Ask Me Anything So You Can Move Forward with Confidence | Bernadette Boas

Good day, good day, good day everyone! And yes, welcome to another episode of Shedding the Bitch Radio and TV. And today is our Ask Me Anything episode where I take the questions or the challenges you might be having that you've reached out to me for some support and some coaching on, and I bring them right here in order for other people to learn because they may have the same question or dealing with the same challenge that you are.. So all through the month you have an opportunity to go out onto Shedding the Bitch Facebook page or Twitter, or the majority of you reach out to me, um, in a direct message on LinkedIn. So, um, all through the month you could do that, pose your question, pose your challenge. I am more than grateful to be able to right then and there provide you some tips and advice and sometimes some tough love. And at the same time, what I'll do is I'll gather those up throughout the month and I'll bring them right here to the first Tuesday of the month when we, you know, dive into all of those, uh, questions and challenges so other people can learn as well. So, um, feel free to do that. At the same time, I am live, and so if you have a question or a challenge that you're dealing with right now and you've seeing, uh, promos for today's episode out on any one of our networks, then feel free to call 1-818-572-2910, and I am watching and will keep an eye out in case you call. Or you can chat in as well by simply going on to BlogTalkRadio and/or any one of the, uh, platforms that we are also streaming video, which is YouTube Shedding the Bitch Facebook and Shedding the Bitch Twitter pages. And we're keeping an eye out across all of those platforms. So if you should have anything while we are here live, then feel free to post them and we will make sure we get to them. If we don't see them and/or you watch this on replay, then feel free to continue to post your questions and challenges and my team will kind of alert me of them and I will get with you as quickly as possible. Um, to make sure you're getting the support that you need. All right, so let me summarize. Well, first off, let me just thank our ongoing, uh, viewers and listeners. You are finding us whether that's on our Shading the Bitch TV YouTube channel or on, like I said, um, anywhere that we're streaming, um, the video, which is on Facebook, Twitter, both Shading the Bitch pages. YouTube's Shannon the Bitch TV, um, and at the same time on any one of your podcast streaming services. So, uh, we are so, so grateful because you are liking, you're sharing, you're tweeting, you're rating, you're subscribing, and we would love for you to continue to subscribe so you can get updates on our current and future topics and guests. While at the same time, I should mention, we are so grateful that you do give us recommendations for the topics you want to hear about and the experts you want to learn from. So continue to provide that, and between Deborah and Alex and Sam out there, we'll make sure that we, um, can bring them to you as soon as possible. All right, uh, let's see what else. I want to thank our ongoing sponsors, North Georgia Tax Solutions, who, uh, provides financial services and full tax services, uh, support to small to medium-sized companies. I lost my— forgive me, um, to corporate, uh, size, small to corporate size companies, um, and also personal and business needs. So should you be in the market for your business anywhere in the country not just North Georgia, then reach out to NG Tax Solutions and, um, ask them how they can help you. All right, you can find them at ngtaxsolutions.com. And more local to the Atlanta and to Georgia area is our latest sponsor, and that is Up Top Roofing of Atlanta. Jay and his team are fabulous with home services and roofing needs. So should you be in the Atlanta or surrounding areas within Georgia, please reach out to Jay. Tell him I sent you, and you can find him at up-toproofing at— oh, I'm sorry, ofatl@yahoo.com. All right, okay. So let me give you an idea of the questions that I have thus far, but remember, you always have an opportunity to call in, um, and/or chat in, and, uh, we are keeping an eye out across the platforms, believe it or not. And, um, letting us, letting us know what kind of question or challenge you're dealing with and let me provide you some tips and advice. All right. So here are the questions that we're gonna go over. Kim had asked how to find a job in an industry he wants, he wants while having a full-time job. So how to find kind of his passion career while having a full-time job. And then Leslie wants to talk about what's a hack to keep me organized "with my to-do list." Love that subject, love that subject. Anything about time management and productivity, anything to make us more efficient and more productive, right? Reini asked about what to say when following up on a proposal without seeming pushy. We get this a lot, this question a lot, just because a lot of people are hesitant in, you know, how far they can push going after a potential client. And then lastly, and this will relate, that question will relate whether you're working on your own or you have a corporate career, all right? The last question too is, how best