rather than a’ get rich quick’ scheme.
In the 1920s most stocks were owned by individuals not hedgefunds. Now things have completely changed and these companies actually make most of their money out of the fees they charge clients and they are buying with other people’s money. Do your research on fees-these are what will cost you in the long run.
When creating a bank account for investments ensure you open the right one as different accounts have varying tax rules. If you are unsure find a local broker/accountant and get advice on your own personal circumstances.
Do your own due diligence and think of things as a long-term investment rather than ‘trading’.
There is a wealth of knowledge on value investing on YouTube, there is so much free knowledge and information out there that you can consume.
If you choose to invest in something you know about it will be a lot easier to make conscious and knowledgeable decisions.
Quite simply, you know when is the right time to go looking to buy depending on whether something happening in the world, market, country or in a particular company is creating certainty or uncertainty. Stock markets don’t like uncertainty and this is when things will drop and you can look to buy.

BEST MOMENTS

02:35 - “At that point I knew nothing about investing, stocks, shares and over that time you have given me a bit of a crash course”

03:59 – “Every now and again you get something that happens that makes people think it’s an opportunity to make easy money”

13:10 – “People buy a dream”

13:50 – “Don’t put more money in that you can afford to lose”

21:50 - “It’s even more painful if people charge you a fee on money you have lost”

24:00 – “Carry out your own due diligence”

43:02 – “This isn’t magic, this isn’t witchcraft, it’s just a bit of common sense”

46:18 – “You are buying part of a company, you need to do the same due diligence you would be doing if you were looking to buy that company”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Structure is Everything

Mon, 15 Feb 2021 00:00:00 -0000

DESCRIPTION

In this episode, Christina talks about structure. Christina loves a spreadsheet and is quite systematic and believes structure is everything. Creating structure allows you to organise your thoughts and get from A-B without it being a painful process.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Christina talks and works with structure in her work and it makes her wonder why sometimes things still ‘go sideways’, particularly in some areas of podcasting.
After spending some time on clubhouse Christina reflects on how ‘unstructured’ a platform it is. She thinks although that is what is great about it, it is also influencing her when trying to work on other areas, like her podcast.
It’s key that whatever you are doing you build an initial structure and you recognise when you are not sticking to it.
As a podcaster, Christina has learnt there is a skill in being able to organise your thoughts in your head and bring it to a point without boring people along the way.

BEST MOMENTS

01:07 - “Maybe I should just talk about structure”

03:03 – “Even within the structure I’ve built in the flexibility to allow for that”

04:10 – “What the hell am I discussing, what the hell am I talking about?”

06:20 – “Finishing is so important”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Coaching and Accountability with Cheryl Peel

Mon, 08 Feb 2021 00:00:00 -0000

It’s incredible how much your world can grow even when you are in a situation where you can’t go out and see people like you normally would. Christina ‘met’ Cheryl Peel in lockdown and today they talk about life events, coaching and all about accountability.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Cheryl is a coach who supports people who have been challenged by a change event to move back into confidence. Cheryl has walked this path herself, she has experienced a lot of challenging life events that have got her to the point she is at today.
Every change process is different, some elements may be similar but there is a spectrum and some are much more difficult and stretching.
Cheryl supported her brother through major health challenges including a double lung transplant and in doing this really started to realise and understand the importance of health professionals. She made a choice to get healthy herself, she hadn’t ever considered her health in this way before.
In 2019 Cheryl was diagnosed with two types of breast cancer. She dealt with the diagnosis so well the dr. asked if she would help coach others on the experience as well as do a podcast!
Whilst Cheryl was on a trip in the UK her brother went missing back in Australia. It devastatingly transpired that he died after struggling to breathe at home and was taken by paramedics.
Cheryl believes that strong people need just as much support as everyone else, but, they often don’t get it as people see them as being able to ‘get on with it’ as they are perceived as superhuman. This is why she focuses on people that are considered ‘strong’.
It can be difficult to recognise when you need to ask for help and support. But being able to means that you will be able to heal, as well as ‘show up’ better than if you were simply just trying to cope. It will make you a better version of yourself.
Accountability is an important step to grow. The higher you get the less people are there to call you out. Very few individuals will call you on your bullshit when ‘the buck stops with you’.
When Cheryl is approached by someone who wants her as an accountability partner she ensures she has a full understanding of what that individual is about, their expectations and to what point can she hold them accountable.

BEST MOMENTS

04:29 - “I was really blessed as I had developed my seven seeds of conscious change”

14:45 - “It’s one of the most important things to recognise that everybody gets challenged, everybody gets stretched”

15:33 – “Just because I’m strong doesn’t mean I have all the answers, just because I’m strong doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t appreciate some guidance, some support”

24:36 – “It’s about sharing the journey and realising that other people have walked that path before you and there are ways to do it you may not have thought of”

28:46 – “Call people on their bullshit”

42:40 – “Just because they want to work with you that doesn’t mean they are going to be a good fit”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Influencer Status

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 00:00:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina talks and reflects about being called an influencer within the marketing world.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Christina being called as an influencer has been a little bit of an in joke in the home!
In all seriousness though, Christina wants to be a thought leader and the ‘go to’ person for her market when it comes to her products and delivering her service.
Christina will never call herself an influencer in the same way she won’t call herself an expert. It’s a tag for other people to call and assign to her.
People have come to Christina before making purchasing decisions which is one of the markers of an influencer.
Christina is very knowledgeable and this is a key indicator of an influencer, she also has a relationship with her quality audience. But she is not too sure that she is in a position to influence others, she says it’s about other people’s perception of her.

