Elevated with Brandy Lawson
138 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsYou might have already noticed something new this season, Leverage Your Spark is now Elevated. The new name reflects our updated purpose, helping you build a Better Kitchen and Bath Business.
In pursuit of this purpose, this season is dedicated to one of the areas that is the most frustrating for design business owners…sales. 😱 The season will bring you insights into sales engagement and also get a transparent view of what goes on behind the sales curtain. We’ll simplify the complex maze of lead stages, discuss system platforms, and more.
In each bite-sized, weekly 5-minute episode, we’ll delve into topics like what makes an effective sales system, using scheduling links effectively, leveraging email and interaction tracking to boost client experience...and hey, even demystifying KPIs (you know, how you actually can start to predict sales by looking at what happens before the sale). It's all about working smarter, not harder.
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Episodes
Case Study: Once Bitten, Twice Shy
August 02, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.99 MBEver had that feeling of terror when you are about to drop some serious cash on something you have no guarantee will work out? If so, then this episode of Leverage Your Spark is for you. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com ⚡ See how we can help your Kitchen & Bath design business: https://fieryfx.com 🔥 Book our CEO, Brandy Lawson, to speak: https://brandylawson.com FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fieryfx Faceboo...
How to get the best value from your software tools
August 02, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.78 MBIf you’ve worked in a corporate organization and had the pleasure (misfortune) of implementing a new software, you might know that the consultants usually cost more than the software itself the first year. There’s a good reason for this. The best software is absolutely worthless unless it is being used well and in alignment with processes and goals of the organization. And what does this have to do with working with experts? Listen on to find out in this episode of Leverage Your Spark.
How to Know When You’re Ready to Hire an Expert
July 26, 2021 17:00 - 4 minutes - 3.23 MBI've come to believe that in both business and life, there's never a perfect time for anything. Gonna get married? Never a perfect time (I think couples planning weddings last year really feel this) Gonna have a baby? Never perfect time - sometimes it happens when you’ve been fired and just started a new business. It's cute that we tried to plan that. Gonna move, quit your job, get a new job, start a business, never a perfect time. I think it's the same with hiring an expert. There's never a...
When NOT to Hire an Expert
July 19, 2021 17:00 - 3 minutes - 2.78 MBFinding yourself in the situation of needing help is pretty common. And sometimes when we get into that situation, we can figure out what the next steps are. And sometimes, we just start overthinking, or panic, and in most of these cases experts can help. It becomes a matter of finding the right one. However, there are some cases when you don't want to hire an expert. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com ⚡ See how we can help your Kitchen & Bat...
When to Hire an Expert
July 12, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.73 MBIt seems like it never fails. Most of us go looking for help too late. And if this is you, you're not alone. I think this is due to a few reasons. One, when things are not our area of expertise, we grossly underestimate how much time it will take. Check out episode 1 to learn more about this (it’s called the Dunning Kruger effect). But also, we tend to be overly optimistic about timelines or we're just too darn busy and don't allow enough time or don't have enough time to adequately plan. B...
How to Get the Best Value From Your Software Tools
July 05, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.78 MBIf you’ve worked in a corporate organization and had the pleasure (misfortune) of implementing a new software, you might know that the consultants usually cost more than the software itself the first year. There’s a good reason for this. The best software is absolutely worthless unless it is being used well and in alignment with processes and goals of the organization. And what does this have to do with working with experts? Listen on to find out in this episode of Leverage Your Spark. GE...
Case Study: How We’ve Helped Businesses Like Yours
June 28, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.7 MBI don’t know about you, but when I’m thinking about change, it helps my brain to see how other people have done it. For example, we changed project management software at the beginning of the year. This can be nerve-wracking, but our team was pretty confident moving to Clickup because we watched a video of how someone else in a similar business had set it up and was using it inside their business. Seeing it done helped us know we could do it too. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work wi...
Experts Can’t Fix this
June 21, 2021 17:00 - 6 minutes - 4.24 MBSo far this season we’ve discussed the reasons why you hire an expert. Specifically episode 1 was about hiring an expert because you don't know what you don't know, and episode 2 was about when you know things so well that you're overlooking all the holes that everyone else is gonna fall into. But, what about why NOT to hire an expert? GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com ⚡ See how we can help your Kitchen & Bath design business: https://fieryf...
Why Hire Experts: Improve
June 14, 2021 17:00 - 6 minutes - 4.43 MBHave you ever done that annoying exercise where you have to instruct someone else how to make a peanut butter & jelly sandwich? It’s a reliable way to frustrate people. Okay, so that’s not the actual point of the exercise. But you already know the point of the experiment here - no one successfully communicates to the other person all the necessary information to successfully complete a seemingly simple action. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com...