do I select the right CRM tool for my business? And again, all of these questions can be very, very easily translated whether you're a corporate professional or you are out on your own and you're dealing with any one of these scenarios. Situations or challenges. All right, now again, 1-818-572-2910 should you have any questions and you want to talk to me directly, uh, and/or you can again put, put your question or challenge in the comment section, whether that's out on BlogTalkRadio, out on YouTube, out on our Shedding the Bitch Facebook or Twitter pages. All right, and we'll keep an eye out for them. So we can, you know, get more engagement with you. Alrighty. All right, so let's first talk about Kim's question: how to find a job in the industry he wants while having a full-time job. And now he came to me thinking that my real focus was on career, and it's really not on a I'm not a career coach per se. So I, you know, immediately told him that if it's about his resume or some other specific things when it comes to finding a job, I wouldn't be the best person for him. Yet as we were talking and he was picking up on the fact that I was giving him strategies and tips and ideas and action items to take, he realized that there was some kind of business coaching aspects to also what it was that he was trying to do. Um, but let's look at the fact that he's trying to find a job in the industry he truly wants to be in while he has a full-time job. The first thing I would say to anyone is kudos, kudos, kudos! You recognize the fact that you want to keep that stable income while you're looking to maybe you know, change total industries, change careers, change companies, whatever the case might be. Um, stability is a beautiful, beautiful thing. And so if you have an opportunity, even if you say that, oh, I want to go out and not just a side hustle, but I want to go out and start a business on my own, but you have a job that has income coming in, I totally am, you know, all for that and would definitely advise anyone to stick with that plan. Because the one thing is you don't want to be stressing while you're even doing research and even doing kind of testing, because a lot of people will, you know, kind of have this passion, and maybe it's a hobby of theirs that they absolutely love. Maybe it's a creative outlet that they have found that they think, oh, okay, you know, I wanna, you know, do this full time. And yet I've seen it time and time again when they actually do it and they've kind of put aside anything else that they were focused on and they actually get into it, especially if you're going from an employment job, I'll call it, to being an entrepreneur. Many, many, many people are often surprised and often very discouraged by just what it takes to actually have a company, you know, have a business of your own. Now, that's not what Kim's looking for. Kim's looking for, you know, just switching industries that he is in, not necessarily going from, you know, employed to entrepreneur. Uh, so whichever, you know, direction you're looking to take and you have a full-time job, take it. Now, what we also discussed, and I would share with you as well, is the fact that apart from— maybe it's a 9-to-5, maybe it's more than 9-to-5 or less than 9-to-5— but if you really do want to kind of test the waters, or, and, or you just want to take time getting connections making an introduction, introductions, learning more about the industry, learning more about the companies that you want to pursue. You know, kind of doing kind of a— I don't want to say an official internship, but you want to, you know, kind of do the work to see that that is where you want to, you know, kind of pull yourself out of one comfort zone, so to speak, and move yourself into something that might be uncomfortable at the beginning. So I would definitely say that look at your schedule as to what— where, you know, what you're committed to already with your job and what availability do you have in the evenings, before work, on the weekends to kind of test, test and trial that new industry, that new job, that new type of company. So even if you do want to start your own company, you could start it outside the hours of your full-time employment and see, you know, what it takes and whether or not you like it or not before you all of a sudden pull the plug and go into it, you know, full, full steam ahead. You just want to do it in a smart way to where you're, you're not having any regrets or you're not beating yourself up as you go. And you, and you're not stressed from the beginning just because the fact that You know, you have something stable and yet, you know, now you took this plunge. So we discussed different things and it's, you know, all going to be different based on what it is that you might want to do. If you're having the same type of question or situation that you're in, definitely go get introductions, start networking, start learning about the industry, start researching the type of companies that are out there. Look into the job descriptions and the type of jobs and roles that they have. Look into, you know, what their compensation structure is for that, for that new industry, for that new role that you want to take on. Start working, running your own business on the