BEST MOMENTS

01:30 - “It kinda creeps up on you”

02:28 – “It has been very targeted at my market and at my clients”

05:19 – “I speak with confidence and I don’t hold back. I’m pretty honest about what I think, feel, know and don’t know. Maybe that creates a perception I am operating at a certain level”.

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

I’m Awesome! A Conversation with Jamie York

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 00:00:00 -0000

In this episode Christina talks to Jamie York, a serial entrepreneur and mentor. They talk about marketing, mind-set, money and more. Listen in for a conversation full of tips, strategies and little bit of banter!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Jamie has been in business for a decade, most of his current businesses are in property.
The property education world at the moment has come under scrutiny. Jamie believes this is due to our attitude, towards money and self-education as well as a couple of ‘bad eggs’.
Self-education as a concept is quite unusual when we think about how we traditionally learn as children and young adults through school and university.
Many people see education as an easy way to make money and this is why you get quick fixers who can leave a bad taste in some people’s mouths.
As a mentor, you need to be able to adapt yourself to work with the individual in order to coach effectively.
Jamie would never be mentored by someone who doesn’t have a mentor themselves. He believes in the ‘trickle down effect’ and that mentoring should be an endless resource.
Jamie is a real people person. He likes connecting with individuals and building relationships and value. On the whole he likes believing in people and trusting them and he hasn’t found himself being burnt very often from this.
To hit your goals you have to put the work in and to put the work in you need the space and time. Jamie books a couple of days out of his schedule away from his work and home life to purely focus on his goals.
Many business owners overestimate what they can do in a short period of time but underestimate what they can achieve over a longer period of time.
Regular and scheduled reflection on your goals and work is key to keeping you on track and helping you achieve. It’s also important to note your achievements as well as what you need to work on, you need to believe in yourself.
Jamie believes winners ‘own their sh*t”. When good or bad things happen they take ownership. Losers make themselves victims and blame everyone else but themselves.

BEST MOMENTS

05:06- “There’s this natural hatred towards self-development”

06:49 – “If my mum goes on Facebook she will see very different ads to me”

10:45 – “If you want to be number one you need to own that shit and not expect the world to do you favours”

15:44 – “Time is more valuable than money”

27:50 - “I work a lot on gut instinct”

33:55 – “80% of your listeners will have f****d up their goals…and that’s ok”

44:31 – “I go and lock myself away in a c***py hotel so there is nothing to distract me and I am forced to answer the difficult questions to a level that is uncomfortable”

49:00 - “Have a head for business and a heart for the world”

55:20 – “My entire life is based on the development of other people and because of that I feel like a winner”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Competitors

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 00:00:00 -0000

Each year in January Christina likes to go back and revisit her competitor analysis. In January, everyone is looking at their marketing strategy, setting goals and revisiting platforms. By doing your competitor analysis in January you can get a really good benchmark on what your competitors think they should be doing. Listen in to Christina Talks today to find out more on how to get the most out of your competitor analysis.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Competitor analysis is simply about getting an understanding of the differences between you and your competitor and looking to find where there are the opportunities for you to do better.
Many people spend too much time throughout the year looking at competitor analysis. If you spend every day looking at it, you are leaving much less time to look at your own business.
After doing her initial analysis in January, Christina likes to take a look again in March time to see who has ‘moved the needle’ and who hasn’t.
Look at the branding, content and keywords of competitors. Also look at the promises they are making and the problems they are identifying and saying they can solve.
Look at both branded and unbranded content of your competitors.
Be careful when looking at connections of businesses. Sometimes you have to ask how loyal is the following they have? It can be more useful to look at engagement on social media rather than numbers of followers.
Just pick two and three competitors and try and get something meaningful at the end of it. Don’t spend weeks on it.

BEST MOMENTS

01:22 - “I realise competitor analysis is not a sexy subject, but it is something we all need to do”

03:34 – “By the second week they’ve forgotten it was even a goal in the first place”

04:36 – “You can see how that is comparing with what you are doing”

12:54 – “And what I don’t want you to do is end up down a rabbit hole, I don’t want you to spend weeks on this competitor analysis”

15:43 – “Do it, keep it short and sweet”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Lousin Mehrabi & The Art of True Negotiation

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 00:00:00 -0000

Today Christina talks to Lousin Mehrabi, a professional negotiator working for AND, an international agency dealing with complex negotiation. In this episode they talk in depth about negotiation and how this works in both business and our personal lives. They also talk about emotional intelligence, fear and intuition.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Everyone negotiates all day every day. With our family, friends and at work.
When Christina bought her business, she didn’t actually recognise that negotiation was a skill. She soon realised that it was and understood that if she had learnt that skill before it would have helped her tremendously. Being aware that negotiation is a skill that can be learnt and developed on is the first step.
In business, rarely is negotiation just about price. There are so many other things that come into play such as marketing, service and value.
Asking yourself why you are negotiating as well as putting yourself in the other person’s shoes, paying attention to body language and asking probing questions can help you learn to negotiate better.
The ‘position’ is what the client says they want. The non-negotiable usually has an emotional link and is very ‘human’. If you can get to this point and understand how it links then you can understand what is ‘at stake’ for them. You can then creatively look at other things that would satisfy that need rather than giving them what it is they first said they wanted.
A lot of people let negotiations go on for far too long because of emotional reasons, such as ego. If you can rationally decide and know who has the balance of power and where you should draw the line this will help you say when ‘enough is enough’.
It is often thought that negotiation is persuading someone of something or selling something. But sales and negotiation are completely different. It’s not persuasion it’s influence. It’s influencing someone’s behaviour.
Lousin has spent her life in ‘male dominated spaces’. It has been a huge growth process for her. Trying to find her place in that world took resilience and to recognise her own advantages and power as a woman and an individual.
Acknowledgement and acceptance are key things in all areas of life, not just in negotiation. Particularly knowing what you can control and what you can’t.
It’s important to recognise the emotional part of decision making as well as the rational. You can’t just get rid of your emotions so it’s better to work with them and know what’s at play. You can turn it into an ally and let it help you.
When death is in front of you, you all of sudden value life so much more. It sounds cliché but it is true. We don’t know how much life we have left.

