Marketing and Service with Justin Varuzzo

Holding Yourself Accountable as a Solopreneur w/ Guest Diana Lund Nordstrom

May 18, 2021 Justin Varuzzo Season 1 Episode 11
Marketing and Service with Justin Varuzzo
Holding Yourself Accountable as a Solopreneur w/ Guest Diana Lund Nordstrom
Show Notes Transcript

Your a solopreneur and the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You are singularly responsible for every single aspect of your business. It can be an overwhelming experience for the best business owners, but in this episode our guest Diana Lund Nordstrom is going to share some ideas, tips and techniques to help hold yourself together and push forward. Through grief and illness Diana learned how to focus attention back to herself. 

For detailed show notes, Justin Varuzzo's after thoughts on each episode, and lists you can use to take immediate action in your business, check out the website at http://www.marketingandservice.com.

Speaker 1:

If you were a solo preneur, then you understand that the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You're accountable for every single aspect of your business. And sometimes it can feel like you're all alone, but what if there was a support network, a team rooting just for you and helping you every step of the way that and more coming up on the marketing and service.com podcast[inaudible] Today's guests on the marketing and service.com podcast comes from Copenhagen Denmark all the way across the world. And we have Deanna lunch. She's helping solopreneurs throughout the world. Deanna aims to help and inspire solopreneurs, to get unstuck and get stuff done throughout strategy planning, focus and accountability. She's also an author. She does a blend of consulting and coaching and planning, NLP branding, and a speaker. Welcome to the show. Thanks so much for being with us today. Wow. What an impressive background you've got. Oh, thank

Speaker 2:

You, Justin. It sounds so much better than it feels, to be honest, it's just, you're always in this kind of a imposter syndrome position, right? So listening to people read that. It's amazing. I know it. Well, I know the feeling and thank you for letting me be here. It's amazing. Actually.

Speaker 1:

Now it's an honor to have you and I thank you for coming on. So what you've got going on in Denmark,

Speaker 2:

Lots of things I've won. I'm one of those solopreneurs or enough people know what a solopreneur is, but it's Simon, same as an entrepreneur. Can I, it's just doing it on yourself on your own. So instead of hiring people, you would, if you wanted it to, you would, uh, contract things out or outsource things. So I'm a solopreneur and I do, I have a network, actually, a Danish network with someone for the solopreneurs. I written my book. I help people. I have this get beep done. I curse. So it's not quite, but yes, exactly. Um, and that's kinda what I do. I, I help people move forward with their project, with their businesses. And I love doing that. I love helping people.

Speaker 1:

That's great. Now we can't, we can't just gloss over the fact that you wrote a book because that in and of itself is a huge accomplishment. Uh, so maybe you can tell us a little bit about how you ended up doing that. What led you to that and what your book is?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sure. I want to say just first a book is in Danish. It's not out in English. It might be at some point, but just to not make anyone go look for it. But yeah, I lost my dad about three years ago and um, that kinda got me thinking. It was pretty sudden, and it got me thinking, like who's taking care of my mom who was taking care of her while my dad was sick and he was sick before, but then he got well, and then all of a sudden he, we had like two days and then he was gone. So it was pretty hard. Yeah. But it got me thinking. And then myself, I have a husband who has multiple sclerosis, um, and living in with him and this whole idea of who's, who's taking care of me as someone living with someone who has a long-term serious illness because focuses always on them. And it's not a bad thing that focuses on the person who's ill, of course, but it's just that people seem to forget, including ourselves, nonetheless, seem to forget that we also need to have focus on us to get energy, to, to have the oxygen mask on ourselves before we help others to be the best help in the long run. And it kind of made me realize, okay, I need to figure out how to do this. And I was searching and I couldn't find anything. And then I was like, okay, then I need to write that book because I know that one in three Danish people get cancer before the age of 70. That means that there's a lot of relatives. So I'm not the freaking only one to, to be in this position of being a relative for someone. So I figured out I did 15 interviews with other relatives in different positions. So some were spouses, some were children of some were parents too, and some were siblings. So I had these four groups of, of relatives, two people who had long-term serious illness. And then I interviewed, uh, psychologists and, and experts within the era. So I made this book, that's a mixture between advice on how to take care of yourself, what to do, what to plan, what to like all of these tips and tricks. And then there's, that's combined with my own story. And then also the 15 interviews I did with other people.