side. Now, some of you might want to look into if there's any conflict of interest with your full-time job. We won't spend a lot of time there, but just, you know, just in case there's anybody that is, you know, kind of working for a company that doesn't, doesn't look kindly on those having side hustles. So you kind of want to do your, your homework there, but do as much as you can to really leverage the availability of time while you have stability to to kind of work, walk into that new career, that new industry, that new company. Uh, don't just— don't pull the plug. And I was thrilled when he, when he, um, said that he wasn't about to. Um, now as far as if you're going into an industry such as he was, if you are wanting to go into an industry that really requires kind of connections, it really requires you knowing somebody. Well, then that's where the networking and making, you know, going out and making introductions, joining professional groups, joining associations, anything that, you know, where you can kind of penetrate yourself and get known within the industry is a, is a wonderful, wonderful thing. And recognize that, you know, yes, you might be giving up your evenings and giving up your weekends, but like for him, he has a very short-term aggressive goal, uh, and therefore if he threw himself in— if you were to throw yourself in to really evaluating and testing and trialing, you know, this change you want to make, and you do it for 6 months or a year, how quickly does that go? I mean, it goes by so quickly. So say to yourself, all right, I'm going to make compromises. I'm gonna make sacrifices. I'm gonna alter, you know, everything that I'm doing right now and where my focus is and where I put my monies and where I put my time and my energies. And I'm just gonna throw myself in, get this assessment, you know, done and completed. And then I'll know, kind of what my next step is. And in his case also, you know, I even suggest that don't, you know, don't pull that plug until you have, until you've landed somewhere. And it might not look the same way as far as it may not be equal in pay, it might not be equal in the number of hours being worked or the type of work you're doing. Obviously it's not going to be the same, but as long as you're comfortable with whatever that is, then, um, but ensure that you have that before you pull the plug. But once you do, you're into a new adventure, and it could be very, very, very exciting. So, uh, just make decisions about how you're going to be able to maintain the income while you're doing research, making introductions, uh, testing the waters, assessing overall whether or not that is where you want to go. And then working toward securing an opportunity in that new career or that new industry. All right, okay, let me just take a look around, um, just to make sure that nothing's popping up in front. I have something over here.

Nope.

Um, okay, all right, so let's move on to The next question that Leslie brings up. So what is a hack to keep me organized with my to-do list? Now, there was a lot more to this, but that's kind of how I summarized her question. And I get this a lot as an executive coach, business coach. I work with everyone from those that have been in business for, you know, minimum of 3 years to corporate VPs, you know, SVP, C-level executives. And I'll tell you what, the to-do list is the biggest challenge for the majority. And oftentimes what I'll have them do is kind of, you know, either scan or take a picture. You know, I'm still not necessarily face-to-face with anyone. Or hold up their, you know, hold up their to-do list while we're on camera. And, you know, it's, it's just shocking to me. It, it's just shocking to me because it's just, you know, it's just lines and lines of just everything that they have to, have to do. And the first thing that I do is I start to, you know, almost hyperventilate just looking at that to-do list. Let alone having to then, you know, kind of get my head around it so I can start executing against it. If it were my to-do list, I should say. So I, you know, I first have to really understand, all right, so do you work off that master, what I'll call a master to-do list? It's just their, you know, their laundry list of everything that needs to get done. I first need to really understand if if that's the list, if that's the master that they work off of, or do they have a process for how they, yes, they keep track of everything that needs to get done, but then they look at prioritization, they look at what they can delay or delete or delegate or do. So I call it the 4 Ds of maximizing your productivity. Is anytime you have a to-do list, even if there's only 3 items on it, you should be looking at it initially and saying to yourself— I talk to myself a lot, you know— but you should be looking at it and saying to yourself, "All right, is there anything on this list that I could be delaying? Is there anything on this list I could be deleting? Is there anything on this list I could be delegating?" And delegating It could mean to someone that's on your payroll. It could be someone that you contract, someone that you just kind of reach out to and use, you know, very, very, very minimally. Like I did actually this morning, maybe it was yesterday. You know, I