BEST MOMENTS

02:15 - “All of a sudden that step into being a business owner opened up this world that negotiation was something I should have gone and learnt first”

02:30 – “We all negotiate every single day whether we are aware of it or not”

06:15 – “If you start negotiating as a professional you start becoming very creative about what else there is to be negotiated”

13:40 – “It’s not persuasion, it’s influence”

12:20 - “Value is a perception”

19:31 “Trying to find your place in that world whilst staying truthful to you are is really important”

26:35 – “Emotions are part of our being, are part of our brain, we are social emotional beings, you can’t just shut that part off…decision making is hardly ever just rational”

29:10 “And what you did is negotiate with yourself”

43:57 “Control is an illusion, we hardly control anything but what you do control is how you face the day, what is your mindset, how do you make decisions…so if you work on your internal powers and confidence…in the end you can only control you, your behaviours and your reaction”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

XMAS Message!

Mon, 21 Dec 2020 00:00:00 -0000

A Christmas message from Christina! Before we all take a break, Christina wants to leave you with some ‘Christmas food for thought’ and to remind you to reflect on all the fantastic things you have achieved this past year.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Christina is not very prepared for Christmas this year – a big contrast to previous years for her!
As someone who is usually very particular and structured around how she works and lives her life, this year and all its uncertainties has been a real challenge for Christina.
Being completely honest Christina says that she is the ‘big block’ in her business and she knows there are many business owners out there like her. This is her biggest development challenge she needs to overcome.
Just take some time to have a moment to yourself and reflect on what you’ve got to be grateful for this year.

BEST MOMENTS

02:13 - “This year has been a challenge yet so many positive things have come out of it”

04:13 – “They don’t let me get away with it…it’s just such a fantastic thing to be able to work with people like that”

04:28 – “There is no way we would have got through this year without working like that”

05:49 – “It’s good to feel ballsy!”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

What Do You Find Sexy? Interview with John Scotcher

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 00:00:00 -0000

Today Christina talks to John Scotcher, a web developer who runs his own business. They talk about business, writing, creativity, ways of working and more. A fun and informative episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

John started his business in 1999. He has built over a thousand websites in his time!
Being ‘locked down’ has actually made Christina more sociable. She has become more conscious of the time that she spends not being social.
Christina and John agree that putting the effort in and doing what you find sexy is one of the ways to get great results. There will always be things you don’t find interesting or exciting. If possible it’s best to ‘stay in your lane’ as the things that you are passionate about and are good at you will succeed in naturally.
John likes a job where he has challenges, having as much experience he has this can be a ‘challenge’ in itself. He loves the research stage and at the moment particularly likes working on websites that ‘do stuff’!
It’s important to know your worth and your value. Charge clients appropriately, don’t worry too much about being expensive. The right clients will pay the right price for your expertise.
Whenever something becomes available to everybody you’re going to get people pitching their products at different points in the market, there’s also going to be a market for both.
John has written two novels, the first he states is not very good! But he is much prouder of his second novel, that has made him some money and did win an award. He is currently working on the sequel.
There are many areas where the tools to create are now readily available. Such as writing a novel or creating a film. However the tools don’t give you inspiration or creativity.

BEST MOMENTS

00:52 - “If you want to be creative you’ve got to hang out with creative people”

07:45 - “I genuinely believe nobody is able to multitask”

09:07 “It’s the stuff that you find sexy, that’s what it comes down to”

19:10 – “Research is the most interesting thing in the world”

30:26 – “I will continue to entirely trust my instinct until it fails me”

37:37 – “I do think everyone’s got a book in them, everyone’s got a crap book in them. What they haven’t necessarily got is a good book”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Let's Talk About Accountability!

Mon, 07 Dec 2020 00:00:00 -0000

Today Christina talks all about accountability! Christina has been working with an accountability partner and it has been working so well for her she really wants to share it with you all. Anyone who is an entrepreneur, business owner or who works in marketing can immeasurably benefit from the tips in today podcast, not to be missed!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Reflecting on the changes that Christina has made around accountability is what has made her want to share it on the podcast.
An accountability partner is someone you can just ‘voice’ to. It’s a way of gaining commitment from yourself.
Figure out what tasks you find difficult to do, this is where an accountability partner can really come into its own. You can give yourself extra incentive to ‘make’ yourself do the things that you may usually put off or procrastinate on.
It can be lonely being a business owner. Sometimes you just need someone you can share and celebrate your successes with.