Speaker 1:

Wow. Yeah, that is, that is really great. I, you know, I, I, my mother had rheumatoid arthritis when I was born and she had been in a wheelchair her whole life. Well, my whole life that she was alive, uh, we lost her to cancer probably about 10 years ago. And, uh, you know, from, from one respect being born into it, I think is a much different perspective than maybe some of my older siblings had having to go through that transformation from her being healthy and then getting this illness and then not being able to get around on her own. And I feel like being born into it, it just was what it was. There was nothing strange about it. There was nothing, you know, I didn't have to see any change or dramatic thing, but I can imagine, you know, because we all did our fair share to help her out throughout her, throughout her life. And, uh, you know, I know that's important and I know that can be really hard on, on family.

Speaker 2:

And it's also important in that aspect that it's different, depending on if you're a child or if your spouse, or if you're a parent, a sibling, it it's the relation you have to, the person who's ill is different and the toll it takes on you, it's different ways. Right. So that's really important to look at what's the relation to that. And I'm one of those weird people who actually married someone who was ill when I met him. So he did. And even then one of my friends, like, don't go there, Deanna, don't, don't go there. You're going to regret this for the rest of your life. And I'm like, yeah, but I love him. And we got, we've been together for seven years and we got married last year. And it, even though he's gotten worse, it doesn't really matter. Right. As long as I remember to take care of me. Right.

Speaker 1:

That's incredible. That's a great story. Now you wrote this book and then you've decided to get into, uh, this blend of consulting and coaching to help the solo preneur, because obviously a solo preneur has, uh, you know, anyone starting a business has endless challenges and difficulties. Uh, and it's not always easy to have a support network or get help. So what got you into the consulting and coaching?

Speaker 2:

It's tied up with the story of the book, because while I was writing the book, I had the opportunity to do P practitioner. So I do a certificate. So I had this course and it got me into this whole planning and it helped me a lot with the book. Uh, before we started, you asked me a bit about how long did it take me to write the book? And like I said, it took me gear well, while I had a full-time job, I had my husband, we got a puppy at the same time. And I took this and be at the same time. Yes, exactly. And also sacrificed not to forget, but that whole planning thing of the book and made me realize combined with the fact that losing my father also made me realize that I needed it to do something that I really love doing. So I found out that I'm really good at this, and I really want to help people do this. So helping guide them and helping inspiring them and helping them. But at the same time, I'm not the kind of person who just sits down and asks you questions and waiting for you to dig up some kind of answer. I'm going to give you ideas. I'm going to say, what about this? What about this? What about this? That's why I'm kind of saying it's a mesh between the coaching and the consultant, because it's, it's more firms. That's probably not the right word. It's, it's more like, okay, come here, we'll make a plan. We'll look at what you want to do with your business. We'll make a plan and I will be your cheerleader. I will help you get there. We will get this done. Yeah. And

Speaker 1:

That, that's a big difference compared to, you know, you could offer a consulting service where you just say, oh, Hey, here's a, here's the nine things you have to do. Uh, write me a check. Good luck. Uh, I hope you hope you do well with everything. And then you never see that again. So I think having that, that basically handhold from what you said, that I think cheerleader is the best way to describe that. Uh, and, and an accountability partner. Right? A lot of times, I think when you're a solo preneur and you're doing a business by yourself, it's sometimes hard to have that accountability. Like you said, when you're balancing a million different things in your life, it's easy to come home and say, oh, do I want to write another chapter in my book? Or do I just want to have a glass of wine, watch some TV and go to bed. And, you know, it would be different if your boss called and said, Hey, you got to get this done by 10 o'clock tonight. But as a solopreneur, you don't necessarily have that pressure and that intensity, and it can be easy to slip into that. Uh, I don't. Yeah. Right, right. Netflix. So just to go back for one second, you'd mentioned NLP, which is neuro-linguistic programming, uh, for people who don't know what that is. Can you just give a real quick overview