Why Hire Experts: Growth
June 07, 2021 17:00 - 6 minutes - 4.75 MBMarketing is the art & science of attracting people to buy our stuff. Seems pretty straightforward on the surface, but anyone that’s tried will tell you it is not that simple in practice. When you are part of a growing company - ( and “growing” always means marketing needs to get turned WAY up), it’s just not possible to do everything yourself. More often than not, the teams tasked with spearheading growth don’t even have enough capacity to handle all the must-do tasks, nevermind putting to...
Trailer - Leverage Your Spark Season 2
May 25, 2021 16:00 - 1 minute - 829 KBHiring experts and getting the results you want can be a challenge. There are lots of reasons we need expertise - to accelerate knowledge, to show us what we don’t know, or just to get something handled (Personally, I’m so grateful I could hire someone to replace a failed air conditioning unit). But we’ve also worked with experts where things didn’t go well. More clearly understanding HOW to navigate hiring & working with experts is the secret to avoiding a bad experience (and we’ve all had ...
Clubhouse is hot and Facebook is not - how to know if you care
April 19, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.94 MBIf you haven’t heard, Clubhouse is the newest social media darling to burst onto the scene. And it's causing a lot of business owners heartburn. Should they be on it? How to use it? What to do with it because it is different. And at the same time Facebook, the old standard, seems to be a hot dumpster fire mess. So, what do you do? Let's work through the FOMO and fan the flames of the latest unrest in social media in this episode of Leverage Your Spark. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and w...
May Day, May Day - the Core Web Vitals are coming…
April 12, 2021 17:00 - 8 minutes - 5.55 MBMay Day, May Day - the Core Web Vitals are coming… Here’s the news: On May 1, 2021, Google will start factoring in Core Web Vitals as part of how Google decides what pages show up wherein search results. And as my friend, Stacey might say - “those are all words and all English, but I don’t know what you are saying.” We’re going to translate & demystify Core Web Vitals in this episode of Leverage Your Spark GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com ...
Two Google Analytics reports you must check before you spend money on ads
April 05, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.93 MBThe idea of paying for leads is a hard one to swallow when you start a business, but once you have some cash flow seems an easy way to acquire new customers. But only if you can turn those eyeballs into email addresses and those email addresses into money in your bank account. In this episode I’ll reveal two Google Analytics reports I implore you to look at before you start spending money on ads. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com ⚡ See how ...
Anxious about growth & need a confidence boost? Coaching isn’t the only option
March 29, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.48 MBGrowing a business is nerve-racking, anxiety-inducing, and stressful. In my experience, we entrepreneurs have a knack for making it even more anxiety-inducing and stressful than it needs to be. And about the time that we are “in it” we are reaching for anything that looks like a life preserver to help us feel like we can keep swimming. In this episode of Leverage Your Spark we’re going to talk about the lifeboat called data. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://h...
Growth is messy, but it doesn’t have to be unpredictable (uncharted)
March 22, 2021 17:00 - 6 minutes - 4.32 MBGrowth is messy. It just is. As much as we (and I’m clearly projecting here) want to make it planned, predictable and an exponential curve up & to the right, that isn’t reality. There are many quotable insights from history’s greatest military minds on the value of planning and the fact that it doesn’t hold up as soon as battle starts - Churchill, Eisenhower, Patton. But the one that really sums it up for me is credited to Mike Tyson: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the fac...
Why would you pay for analytics help?
March 15, 2021 17:00 - 3 minutes - 2.69 MBNot sure where to even start with Google Analytics? There’s a lot of information in there, but it’s not really clear what matters and what’s important for your business. Let’s dig into this, and why you might not want to climb this mountain all by yourself in this episode of Leverage Your Spark. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com ⚡ See how we can help your Kitchen & Bath design business: https://fieryfx.com 🔥 Book our CEO, Brandy Lawson, to s...
Why would you pay for metrics consulting?
March 08, 2021 17:00 - 4 minutes - 3.18 MBWe business owners have plenty of ideas. I don’t know about you, but I can’t even stand in line at a coffee shop without having thoughts about improvements that could be made to the experience. I think that’s just the nature of the entrepreneurial brain (maybe it’s just me)? So why in tarnation do businesses hire metrics consultants? Who needs more ideas about metrics - we have plenty of ideas, what we need is to have them implemented. Right? Or maybe not… We’ll “talk amongst ourselves” on t...
Why would you pay for website reports?