have a couple of admins that they're just there when I have a specific task that I don't wanna do and I can pass it on to them. And then there's do. So it's delegate, delay— I'm sorry, yeah, well, we'll mess it up. Delegate, delay, delete, or do. Those are kind of the 4 Ds of maximizing your productivity. So you look at that list, and I try to get an understanding as to how my client would would handle their and manage their to-do list. So that would be my one hack. Take your to-do list and look at it and put, you know, various D's alongside of it. Now, what I'm really big on and what I'm very much known for is just how to take that long to-do list and just pull out the 3 things that are absolutely necessary that you need to get done in a given day. Based on your priority, based on the projects at hand, the clients you have, uh, the work you're pursuing, whatever the case might be. Uh, and so really look at it. And I always say to my clients, be sure you have, uh, money first, money first, prospecting second, and then, you know, kind of, um, actual work or marketing or promotions or anything else after that. So money first means if you already have an, like, an opportunity, you know, sitting on your, on your desk that has money attached to it, you've been paid, and therefore you have to deliver, or you have to deliver this in order to be paid, or this is a proposal of which has money attached to it that then has the cycle of being reviewed, being, you know, negotiated, and then being finalized. So anything that has money attached to it definitely takes your number one priority. Okay, the number two would be, all right, we always need to keep the, the— whether you're in corporate or as an entrepreneur, we need to keep the monies flowing. So the second one would be, all right, what might you have on that to-do list, or what might you be planning around prospecting to keep the funnel to keep the funnel full and moving. So anything that you have planned out and/or are thinking about and/or know that you need to do, those should be your second priority that you're looking at and you're prioritizing into your top 3 for the day and/or for the week. And then thirdly would be, you know, you would have work that you know you need to get done. It's not the money, it's not the work that needs to be attached to the money. That's, you know, that was your number one priority. You always need to take care of your clients first. You need to take care of, um, current work, potential work, future work. That's all in the money, in the money bucket. The second one is, um, anything regarding prospecting. And then third would be anything after that, like marketing or HR or, um, finance, whatever the case might be. Would be your third priority. And you can continue kind of bucketing your tasks in various buckets, but we'll leave it at that. Money, prospecting, and everything else, basically. So you take that list, and it might be that one day you're just, you know, you might be just working on money activities. Again, in corporate or entrepreneur, I always make sure that whatever, you know, I have committed to from a client perspective, you know, is, is scheduled and prioritized and blocked out in my schedule. You wanna do the same. And that has to also do with potential money and/or money that maybe you haven't started acting on delivering yet, but yet you have prep work to do. So start doing that. And then identify those 3 things. Identify those 3 things. This is my— I'll show you my— this is kind of my approach. So you'll notice there's separation between them. So the first 3 items, and I only tend to look at 3 items at a time. The first 3 are my morning routine. Those are pretty much done by the time I'm even finished breakfast. You know, and I'm sitting permanently at my desk for the day. And then I say, okay, the next set of priorities are here. And then the next, you know, the last thing, and I have this separated because if I don't get to this third, last one of the three by the end of today, it's okay. I'll just move it to tomorrow. It's not top priority. The other two, the other two are. So I would just keep it very narrow, very focused. Take that long to-do list, put it into those, you know, notate those priorities, notate those 4 Ds— delegate, delay, delete, and do— and then just pull 3 of them out. Put those even on an index card. There's times— these are my questions— but there's times where I'll pull out an index card and talk about a hack. So a number of my clients, not all my clients, I will have them only use index cards because when they show me their journal, they're just exasperated as I am. You know, they're literally looking at their list just like, oh my gosh, there's so much I have to get done. So then we go through the process and we have a conversation. And then I say, okay, I only want you to focus on 3 things, pull out a single piece of paper or an index card, put it on a whiteboard, whatever the case might be. But I only want you focused on one— in one day on 3 things. You can add a 4th or a 5th or a 6th. Um, but you wouldn't go to 7th, 8th, or 9th until you've done those first 3. And that's basically what I do is I have my first 3, but then I, I can add when I get my first 3 completed. Makes sense. So that's a hack for how