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The Crucial Mindset Shifts Holding You Back from Getting Results from Content

Hailey Dale

HEY THERE!

I’m Hailey – content strategist and founder here at Your Content Empire where we help you create more profitable, purposeful and productive content — and hopefully enjoy yourself more while doing it too. Learn more about me here >>

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The Crucial Mindset Shifts Holding You Back from Getting Results from Content

Do you find yourself getting stuck or going in circles when it comes to implementing most strategies and tactics in your business? As a content strategist I hear this all the time from students and listeners and knew I had to have Becky Mollenkamp on the podcast to talk about the mindset shifts you should be making prior to trying on strategy after strategy. I loved our conversation and hope you enjoy it too!

Becky Mollenkamp is a mindset coach who helps business owners break the thought and behavior patterns that keep them stuck.

Key Takeaways from this Episode

What has your business journey looked like from when you first hung out that digital “come in, we’re open sign” to where you are today?

  • It's interesting because I don't feel like I ever really hung out the digital sign. It sort of like evolved because I've been in business for a long time. Pre-internet basically. I started as a freelance writer in 2005, so I guess the Internet was around, but it was still pretty much a baby and at that time I did my work with clients all over the place and really then I was using LinkedIn as my primary and only tool for marketing myself
  • But really the shift to feeling like where I feel like I'm doing an online business has been in the last four or five years I guess. And that has been as I've shifted from doing what I was originally doing, which was more magazine writing and then I switched into doing more content marketing for corporate clients. And that's when I really started to think of myself as doing more online work because I was writing blog posts, and case studies, and white papers, and all the kinds of things that were being used for online marketing. And then more recently in the last year and a half, two years, I've made a shift again in my business and am now doing mindset coaching.
  • I'm working my coaching certification, nearly finished with that, and have been helping other people overcome fears and stop living in the should's.

Well, congratulations on almost being done. Your coaching certification, what made you make that pivot?

  • I have wanted to do something like that for a long time. I just didn't realize it was a thing until more recently. After I had my son I really was like, I want to do something that had felt like it had more meaning. That brought me more joy than the writing work I was doing. And so I loved teaching and educating and I knew coaching could be something that might work for me, but I didn't really understand that mindset coach was really a thing. So I sort of myself out there versus just a general business coach, but I really have no right doing that because I don't know the latest mark. Like I'm not the person for somebody to come to and ask how to run an online business. I'm still figuring it out myself. What I really want to help people with and what I have done and know how to do is help people make those shifts in their thinking.
  • So that they can get out of the fear based decision making and move towards value based decision making and really living the life that they're wanting to live because that's the work I've done in myself and that I'm most interested in helping people with. So it's only been more recently that I've realized like that's a thing. And I can call myself a mindset coach and I can do that work. And I don't have to try to be all things to all people when it comes to coaching.

In terms of legacy – what is the big mission you’re here to accomplish with your business?

  • I really want to empower women and I think that was why I first thought of business coaching because I really do want to help women who run businesses. I could help all women with mindset, but I'm really most interested in women who are running their own businesses. Because to me, running your own business feels like such an empowering decision because now you are in control of your own financial destiny and to me it doesn't get much more empowering than that. So I knew I wanted to work with those kinds of women. I just became more clear that the way I want to do that is in helping with mindset. So my goal is to help as many women as possible who own businesses to stop living in fear and start living a life that's truly what they want and not what they think they're supposed to do because of any kind of societal norms, or cultural expectations, what they were told as children, but instead of figuring out what is really important to them and creating that life.
  • I find that my clients typically are people who've done all of the tactics and strategies. They've been out there taking courses and listening to podcasts and doing all the things, learning, learning, learning about tactics, and then they can't figure out why they're not moving the needle. And they finally are starting to figure out, “Oh. Maybe it's not learning some magic trick, some magic email funnel, but it's actually about like getting out of my own way and stopping with the negative self talk and the self sabotage.” And then once you do that, then having all of those tools in your kit is really important because then you can execute on them and really make a difference. But people will suddenly realize like, “Oh, I'm actually stop sabotaging myself here. Why? I say I want success, so why do I keep throwing up these roadblocks?” And that's the work I really love to help them do is figure that out.