March 01, 2021 17:00 - 7 minutes - 4.92 MBDo you sprint to the mailbox and excitedly tear open your retirement account statement when it arrives every quarter? No? What about regularly checking in on the status of your other assets - equity in your home, real estate holdings? Still no? You’re not alone, most of us don’t. But why? Doesn’t it seem like we’d be really interested and motivated to know how to get even more value out of our existing assets? What’s that you say? That sounds boring and you’d rather get back to your Brig...
Trends Don’t Pay the Bills
February 22, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.95 MBI recently did a training for a group of business owners on Tiny Tech Hacks. It’s a training that shares my framework for making tech decisions and my absolute “must have” tech tools. During the Q&A one of the ladies in the group asked me about tech trends. It was a great question, but not because I had trends I wanted to share. Afterwards she thanked me and said she got a lot of value out of my answer, but it certainly wasn’t the one she expected. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work ...
Information is Power: Search & Decide
February 15, 2021 17:00 - 6 minutes - 4.42 MBAnyone remember having to paw through vast filing cabinets to find documents or information when you needed it? Specifically I can remember doing this for tax returns and at the library for some college assignments. When I asked my dad why he has decades worth of records in the storage space above the garage, he cited the one time my aunt needed proof of employment and she was able to crawl up there and retrieve the document she needed. So, they are there, just in case. Fortunately, nothing...
Information is Power: Nothing Happens Until...
February 08, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.93 MBI clearly remember a sign on an executive’s desk in a tiny 12 person company I worked for. It said “ Nothing happens until someone sells something.” Obviously he was a sales exec, but there was definitely truth in the statement. The same kind of statement is true about data: Nothing better happens until you use your data. I know very few people get as fired up about this as I do, but that’s only because I have first hand experience on how it can transform businesses. So prepare to get all h...
Information is Power: You Better Work!
February 01, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 4.08 MBI know RuPaul was talking about models when he said “You Better Work!” but really, he should have been talking about data. I know lots of businesses that have gone to the effort to collect data, but then fail to use it. That’s like taking the time to get the hair & makeup done, getting in the outfit and then not walking the runway. In this episode you are getting an earful about making your data work for you! GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com ...
Information is Power: Give a Crap About Website Data
January 25, 2021 17:00 - 6 minutes - 4.37 MBI guess this episode might have been more appropriately titled: Why you should give a crap about this stuff that you don’t think you care about. On the surface, no one sees just how sexy data is from your website. It's so much easier to talk about design, fancy effects, and what you “like” rather than what the business goals are and what needs to happen to get those results. Data makes us accountable to what we want and how the website can help us get that. That’s why it is sexy and so im...
Leverage Your Spark with Special Guest Stacey Harris
January 18, 2021 17:00 - 21 minutes - 15 MBIf you run a business, I think it is a MUST to have a Biz BFF. If you’re new to the term, a Biz BFF is a friend that cares more about your business than your feelings. So they’re incredibly valuable to have in your support system. And, I think, essential for growing a business. I’m beyond thrilled to have my Biz BFF Stacey Harris as my first guest. Stacey is founder and CEO of Uncommonly More, a digital marketing agency focused on podcast strategy and production. She brings the knowledge a...
What Metrics to Measure: Harness Technology
January 11, 2021 17:00 - 5 minutes - 4.02 MBYou aren’t wrong if you expect me to be giddy with excitement about using technology for metrics. You might be surprised though that I’m actually not an advocate of getting super automated and fancy. This surprise and more ahead in this episode of Leverage Your Spark. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com ⚡ See how we can help your Kitchen & Bath design business: https://fieryfx.com 🔥 Book our CEO, Brandy Lawson, to speak: https://brandylawson.co...
What Metrics to Measure: Numbers vs. Insights
January 04, 2021 17:00 - 4 minutes - 3.15 MBThe saying goes: The numbers don’t lie. There’s also a quote popularized by Mark Twain that says: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Hmmm… so which is it? Well, I think it is all in how you approach it. Let’s get into numbers vs. insights in this episode of Leverage Your Spark. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com ⚡ See how we can help your Kitchen & Bath design business: https://fieryfx.com 🔥 Book our CEO, Brand...
What Metrics to Measure: Don’t Judge Me!
December 28, 2020 17:00 - 4 minutes - 3.32 MBNo one likes being judged. Which is the reason I think that a lot of businesses end up skipping or avoiding metrics. But, hear me out here… metrics are not judgements! Sure, most of the time they get treated like grades, but that’s all wrong. Metrics are the landmarks and trail markers on your treasure map to success. If you aren’t checking them, you’re going to have a hard time getting where you want to go. And if you’re referencing the wrong ones, you’ll end up frustrated, and lost. GET I...