you can really get control of your to-do list because it can get out of hand. And the next thing you know, at the end of the day, at the end of the week, you're looking back going, what did I get done? And/or I didn't get done anything that I needed to get done that, you know, is of high priority. So prioritize, organize in that— in those 4 Ds, and then just focus on 3 of them. And trust me when I say your productivity will skyrocket by simply implementing those 3 small individual hacks. All right. Okay. So let me just take a look across here. I'm getting messages, but they're not questions. So I'll, I'll ignore them. All right, let's see now that I lost my card. Uh, all right, Vreeny. All right, so Vreeny asked— excuse me, I was concerned that my microphone might not, might not be plugged in. Uh, this is what happens when you're live. Um, so So, uh, Vreeni asked what to say when following up on a proposal without seeming pushy. Uh, now what I first want to make sure that she understood, but I want to make sure you understand too, keep in mind anytime, even when you're in a heated negotiation, a heated conflict, a heated, you know, conversation of any kind, It's just a conversation. It's just an exchange of words which then form, you know, either a question or a statement or a, a story or a piece of dialogue, whatever the case might be. It's just a conversation. And so oftentimes, especially when we're communicating via email, following up on email or on text, all of a sudden we get very forgetful about what it, what it means to have a conversation with someone should they be sitting across the table from us. So for instance, in her case, if you had been sitting, if she had been sitting across the table from someone that she had already made a proposal to, you know, I kind of try to, to get, get her or to you to, to just simply say, okay, then what would you say next? What would you say to, you know, as a follow-up to the fact that you sent a proposal or an offer, whatever the case might be, and now you simply want to follow up and look at it as if it's just a coffee conversation as opposed to something that you're typing out and you're getting all in your head about making sure it's written appropriately and it, you know, comes across properly. That's all good, don't get me wrong, but kind of write it out and focus on it as if it's just someone sitting across the table from you. So in her case, you know, very simply, when anybody sends a correspondence of any kind, what's the first thing you're wanting to understand or confirm or know about the receiving side of your correspondence? Well, I don't know about you, but for me it would be, did they understand it? Do they have any questions? Is there anything more, you know, that they need in order to make it a, you know, to make it complete? I mean, that's just, you know, kind of very logical that you would probably have if you were having a conversation with someone sitting across the table from them, right, is making sure they, you know, everything's clear, um, they don't have any questions, there isn't any information missing, um, that there isn't any changes that they would want to see. And so any follow-up, even on an email, could simply be, um, morning Joe, I forwarded you the proposal that you asked for, um, last Wednesday. And I wanted to follow up to ensure if, or to ask if you have any questions. Is there anything, you know, missing, or are there any changes you would like to make? And lastly, what availability do you have to get on a call, a brief call to discuss it? It's because it's probably most of that, other than maybe getting on a call, is what you would say if you were sitting across the the table from them having that same conversation. And so make it short and sweet and just simply ask. You could even, as far as say it goes, because I get this question a lot, well, I've been following up and I'm not getting a response. All right. So if, you know, all of a sudden you're following up, you're asking if they have questions, you're asking if there's any more information you could provide, you know, and you kind of want to bring this to a close. You could get more direct and just simply say, hey Joe, I haven't heard, you know, from you, and I want to ensure that you've received the last few emails that I've sent. And if you have a final decision and want, you know, what, whatever direction you want to take is totally fine with me. I would just love an opportunity to, you know, talk through your decision-making. Again, because you want as much clarity and understanding as, you know, for yourself as the other person that you're concerned about the other person having. So you can get a little bit more pointed and direct, um, even if you have to get to that point, or you've gotten to that point where you're just not getting a response. Sometimes if it is a no, people get quiet. Because they don't want to disappoint you, they don't want to hurt you, they don't want to reject, uh, and, and at the same time, the individual making the proposal, in this case Rainey, you know, also goes quiet because they don't want to be rejected. They don't want to hear that no. Well, you know what, you want to get to a yes or no, period. You don't want to, uh, I'm not sure, haven't— you know, you