What do you think is the number one burning question that you get from your community about mindset, thought, and behavior patterns, and what do you tell them?

  • It's hard to say one because I get so many, but I guess probably the thing that tends to be most common among all the women I work with, and it's very common amongst smart women, is impostor syndrome and this feeling that I'm not good enough. I'm not as good as whoever. There's something wrong with me and that comparisonitis and whatnot. And so there's a lot of work that goes into working on imposter syndrome, but if I was to give sort of one quicker tip it would be to shut down the noise because that comparisonitis stuff really contributes to impostor syndrome and until you deal with the underlying issues, why you're having that impostor syndrome, where that's coming from, whose voice that is, and learning a lot of tactics around how to quiet that voice. I think just quieting all the other noise.
  • Don't follow people on social media that make you feel bad about yourself or listen to the podcast that are making you compare yourself. So even stuff that's positive. I think people think to shut down anything that feels negative, but sometimes we feel like we're following people that maybe we like out of a sense of obligation or because we really do care about them, but their success is making us feel bad about ourselves and that stuff also we need to quiet. It's nothing about that person, it's just that you're right now not equipped to handle that information and process that information without it contributing to your negative self talk.

So shifting gears to your own marketing, because I know now you do a podcast, but what did that … Like what was your own journey with content marketing and using content in your business? Did that go through an evolution as you did the pivot towards the mindset and thought and behavior pattern coaching?

  • The first online course was all about LinkedIn because I know it so well. I've been using it since 2004 like almost when it was brand new and it's been responsible in my marketing business for, I mean, very large percentage of my new clients and of my income. And so it used to be you really focused on that and in fact I didn't do a lot else. Like I didn't do a lot of blogging or social media. I did Twitter back then. I did a lot of Twitter, but that was more for fun and self-expression than it was about clients. Really the bulk of my business with LinkedIn. So that started to shift for me. With this shift, as I was moving more to like what I would call an online business and away from that other clientele, but wanting to work with individuals.
  • Then I started to focus a lot more on Facebook groups and that's where I spent the bulk of my time at the beginning of this journey was creating a Facebook group, being active in other Facebook groups, and then more recently I've been trying to shift to doing things like the podcast and my YouTube channel and moving into things that I think help, first of all, provide a little more depth of understanding of what I do and also maybe show off my personality a little more because hiring a coach, particularly a mindset coach, is a really intimate relationship and so you really need to feel comfortable with that person. So I really try to now focus on places where I feel like I can allow people to most see who I am and get comfortable with me so that they feel like they are willing to work with me on something that's so private.

With this shift in what you're doing, where does your source of inspiration come? Like how do you decide what you're going to create a YouTube video about? Or one of your mini podcast episodes, solo episodes about where does that inspiration come from?

  • Well, right now, because this is still relatively new to me. Like I'm in the place of, I have too much to share. I was in fact just looking at my content calendar before we talked and trying to figure out, “Okay. Well what am I going to share next?” And feeling like I want to do all the topics and I have a long exhaustive list of things I want to cover. And it's like, “Oh. When am I gonna get to all of this?” Because I'm still in that phase of just like, it's still sort of new and there's a lot there, but for me the biggest thing is just I listen to my clients. So it's what are they talking to me about? What am I talking to my clients about? And I'm always taking notes. And I mean, that stuff's the perfect fodder for creating content because it's clearly, those are the things that they're struggling with that they need help with. So that's the stuff I'm creating content around.
  • It's the nice thing about doing one-on-one work too. I mean I also am in the process right now. I'm Beta testing a group program, so I'll soon be launching that on a semi regular basis a few times a year doing this group program. And I love that because one to many has a lot of benefits, some of them being financial, but also just the ability to impact more lives. So I like that, but I do think doing one-on-one work, especially when something is newer to you, is really valuable because it does give you that insight that you may not get in a group program or especially in something as anonymous as like an online course where you're just selling it and then not really working with the people.

Can you walk us through a typical content creation day for you? What’s your process for creating new content look like?