BEST MOMENTS

03:10 - “Saying to someone that you’re going to do that thing gives you incentive to go and complete the task, achieve the goal”

08:35 “Part of accountability is giving you that safe space to brag a little”

11:24 “Being accountable to yourself, sometimes that’s the bit that’s going to be missing because it’s only your voice questioning you”

17:55 – “Having the right people listen is amazing”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

An Elite Mindset - Interview with Fran Halsall

Mon, 30 Nov 2020 00:00:00 -0000

Today Christina interviews Fran Halsall, a recruiter but also a previous Olympic athlete in swimming! They talk about mindset, swimming, competition and more. An inspiring and perspective challenging episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Fran is one of the fastest female swimmers on the planet! From a child she knew she wanted to be an Olympian.
At the Olympics Fran felt her first true failure and it was extremely difficult for her to deal with as swimming had been her identity for so long. She didn’t know how to deal with it. But ultimately that failing lead her to be at the top of her career.
Peoples who careers are in sports often have that career end at a really young age. So they then have to decide what to do next.
Fran decided she wanted to own her own coffee shop, after doing that she became a marketer at a corporate company. It was in doing these things that she learnt so much more about people as well as herself.
If you are going to be successful in recruitment you must be able to deal with being knocked back but then celebrate the small wins. It’s the same in sport.
Make time to appreciate the success you have had.
Common amongst entrepreneurs and sports people, pushing yourself to be the best you can be is one of Fran’s core values. She believes this is how she has got where she is today and it’s something that can truly transform others’ lives.

BEST MOMENTS

03:43 - “That was the dream from 10 [years old]”

07:09 - “My whole identity was wrapped up in this sport and being a swimmer”

19:04 – “I’ve been able to understand more what the skills are and how other people can apply them and adapt them”

21:17 – “Recruiters change lives”

29:52 - “I had to stop those thoughts, they aren’t helping me I cannot control what happens next”

40:05 – “If you have the right mindset you will thrive in this environment”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Reconnect With What You’re in the Business of Doing

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 00:00:00 -0000

Today Christina proudly admits she has a lot going on in her head so is treating us to a ‘mind-dump’ episode. It’s time to reconnect, reflect and re-evaluate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

There is a force out there that is sending a lot of positive energy to Christina right now and for this she is incredibly grateful but it is pretty overwhelming.
Christina lives for the little lightbulb moments and the jumps of joy from her clients.
Because of the way of the world at the moment Christina is feeling exhausted. She is constantly switched on thinking about what she needs to do next to help her clients in a time where they need it even more than ever.
The more you can let people in and show vulnerability the more you will gain.
If you are going through the motions because stress is sucking the fun out of life then take some time to reconnect. Spend a day ‘giving’ and then re-evaluate.

BEST MOMENTS

00:46 - “It’s been an epic couple of weeks”

01:53 - “I’m addicted to success”

03:19 – “We’ve gone balls deep servicing those people”

07:46 – “There’s something about podcasting that just takes that to a whole different level. It’s amazing the respect you seem to get from your peers”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Don’t Be Alone – Christina is Interviewed by Paul Green

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 00:00:00 -0000

Today the shoe is on the other foot! It is Christina being interviewed by Paul Green, a friend of hers who also runs networking community group 'The Business Community'.

Paul asked Christina if she would be interviewed by him for his Spotlight Series, the questions he asks her are far more about her development and philosophies and makes a really intriguing listen which is why she wanted to share this interview on the podcast.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

When buying a business, it’s important to be impartial. A good way to do this if you are already involved in the business you are buying is to take the figures to a third party to look at.
Christina first joined Green Umbrella as a freelancer but progressed fast and ended up have a large responsibility for decisions and it was at this point she decided she wanted to buy the business.
Although because of Covid many businesses have remote workers at the moment this is something Green Umbrella have been doing from the start in a really thought-leading way. They have various ways to ensure that productivity and creativity flows despite employees working remotely.
Christina does admit though that creativity and problem solving can happen quicker in an office-based environment in some scenarios.
It can be lonely to be a business owner. Having a mentor or being part of a community is a life line. There are very few business owners out there that have all the answers.
Christina freely shares resources and information to people. She educates freely. She says if then clients decide to use her company what they are paying for is experience, expertise and time.
The number 13 is unlucky for some but not for Christina. The number 13 has and continues to appear in so many areas of Christina’s life.
Making noise on social media isn’t enough. You need to have a strategy, an objective and a purpose for each channel.

BEST MOMENTS

02:15 - “You get to see what it’s like when I’m under a bit of pressure”.

09:45 – “I didn’t like where I was I either needed to go balls deep or get out”.

20:26 – “You need somewhere to go to ask those questions”.

27:48 – “Why not let them get the answer from you, build the trust with you”.

35:49 – “I’m a control freak therefore I don’t believe in luck”.

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Lockdown 2.0!

Mon, 09 Nov 2020 00:00:00 -0000

Today Christina moves away from the marketing heavy focus of the past few episodes and talks about the second lockdown in England. She talks about the differences between this lockdown and the previous lockdown, the impact personally and her thoughts around what she can do about the situation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Christina doesn’t think this second lockdown in England will have as much of an impact businesswise.
This lockdown has so far felt and been different for Christina’s business, she hasn’t had the issues she faced with the first lockdown.
There are so many unknowns and unexpected things happening but we need to focus on the things that we can control.
Sometimes you have to know what impact something will have on you personally before you can understand it’s wider impact.

BEST MOMENTS

01:14 - “I don’t care about this lockdown”

03:17 – “I didn’t have that experience I had before with clients in tears”

03:56 – “We have to embrace the lack of control that we’ve got”

10:26 – “I’m privileged to have people around me that I can go to that will help me understand these questions, understand these concepts…without those resources I think this journey would be a hundred times harder than it is. I am privileged”.