want to get that yes that no. It's just information that you're going to be able to use as you go forward. So simply say, have you made a decision? Are there any, you know, are there any questions, or are there anything that you're concerned about? Is there any, you know, objection that I can, you know, address for you? Again, picture it as if you're across the table from them and you're just wanting both sides to be very clear and to have all the information that's necessary story in order to move to the next step. And if it's a no, uh, can I understand— can I, you know, if you don't mind, can you help me to understand why? What, you know, what was it that, um, kind of stirred you away from that or had you make that decision or not make the decision? Uh, just so I can understand for going forward. Uh, and people will be open to wanting to share that type of information with you if you're open to it. And so it's really important for you to let the other person know that, you know what, whether it's yes or no, um, I want to understand it and I want to learn from it. And therefore they'll offer it. But when oftentimes, if they are wanting— if they are needing to say no and you don't ask and follow up, and are open to hearing and understanding their decision, then they're not going to be the ones going, oh, well, can I share with you why I'm saying no? They want to get out of that no as quickly as you want to get out of the no. So you want to ensure that not only are you following up and simply asking if there's any more information that you could be providing them, if there's any questions that they have, is there anything missing? Is there anything that they can you can do for them. And, you know, and if they say no, no, no, have all the information, you know, then great. What, what's your next step in making the decision? Well, I have to talk to a few people. Okay. Is there anything you think they might need? Because I'm more than happy to make myself available. Nope, nope. Just everything's good. I am a little bit concerned about the pricing. All right. What is it about the pricing that you're concerned about? Handling the objections right up front. And then if no, no, no, all that's good, good, good, but now they're kind of quiet and they haven't followed through, then you could just say, hey Joe, have you made that decision? And I would love to understand whatever decision you've made. And give them that opening that then, you know, makes them comfortable with whether it's the yes or the no, or a negotiation. You know, they might come back to you and go, well, we want to move forward, but we really need to, you know, look at the pricing, or we need to look at the delivery date, or we need to look at the scope, whatever the case might be. But whether you're in corporate or you're working on your own, follow-through is queen of success. All right. You can't expect the other people to follow, follow through or follow up with you. If you want something and if it's your goal and it's your desired outcome, be sure that follow-up is happening. And like Rini, if you are confused, if you are unsure, if you're kind of insecure about what it is that you, you know, you can say and how to say it in order to get the response that you need, then reach out and ask someone. Reach out. I mean, I spend a good majority of my coaching, um, with my clients. I work on communication, so be sure to do that. All right, um, all right, so that is what to do, uh, as a way of following up. How you should pursue following up without seeming pushy was specifically what, uh, she was concerned about. All right, I'm just looking across, making sure that we haven't missed anybody. All right, so, um, what's next? Okay, how best do I select the right CRM tool for my business? Okay, now, uh, I will have to say, um, Picking the right tool, uh, can be a project in itself. Can be a project in itself. So the first thing I would do is, one, I'm going to strip away the fact that it's a CRM, uh, tool that, you know, that this individual is looking for, um, because anyone else out there, whether you're corporate or entrepreneur You might be looking for some other type of technology or application or process or expertise, and you want to understand how to go through the— almost like the discovery and requirements process. And so this takes me back to when I did spend a great deal of my career doing business discoveries. But anytime you have to kind of make a selection, even if you're going out and buying a new iPhone or a new phone, You know, you first have to kind of really understand the landscape of what are all those phones that are available out there. Now, I should kind of back up for a minute. I'm sorry, I back up for a minute and say you first really want to understand. And so did Chris want to understand what is it you need? What is it that you want this— in this case, this tool, this application this person, whatever the case might be, what is it you need it to accomplish for you? Uh, so that's the first thing you want to kind of sit down. Now, I'm not speaking about feature and functions just yet. I'm initially talking about what is that business or personal pain or outcome that you're looking for from this entity that that you're, that you're going to invest