  • I have two degrees in journalism. I've been a professional writer for 20 years. Like I know writing. That's where I'm most comfortable. And like I said, I think in the beginning, do what's most comfortable. That said, I've been in business a long time now and I'm far more comfortable using other platforms than I used to be. And so I'm now making the shift where I'm going to be starting with video. I feel really comfortable with video, but I think I spend more time prepping than other people might because I'm not as comfortable doing off the cuff. I do at least like to have a basic script, but I'm starting with video. So things will go from my YouTube channel and then from there I'm now taking those and editing them into podcast episodes. So I'm shifting from every week having a guest on my podcast to now being every other week with a guest, and then every other week me delivering a mindset tip, and those are just coming from the YouTube channel.
  • At first I was like, “Oh. I can't do that because it's the same content [inaudible 00:14:47] said to me.” It took someone else saying to me, “Hey, would you please take these YouTube things and make them in a podcast? I don't want you to, but I love your podcast.” And I'm like, oh, okay. I needed that permission, I think. That it's okay to repeat content. So I'm going from YouTube to podcasts and then some of those things will also then get used for emails and/or blog posts and then social media. There's still some flexibility in there with like email and blog posts where I can create things that maybe don't start on video, but that's my goal is to now move where I'm starting at video because it's very easy for me to take that video and create a podcast episode out of that. So then I can hire someone out to transcribe and turn those into blog posts and social media for me to alleviate some of the stress on me on creation.

So getting down to the nitty gritty. So right now it looks like you're doing a lot of one-on-one sessions and you're taking those questions and things and using that to be responsive in these YouTube videos or like the mini-sodes that you're doing. Are you batching them or are you creating them one at a time?

  • No, I would go crazy. Well and it doesn't fit into my lifestyle to do that because for me one of the other holdups on doing video has always been like, it's a whole to do. I generally don't wear makeup and I don't fix my hair and I don't you know? I wear dirty tee shirts. I'm a mom to a toddler. So like just getting myself put together enough to do video is, it feels like a chore, but I don't want to show up a video looking totally messy. So I do try to batch it so that I can do a half dozen or more at a time. And my videos are short. I mean my YouTube channel is called Mindset Minutes. So they're generally like just a few minutes long. I try to keep them to under five minutes generally.
  • So they're not long and they don't take me horribly long time to record or edit, but I like to do them all at once so I can record half dozen to a dozen at a time and then from there I'll do as much of the editing at once as I can and then of the uploading and scheduling and all the graphics at once. Right now I'm doing it all. I am hoping to get back to the place of having a VA helping me with some of that, but I'm doing all of it right now. So it is just bashing it to be most effective with my time and really maximize those hair and makeup days. They're pretty rare.

How would you define a content empire as it relates to your own business and what you’ve built?

  • Well, I feel like I'm getting closer and closer because to me it feels like something that's more strategic than just throwing things at the wall, which is what I've done in the past. In the past it was like, “Oh, I've got an idea, I'll just throw up a blog poster. Oh, I'll just send an email.” There was really never any rhyme or reason or thought about what would go where or when. And I still allow a lot of room for creativity and inspiration, but I do feel like I'm getting better at getting to a place of it being more strategic, having a plan, being thoughtful about it, maximizing my time, maximizing my content.
  • So I think strict strategy is a big part of that. And then the biggest part for me is I want to be known as somebody that is trusted in this area. So I want to have that like trust factor with as many people as possible. I would love for people to, when they think of mindset coaching for progressive women business owners, that they think of me and I think content is a huge part in making that happen and working on a book as well. And so I'm kind of hoping that that becomes the cornerstone for everything. And then all of the other content I create just kind of feeds that too. So I think being in a lot of places, but being thoughtful about it and then having a real strategy and using your content to be that thought leader, that to me is kind of what an empire would be.

Lightning Round

Latest content or marketing tool discovery? Podia is where I host all of my courses of my digital downloads and my membership.

Most profound business book you’ve read?  Attract and Activate by Meg Casebolt

What is one marketing trend that you're passing on for now?  Well I'm going to say Instagram.

2018 or 2019 planner of choice?  Jaylin Designery

Where would you invest $5,000 in your business today?  I would hire somebody to help me with my messaging.

Links for this Show

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