What Metrics to Measure for your Website
December 21, 2020 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.92 MBWhen presented with a bunch of options, it's completely normal to be overwhelmed. (if you don’t get overwhelmed, we need to talk - I want to know your secret). I’ve found the best way to combat overwhelm is to figure out my criteria for what’s important, so I can get right to the information that matters. And that’s what we’re digging into for your website in this episode of Leverage Your Spark. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com ⚡ See how we ...
That’s NOT What Email is For: Unless you work for Google, don’t use a Gmail address
December 14, 2020 17:00 - 4 minutes - 3.39 MBAre you hesitant to send out calendar invites or don't prefer to share drive links, because they don't actually have your business email address on them? That's NOT what email is for! This is the final episode in our series examining the idea that we're using (and misusing) email for far too many things. The reason this happens is obvious, email is the default way people communicate for business online. We can do better. In this episode we’re taking a look at this potential issue throu...
That’s NOT what email is for: Your Data Deserves Better
December 07, 2020 17:00 - 4 minutes - 3.05 MBDo your monthly reports arrive in your inbox? That's NOT what email is for!. This is the third episode in our series examining the idea that we're using email for far too many things. And I get it - email is the defacto online business communication. But that’s no reason to let it continue. In this episode we’re taking a look at this potential issue through the third simple machine of business: Analytics. Because intelligent decisions require data. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and w...
That’s NOT what email is for: Your To Do List is Dying in Your Inbox
November 30, 2020 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.62 MBAre you keeping your to-do list in your inbox? That's NOT what email is for!. This is the second episode in our series examining the idea that we're using email for far too many things. (that is - that’s NOT what email is for) It is understandable how we got here - email is the default way to conduct business communications online. But that’s no excuse for continuing to abuse this bit of technology. In this episode we’re taking a look at this potential issue through the second simple mac...
That’s NOT what email is for: Don’t send form data in an email
November 23, 2020 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.96 MBDo your website form submissions come to your email? That's not what email is for! This is the first episode in our series examining the idea that we're using email for far too many things. [what is email for] - asynchronous exchange of messages [history of email] In the beginning, there was only email. Really - the first use of the “internet” was an email sent in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson. In this episode we’ll be taking a look at the issue of email misuse through the first simple machines of...
Origin Story: The Simple Machine of Technology
November 16, 2020 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.8 MBMy first job was doing data entry for my Dad. He had written the computer programs to process and analyze the sales & labor data for the restaurant. But… in order for those to work, the numbers from the miles & miles of daily report receipts (yes, really - all the sales for the day were spit out on one looooong receipt - like the ones you get at CVS, but narrower, longer and the ink was purple) had to be input into the computer. To be clear, this is a computer in the mid 80’s. Green screen,...
Origin Story: The Simple Machine of Smart Business
November 09, 2020 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.74 MBI spent the first 4 years of my business half-ass attempting to implement everyone else’s systems, and it sucked. Late nights, money stress, racing to meet deadlines, having zero confidence about everything because it felt like I was doing it all for the first time. It wasn’t really until I hired my first coach and then got into Client Attraction Business School with Fabienne Fredrickson that I figured out the only way to make any system work was to take it and make it my own. Smart busin...
Origin Story: The Simple Machine of Analytics
November 09, 2020 17:00 - 5 minutes - 4.04 MBMy parents opened a restaurant the year I was born. Not until I became a business owner and a parent myself in the same year did I have actual appreciation of what kind of bold courage that required. (seriously… what were they thinking?!?!) To be candid, my parents had no business opening a restaurant. They are both farm kids from rural Montana. My dad was an engineer by education and profession to that point, and my mom was doing office work at an industrial linen supply company. But Dad...
Origin Story: The Simple Machine of Websites
November 02, 2020 21:00 - 6 minutes - 4.57 MBWebsites are critical for communication & attraction in your business. And they can be so much more. Their functionality can extend to pretty much every facet of business: sales, operations, customer service, human resources (particularly recruiting), finance… the list goes on. When used properly, websites are business assets. Strap in for a quick listen to why websites are the first simple machine of business. Check out the show page here: https://fieryfx.com/the-simple-machines-of-busine...
Trailer - Leverage Your Spark with Brandy Lawson
November 02, 2020 21:00 - 2 minutes - 1.73 MBOwning a business is hard work. But, there are "simple machines" available to every business owner to help your hard work yield more results. Each episode of Leverage Your Spark will cover a business topic viewed through a simple machine of business - ending with an invitation to go implement a change in your business that will enable you to do more with less. GET IN TOUCH 💡Learn how to hire and work with experts: https://higherhelpbook.com ⚡ See how we can help your Kitchen & Bath design ...