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Marketer to Marketer, Then, Now and What’s Next - Interview with Ben Kazinick

Mon, 02 Nov 2020 00:00:00 -0000

Christina is talking marketer to marketer with Ben Kazinick about what’s happening now and likely to happen in the future from a marketing perspective.

They discuss the importance of communication, trust and always taking the time to listen to what clients are saying along with the different ways as marketers they are providing advice on great content.

When you are producing content, you have to be very clear about what you want to achieve and in this episode you can hear about identifying your ideal client and understanding where they will be hanging out on social media.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In marketing, you learn about making small changes to optimise the result.
There is an increasing understanding of the value of marketing as a vital ongoing part of business.
Lots of people have never bought through their own website so they have no understanding of the end to end experience or about any points of fiction.
Some changes are so small but so significant.
You should reach out and talk to your customers, it’s the human interaction and the conversation that are really important.
Trust is currently fragile and genuine communication is vital
With content you have to be very clear about what you want to achieve with it.
People don’t remember the first touch they only remember the last touch, the journey to contact with you may have begun some time ago.
You have to understand who is your ideal client and where they are going to be hanging out on social media
It’s important the social media platform used is the right one for the objective you are trying to achieve.
Customer service is huge and people want responses and communication

BEST MOMENTS

22:01 - “The Green Umbrella team do a live show every Thursday with content directed at those who know us”

36:19 - “online marketplaces are becoming huge”

45:21 - “I want people to know, like, love and buy-in on a deeper level”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Just Because You Can

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 00:00:00 -0000

Today Christina talks about the challenges she faces in saying no but why she has learnt how to do so and why it’s important you do too.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Christina appears to many people to be someone who is very confident but is actually says that she is a ‘bit of a mouse’.
Christina is very proud of herself for working so hard to be able to confident and develop herself into being someone that people trust to help them.
Christina can find it hard to say no, it’s really difficult and something she agnonises over. She feels like she created this world where people ask her for things and she has to really think about the cost of saying yes in order to say no.
Opportunities will come, we need to look at them commercially, not emotionally.

BEST MOMENTS

00:30 - “I’m actually quite introvert and I’ve had to do a lot of work to create this part of me”

01:55 - “Just because you can say yes, doesn’t mean you should”

02:44 – “Stay in your lane”

03:49 - “Don’t allow that message to be diluted. Sometimes if we say yes to the wrong things we’re putting ourselves at jeopardy”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

The Number Thirteen: Interview with Cream of The Crop Spencer Lodge

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 23:00:00 -0000

Today Christina talks to Spencer Lodge, an inspiring motivator and businessman.

Spencer still feels like a true ‘salesguy’ at heart and this is a driving force in so many areas of his life.

Listen in today to hear how Spencer got to where he is and for some inspiring and practical tips.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Christina feels the fact she is talking to someone with as much success and prestige as Spencer Lodge is the product of the work she has put into herself and her brand.
Christina saw Spencer speak at an event and at the time she didn’t know who he was but he ended up being the most impactful speaker she listened to across the whole three day event.
As business owners we have decisions to make – Spencer has a great phrase: ‘paralysis from analysis”. This simply means you are not making decisions because you are overthinking!
Spencer has always been very energetic when it comes to work, he compares himself to a comedian when he is on stage, he is the life and the soul at that moment.
Spencer’s competitiveness as a young age made him want to be better, he had aspirations, he wanted to raise to the top.
Spencer’s business model is hugely successful, everything ‘feeds’ into everything else. It allows Spencer to focus on key areas.
People find it easy to knock sales people, to not treat them as important. Spencer does not believe this is right at all – sales is important, everybody needs sales.
Spencer has released over 100 episodes on his podcast now, he has very many people requesting to now be on his podcast – a true measure of success!
Sometimes we need a reminder or a wake-up call to stop us feeling like we are victims. To remind us we are lucky.
A great way to deal with trolling and nasty online comments is to actually talk with those commenting.
Anyone who fears negativity online, try and remember the amount of rubbish that is written daily about celebrities and let it reframe your fear.

BEST MOMENTS

02:36 - “For me and my world I am talking to the cream of the crop today”.

09:05 “Every minute seemed to last a lifetime and when you don’t enjoy what you do that happens”

11:52 “If that miserable git can do it then I can do it!”

21:37 “Sales is as taboo as colonic irrigation!”

37:09 - “If someone has something interesting to say I want to talk to them”

50:45- “Why is someone taking the time to write something nasty about you…because they want to communicate with you”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Christina Talks Strategy and Tactics!

Sun, 11 Oct 2020 23:00:00 -0000

Today Christina talks about strategy and tactics!

Is what you are doing in line with your overall strategy? Do you know what the difference is between strategy and tactics? Listen in today and find out what you and your business should be doing to get this right!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Christina works with a lot of businesses that come to her about her marketing strategy. Often although clients say it’s their strategy they want help with its tactics they are talking about.
A strategy is a plan, that’s usually long term that gets you to where you want to be.
You should be looking and reflecting on your strategy frequently, it shouldn’t be something that is written at the beginning and then forgotten about.
It’s key that every single thing you ‘put out there’ is in line with your overall strategy and is part of your ‘battle plan’.
Look at your content. Ensure you are talking about the right things, do a sense check and make certain you are talking about the right things and pitching at the right level.

BEST MOMENTS

02:22 “That battle plan is what is going to get me the results”

03:49 “Is the overall messaging is it in line with those things that I am trying to achieve…to the goal I am heading to”

06:52 “Don’t let a quarter go past without you checking it”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

How To Build A Strong Personal Brand And Why It's Important!

