Hello,

Earlier in the summer, Stephanie and I finished our first season of Business UNVARNISHED, our video series on what it really takes to run an business. In this final episode of the set we get talking about social media and the role it has in our businesses. We talk about social media fatigue, if we really need to be everywhere, where we think things went wrong on social media and how we can fall in love with it again. If it’s already too late for you and you feel totally over social media then I have a practical action recovery plan for you.

And now, let’s get on with the Notes…

1) Selling without manipulation

Could you do it? Do you even know if/when you’re doing it. I didn’t. I read this piece earlier this year and it really resonated with me. I sat with it a while, then I started making changes and now I’m ready to share it with you. I found it particularly challenging because as I said in the intro to this edition, I absolutely love all the science and psychology behind why people do the things that they do. It hadn’t occurred to me that by not questioning why some things are done the way they are I was becoming part of the problem. I started creating change where it is easy to start, making all my top pricing a round number, no nines or sevens at the end. Top pricing means the full price of any of my services, not the broken down price for payment plans. Payment plans in the digital space are a whole other issue I have been unravelling this year. Most of my services are paid in payment plans as an option, when I was trying to work out how to structure them I was horrified by the mark ups that seemed to be industry standard, 15, 20, 25%, for what? If a client is choosing a payment plan it is because they are being financially responsible with their budgeting, why are we penalising that? We should be encouraging it. Which doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t accommodate the risk involved with payment plans, the additional admin or our own cashflow requirements but let’s do it ethically. Payment plans shouldn’t be a penalty for the payee or a cash cow for the person being paid, in my opinion. I’d love your thoughts on this, mine are still evolving and it’s always easier to find a way forward when we can discuss these things together. So hit reply and let me know.

2) Harry Potter and the translators nightmare

When I lived in France and was brushing up my school girl French into something I could use to work and get paid, one of the pieces of advice I was given was to read children’s books in French that I was familiar with in English so that I could deconstruct how the language was used. I chose Harry Potter and quickly realised what a mistake I had made. I take my hat off to the translators in this article because they have done an incredible job with some incredibly difficult language constructs without compromising the integrity or intention of some of the world’s most beloved books.

3) You are the sum of the people you spend time with

If that’s true, then shouldn’t you be surrounding yourself with positive people?

4) Talking to yourself

This is one of my favourite learning techniques. I can often be found marching around, speaking out loud the things I need to remember. It looks crazy, but it works.

5) Sparketypes™️

This week the launch of Jonathan Field’s new initiative, Sparketypes™️ caught my eye. Sparketypes™️ are the culmination of years of his work and research into what drives humans to do the things they do in life. Jonathan believes that when you strip everything back then you can categorise those drivers into ten unique types. These types combine into a primary and shadow Sparketype which in turn provides you with the DNA of what drives you and how you can use it to work in alignment and purpose.

Now I love this stuff. I love digging into personality types and I believe strongly in purpose. It took about a nano second for me to hop from the podcast introducing the concept to the free online assessment to find out my primary and shadow Sparketype - Advisor/Warrior in case you were wondering - and I have to say, I’m very impressed. If this is your sort of thing too, I would definitely take a look and if you would like to share your Sparketype with me I would be very interested in seeing if Notes readers trend towards a certain pattern of Sparketype.

Me, elsewhere

Just a few more sleeps until the Women in Tech (WIT) Regatta sails into Amsterdam. This is my last (public) event of the year and the last chance to meet me in person at an event. WIT Regatta begins on the 29th of October in Amsterdam. It is shaping up to be an amazing event, with fascinating panels all through the week. You do not need to be working in tech to participate and I firmly believe that there is something for everyone in this conference. I will be participating in the Lead from Every Chair panel and moderating the When Women Turn on Each Other: Why it happens and how to fix it on the 30th of October. I will also be hosting a Co-Storm mentoring session on the 31st of October from 3pm until 6pm. I would love to see as many of you there as possible. If you don’t already have a ticket then my code: regattaspeakerfriend will give you 35% off the ticket price. One low priced ticket gives you access to the entire conference. What are you waiting for?

Until the next Notes,

Emmy

P.S. There’s no P.S. The P.S. is usually where I highlight something that I really want to draw your attention to. This edition I have nothing in particular that fits here so I will use the space to wish you an excellent two weeks until the next Notes and open up a random “Ask me anything”. If you have a question you’ve always wanted to ask me, now is the time to do it. Hit reply to get into my inbox.