in. Okay, uh, so, you know, what is the almost the why and the what it is that you're looking for, um, from this, this, um, in this case, the CRM solution. So first understand that, well, I'm, you know, I'm looking to streamline, I'm looking to streamline, uh, all the different various processes I have to do in order to simply send out, you know, a video post. Uh, I want to be able to, uh, you know, speed up the, um, my ability to send out communications on a daily basis across platforms in a, you know, in a very efficient way. I want to take all like these 7 or 8 different applications that I have and I want to streamline them. So I'm saving time and money from having to work with all of these various, various tools and capabilities. So you first want to sit down and really understand what is the desired outcome? What is the— what's in it for them? You know, and this, in this case, is for you. What is it you're trying to accomplish? That will ease efficiency, make you more effective, productive, make it more profitable. Maybe cost savings is the, the motivation, uh, you know. So what is it and why is it that you need to make this decision? So you, you first have a good grounding on that. Okay, so in regards to the CRM system, there's 7 or 8 different you know, applications I have to use in order to, you know, go from start to finish with my sales process. So everything from sending out emails all the way through, uh, tracking my leads and, you know, closing them out into contracts, and then even from a billing perspective. So someone might— Chris might look at the entire workflow of what it is that she needs and determine that, you know what, I— there has to be a way, a CRM system in this case, a way to streamline all of this so it's not so overwhelming and takes so much time and costs so much money. All right, so you, you kind of look at that first. Now what you need to do is get into that more and more of that requirements gathering. So I would say that first part was in the discovery. What are the business pains? What are the What are the desired outcomes? You know, what is it that you're looking for? And then you look at, okay, so what are the requirements that I need from, in this case, from this solution, from this phone, from this expert, from this process? What is it that I need? Well, I need it to literally go, you know, and allow me to schedule posts. I need to also allow it to schedule a lot of posts at the same time, go across multiple platforms. I need it to allow me to easily create a, um, an email that's targeted to an individual that allows me to embed video, embed, embed text, uh, put images, so forth and so on. And then I need that to be able to go out, and I need to capture emails. I need to take that email, put it in and, you know, put it into a list of which then that list is used and you're just making a, almost like a workflow list of requirements for what it is that you need to go from start to finish. And then you get to actually answering the question around, okay, so with all that, what do I do now? Well, you go out and you start assessing and evaluating all the different tools that are out there that might be known for taking a bunch of processes and procedures and putting them into one, taking a lot of applications and aggregating them into this one solution. And then you need to test it out and see if it fulfills everything that it is that you're looking for. At the same time, warning, warning, warning for you—

Second.

Entrepreneurs is you need to make sure that it isn't so big. So some of these, you know, CRM full applications that are out there, they are, you know, targeting corporate-sized clients, and you're not. You're one person, you're 10 people, whatever. So just use your list of requirements to also assess the, the, the size and the volume that it's gonna take in order to even manage and support that solution that you're looking for and that you found. All right, that's gonna be key, key, key, key, key. And then hopefully there's a trial that you can do, a free 30-day trial to not fully implement, but at least play with and see if it fulfills your needs. So business discovery, requirements assessment.

It.

Okay, all right, got in there. How about that? And I— let me just do one more sweep because if we talk over, that's perfectly fine if I have questions to address. Um, now keep in mind though, you can always leave your comments, leave your, your, uh, questions, challenges in our Shedding the Bitch Facebook or Twitter pages. Um, send me a DM in LinkedIn and I'd be more than happy to provide you tips and pieces of advice so you can keep moving forward in your work and in your life. All right, until next Tuesday at noon Eastern time, have a great week, everybody. We'll talk soon.

Bye. Thank you for taking part in Shedding the Bits Radio and TV with Bernadette Boas. We would love to know what your biggest takeaway was. Go to Shedding the Bits on Facebook or YouTube and leave a comment. You can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts and YouTube so you don't miss a single episode of the show. And with your input, we can help other powerhouse women just like you find the show and decide if it's right for them. Learn more about Bernadette at boasfirecoaching.com. See you next week.