Sun, 04 Oct 2020 23:00:00 -0000

Today Christina switches roles and is interviewed by Azzy Aslam. They talk all things personal branding as well as online privacy, professionalism and more. Tune in today to discover what you need to be doing to have a great personal brand in the workplace and truly ‘market yourself’.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Sometimes you don’t realise that a moment was pivotal in your career until you look back years later – Both Azzy and Christina experienced this.
Personal branding is about people knowing about you, not just the business you work for. If your personal brand is strong enough then people will choose you and your brand rather than a competitor.
It’s key to get the balance right between the business branding and personal branding
Your personal brand is all about deciding the perception you want to create.
Just because you are making yourself personable it does not mean that you have to completely open yourself up to the world – you don’t have to share everything publically. You can still have a strong personal brand without revealing all.
If you wouldn’t want particular information published on a billboard outside your house for all to see – then don’t put that information online.
If you ever need to do anything really difficult that requires a lot of brainpower – do something physical, it helps blood flow and kicks in neurotransmitters to make you more alert.

BEST MOMENTS

07:09 “Personal branding is about building the awareness of you as an individual professional”

08:04 “People buy from people”

17:42 “Your personal brand is like a caricature of yourself”

22:29 “Instant gratification in a business sense has created some quite unrealistic expectations”

32:23 “You have to have a plan for yourself, don’t wait for the company to give you a plan”

1:12 “You’d be surprised how much more they can do and achieve when they step into a character”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

What Are You & Your Business Blind to? (You NEED to Know)

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 23:00:00 -0000

What are you blind to in your business? What is it you are not seeing?

Christina has thought about this and reflected on it multiple time and wasn’t able to see what she was missing, until she finally realised – it was now so obvious!

Find out how to tap into your blind spots when you tune in today.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Christina was on a call with one of her mentors and had a revelation about the next steps she needed to take in her business. It was a pivotal moment.
It might not be a problem but actually a missed opportunity that you are blind to.
You can be ‘too close’ to your business, so close that you can’t see what is staring you right in the face. It’s can also be too easy to be comfortable and make excuses for things.
The number one job a client needs to do before Christina and her team start to work with them is to take another look at their website – your website needs to communicate what you actually do.
You need to tap into opportunities. Yes, be known, be liked and be trusted but then take the next step and be proactive!

BEST MOMENTS

03:36: “If we can be that blind in something that black and white… then why wouldn’t we have those same blind spots in our businesses”

06:55 : “One line of text…and all of a sudden this problems gone away”

07:20: “It’s easy fixes but you’ve had to have it pointed out to you because you’re blind to it because you’re too close to it”

09:18: “I think I just get excited a bit too easily maybe, but that’s because I love what I do”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

how to use them!

Why Engagement is Key in ANY Business – Interview with Hayley Meakes

Sun, 20 Sep 2020 23:00:00 -0000

Today Christina talks with Hayley Meakes. Hayley, like Christina works in the world of marketing and is known for specialising in employee engagement. She is also a great speaker on marketing and a mentor to others.

In this episode they talk about why employee engagement is so important and it’s impact of the rest of the business. They also discuss some of the challenges of running agencies and dealing with clients. Listen today for an honest discussion about these challenges.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Engagement is all about the employees emotional commitment to their employer and the brands goals
Employee engagement can be seen as ‘fluffy’ but there is great psychology behind it!
Engaged employees are: productive, less wasteful, more profitable and positive promoters of their brand who communicate well. They are also more innovative, work harder and take more risks.
By working with brands culture and engagement Hayley has been able to make a real difference about how the workforce is as a whole but also the effect on the company’s bottom line through things such as recruitment costs.
Celebrating successes is key to employee engagement, sometimes something just as simple as a ‘thank you’ can go a long way and can surprisingly be missing from company culture.
Investment in internal marketing can be the biggest change maker in employee engagement. Ensuring your employees understand the company and brand direction; employees are your biggest champions it’s essential they understand what it is you are trying to do.
Managers need to be accountable for the engagement on their teams. Cultural change starts with leadership.
Clear conversations are needed with clients about what ROI looks like for their business and what they expect. Is their budget realistic? It’s about managing expectations and ensuring that the clients know what they need to be doing to create success.
Be open to everything that happens around a marketing campaign, sometimes what you have aimed to happen doesn’t go exactly to plan but you gain invaluable data and gain ROI from sources you did not expect.
It’s important to take cultural differences into account when working with international clients. There are many things to consider e.g It isn’t good enough to just like-for-like translate things. Nuances and colloquialisms can change the meaning and emphasis of everything. Using a translator that speaks the language you are translating into can be effective in ensuring you don’t make faux pas.

BEST MOMENTS

14:50 “Your people are you biggest asset. They are your biggest champions, your biggest advocates, your biggest cheerleaders…they can also be your biggest problem”

16:16 “The best suggestions come from the most unexpected sources”

18:20 “It becomes a poster on the wall not a way of life”

21:05 “People put all of this effort into empty gestures and think they’re ticking a box”

48:20 “You just have to be aware that what you plan to get out of something, (the outcome) might be completely different and better”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Hayley Meaks Website

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Highs And Lows of Owning a Business!

Sun, 13 Sep 2020 23:00:00 -0000

Are you doing your best and being your best?

Christina reflects on the last year for her business, both the highs and the lows. It’s vital to have a group of people who can support you when things are not going well but you also need to recognise the importance of celebrating the wins along the way.

As a business owner it’s important to reflect on how you deal with both the successes and challenges in your business and if you are rushing past the wins is this an indicator that you are in danger of being overwhelmed?

Recognising the highs and the lows is about sharing with others and Christina offers great content in this episode on how you can achieve this.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

You need someone to share with when you are not OK
You need people who can advise and help you to rationalise your thoughts to move forward.
You need to recognise when you need the help of others.
If you have an issue it can affect you and you need to be able to reach out.
Managing the highs can be a challenge in a different way to the challenge of the lows.
You can be over-focused on pushing forward and not stop to celebrate the wins.
It’s important to look for the overwhelm indicators – if you aren’t celebrating the wins it may be a sign of overload.
Look out for the overwhelm and make contact with someone.

BEST MOMENTS

‘You don’t know what you don’t know’

‘I have to take action because I’m scared of the paralysis of doing nothing’

‘Take time to live the highs and enjoy them’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

Making Your Passion Your Business – Interview with Susan Rose

Sun, 06 Sep 2020 23:00:00 -0000

Christina is with Susan Rose whose passion and business is the creation of beautiful bone china items.

They discuss why and how understanding what you are good at and having the right people around you can positively impact on your business along with how Susan Rose China began as a hobby business and successfully scaled.

Susan shares both her journey and great advice on how to take your passion from a hobby business to one that’s significant within its niche market.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Bone china is a niche market but it’s vital that English bone china makers are able to continue to share their skills creating beautiful items.
I’m passionate about English bone china and it’s important that want people to know about its quality and environmental positives.
As we have grown our market has changed from 80% retail and 20% corporate to 20% retail and 80% corporate.
There was a switch from it being a hobby business to a business that was scaling and growing.
Every business requires extremely hard work and everyone makes mistakes but try to use those situations as opportunities.
Ask yourself what can I do better, what can I change?
It’s not about the situation it’s how you respond to it, learn from it and use the opportunities.
It’s important to understand that if someone else can do it you can too.
We recently moved all our work to Stoke and this changed the business because we are now central to expertise and skills in bone china production.
It’s important to have the right people around you.
My hard work and passion has brought me into contact with people who have wanted to help me.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Bone china is an environmentally sound gift to give someone because it’s designed to last’

‘I’ve met amazing people along the way who’ve helped me so I’m eager to give back to others’

‘Through hard work, I got my foot in the door’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Susan Rose China Instagram

Susan Rose China

ABOUT THE HOST

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

How Fun is Your Brand? (Humanise To Engage)

Sun, 30 Aug 2020 23:06:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina looks at how your brand is perceived and what you can do to engage with people, help them to relate to your story and understand who you are and what you have to offer.

Whatever and whenever people are buying there will have a variety of options and people always buy from the people they trust so being a person that others can relate to and engage with is key.

This is a great opportunity to reflect on your business and the ways you engage with others because if you are scoring 10 for how fun your business is you will be getting business from social media.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

How human is your brand?
How personal is your brand?
People ultimately always buy from people
Whatever you are buying it’s likely there are multiple buying options and you are most likely to buy from the person you trust the most.
Stories can be used effectively to resonant with people and help you to humanise yourself.
The more you engage with people the more you are memorable to them.
What can you do that will help others understand who you are and what you are offering?
If there is a story people can relate to then they will engage with you on a personal level.
If you are scoring 10 for how fun your business is you can’t fail to get business from social media.

BEST MOMENTS

‘You are generally swayed by the person you have the best relationship with’

‘Humanising yourself helps others to engage with you’

‘Stories help people to understand who you are’

ABOUT THE HOST

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Cyber-Attack Tsunami is Coming Your Way; What You NEED to Know; With Francis West)

Sun, 30 Aug 2020 23:05:00 -0000

There has been a tsunami of cyber-attacks on small businesses and Francis West who is a specialist in cybersecurity who is on a mission is to educate 1 million people by 2023 about cybersecurity and how to protect themselves.

They discuss the statistics and how hackers can easily access to your accounts with an astounding rise in attacks from 1 every 4 seconds to 4 every single second over the past few months.

This is an education in why everyone needs to taketh e issue of cybersecurity very seriously because it can potentially impact on us all and has long-reaching consequences for those targeted.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

It’s about education and increasing the layers of security for everyone.
You are nine times more likely to suffer from a cyber-attack than a burglary.
Since the lockdown, there has been a huge increase in IT scams
You need to evolve the right culture in your business, a culture where even the highest and most valued customer paperwork can be questioned.
68% of small businesses in the UK have already been compromised and it takes them on average 237 days to find out.
It’s gone from 1 every 4 seconds to 4 every 1 second.
Anti-virus software can only protect you against known threats
People need to take the threat of cyber-attacks seriously
Early detection is key and this is only possible through constant monitoring.
For less than 5 pounds a month you can be notified if your password appears on the dark web.
Being in business is all about knowing your numbers every month
In marketing, there is usually one thing that you are not doing that if you did would make a positive difference to your business.

BEST MOMENTS

‘As marketing businesses, we are all shouting about what we do so it’s not difficult for a hacker to come up with a plausible story’

‘Let me put my cybersecurity blanket around you and keep you safe’

‘The more people we educate the more people there will be who won’t press the button’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Francis West LinkedIn

ABOUT THE HOST

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Firefish Software website

Who's in Your Hit List?

Sun, 30 Aug 2020 23:04:00 -0000

Christina looks at the importance of having a hit list as a business owner. She explores how this approach is based on building relationships with the results often only being seen in the longer term.

When you start your business, you need to have a list of people who are in your corner and are in your contact list or you are known to them because a recommendation from them is valuable.

When you identify influencers in your business arena they should be on your list and you should be working to become someone that is known to them and ultimately on their contact list.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I had a list of people who I had in my corner who could make a real difference to the business.
It’s about getting the attention of the influencers in your sector.
I favourited links to the profiles of people on my hit list.
I liked their content and left meaningful and thoughtful comments in response to posts.
There was no sell it was about starting a conversation.
The relationships I built are still coming to fruition now
It takes energy and effort and it’s not a short term result but it does work.
This is long term approach and you have to be consistent but the results can be very positive for your business.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I built relationships and got their attention’

‘I am being asked to get involved because of the relationships I have built with people’

My hit list is about being known to certain people and it’s worked’

ABOUT THE HOST

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

LinkedIn
Twitter
Website

Wendy McDougall of Firefish Software on Being Different & Making the Difference

Sun, 30 Aug 2020 23:03:00 -0000

In this episode, Christina is talking with Wendy McDougall of Firefish Software who are a prominent force within the recruitment world.

They discuss how Firefish has grown, what being a successful business owner means and what you need to do to be a great recruiter who is able to offer their clients exactly what they want.

This is a great opportunity to hear about what it’s like to be successful in the recruitment space and flourish even when the market is challenging.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Recruitment is where it starts and it’s about where you as a business position yourself.
Simplify everything and make sure your values are embedded in everything you do.
Relinquishing control is part of a shift in mindset that comes when your company begins to be able to move forward without you having to do everything yourself.
If you are a business owner it can be a lonely place to be.
It’s a choice you make to be the leader and you have to accept what comes with that.
Whatever the market place is doing, do something different.
You have to be committed to trying new things.
So many people think they are the only person doing what they do.
Essentially all recruiters are doing the same thing the only difference is the approach to the honesty.
You find candidates, you find companies and make a good match how you do that and how its packaged is what makes the difference.
It’s about understanding that what we do is about matching the best customer with the best individual.
It’s about how we earn the trust that makes the difference.
Recruitment is not about an instant result it’s all about the long term gain.

BEST MOMENTS

‘We are using our resources and content to help recruiters do better’

‘You have to be committed to trying new things’

‘We have transformed what we are doing and nailed our roadmap and offering for clients moving forward’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Wendy McDougall LinkedIn

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the u se of social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

LinkedIn
Twitter
Website

Lead With Value (Customers Buy 'Trust')

Sun, 30 Aug 2020 23:02:00 -0000

Christina reflects on the importance of creating great content and leading with value if you want to build the trust and relationships needed to ultimately bring the sales you want for your business.

To be seen as an expert in your field and for people to know this, you must share

value and content that demonstrates this in an easily accessible social media space. Christina explains exactly how anyone can get started effectively sharing content and value and why consistency and showing up when you say you will is key.

Find out how If you are prepared to look for opportunities to share and lead with value and content then you will always have something to say.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

You need to start by creating content that you have ownership of such as a blog or videos
Lead with value and create posts that are going to help your client to solve their problems
The end goal is always to make money but if people are going to buy from you it’s because they have a level of trust in you.
In service lead businesses the decision to buy is driven by the relationships formed and the level of trust created.
To gain trust you have to be seen as the expert in your field.
You need to be able to demonstrate through your content that you have a level of expertise and knowledge.
It’s so important that you give away all your secrets because the more you can educate and help people to understand what they are buying the more value they will give to it.
You have to be prepared to answer the responses, being present and being there is vital for engagement
You have to have a plan for consistency and be committed to continuing.
If all you talk about is selling then you will very quickly run out of things to say but if you lead with value there are always new things to talk about.
Always look for opportunities to share content.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Kick off your shoes and put on the customer’s shoes to understand how they are feeling’

‘Always look for opportunities to share content’

‘If people are going to buy from you it’s because they have a level of trust in you’

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them!

Recruiting Brainfood website

Recruiting Brainfood - 'Don't Forget Your Why' (With Hung Lee)

Sat, 29 Aug 2020 23:01:00 -0000

In this first episode, Christina is in conversation with Hung Lee creator of ‘Recruiting Brainfood’

They talk about how Recruiting Brainfood began and the inspiring 24-hour live streaming event that recently took place.

Hung is passionate about the impact our humanity has and is currently curating individuals in the recruitment space sharing their own stories. These stories are about humanity and move others because it is about finding out about who people really are. Lots of us have forgotten the why behind what we do and any action that brings us closer to our humanity is a step towards reconnection.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Brainfood was initially about putting together all the resources I had to help others in a public archive.
Whatever content you are producing if you are asking people to subscribe and asking them for a portion of their time you have to be consistent and regularly produce content.
You have to be there every week, it’s all about longevity and building trust.
We are all creatures of habit and we live in a world of constant change so as a content producer you have to be able to offer consistency of approach and a regular pattern for how things happen.
As soon as you have a following and community of any sort you have a responsibility to them.
I wanted to provide opportunities for interaction between the great minds that are a part of brainfood.
We need to talk in a way that humanises people and I wanted to do that for the recruitment
space.
Those who are telling their own stories are experiencing a reconnection with their values
People respond to other people’s true stories and in it makes the world a better place because it brings us closer to our humanity
It takes courage to be honest with yourself because you have to look at you in the mirror
Memories may not be gentle but reconnecting with those things is about who you are.

BEST MOMENTS

‘You’ve got to be pro, whatever the situation’

‘If you are super consistent people will cling on to that in a world that is chaotic’

‘A lot of us have forgotten the 'why' behind what we do’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Hung Lee LinkedIn

ABOUT THE HOST