Speaker 2:

Me? It's the planning technique. For example, we learned the smart techniques. So I've evolved that a little bit. I have something called smart ABC. So looking at a bit more than, than just a planning, also like the C is cheerleading, right? So looking at everything around it, also the, the helping people, the way you speak, the way you help people. And it's also about if you've seen the serious light to me, they're talking about, it's a bit of an old series now, by the way. Yeah. It's all about I've movement. So if you look at people, you'll be able to look at, okay, does it seem like they're recovering there from the T I looked up to the left now. So that's all about memory. I see. This is why I don't normally get into this because I can't remember that part of it. Right. But it's all about, so you can, you can turn. And when you're looking at this or this, is it fabricated or is it real memory? Is it so you can, it's kind of a way to, to read people and to help matching them, mirroring them when you're talking to them. So for example, we're sitting here on camera, so I don't see a lot of you, but if I saw your whole, like your whole body, if we were sitting next to each other or across from each other, and I could see your whole body, I would match your body. I would try matching your words for getting as if talking about customer service. For example, if getting a really angry customer and you can't get them down, it would be started the same level as, and then, then slowly with your, whatever you're saying slowly, get them down to a level. And one thing is, if they're really angry and you start at the same level, they usually get really surprised.

Speaker 1:

Right. And I think, I think one of the things that's really cool about this is, you know, when I talk to people about this, you've got kind of like two schools of thought, you got, the people say, this is all nonsense. Like you just, you know, you're a good salesperson. You're good. So I, but I had asked you earlier, you know, how do you, how do you know a good salesperson is generally a competent salesperson? If you're in sales, you're in marketing, it's your job to be confident. And part of that confidence comes from one his experience to his knowledge and education for whatever product or service you're selling. Uh, and, and a confidence in yourself is important. Because if you're exceptionally shy, for example, you may come off, not confident, even though you have all the knowledge and you have all the ability and you have all the sales techniques. Uh, one thing that I like about NLP is the way you just broke it down. Like, for example, that that tone matching that's something that I think a lot of people may do truly. If you're incredibly passionate about something and you're incredibly confident and a customer calls with a problem and says, oh, Hey, you know, this, this product I bought from you broke, it's a piece of junk. If you built that product and you are certain and competent, it's a good quality thing. You are naturally going to be angry. Now, not at the customer. You're gonna be angry at yourself or the man that you're going to say, Hey, what happened here? I know that thing is good, this ridiculous. I can't believe that broke. And you're right, that, that the customers feel that. And whether you approach it from an NLP perspective, or just from, this is how I handle myself customer service wise as a salesperson or a marketer. I think the NLP aspect of it is a great way to teach those concepts, especially to people who may not have that confidence.

Speaker 2:

You're totally right. And we do it naturally. A lot of us at least do it. Naturally. I noticed that now we were talking about it. We do it, the two of us laughing and that's mirroring, right? So, so it's not something we're doing and now we're going to be thinking about, so that might be a bad thing to bring that up. But, but the thing is that we do it naturally. So what do you do as a sales person is you just use something that we naturally do to understand each other and to, to work better together. We always work better in groups, right? And, and we have to work together in groups as a species. So that's what we've learned. We learned, we learn to mirror each other, and we learned to pace after each other to keep the peace. And, and you just use those techniques more on purpose than, than you otherwise would. And you actually have something called a mirroring cells in your brain. So you will naturally mirror other people. Um, you also another small tip. If you're speaking with people, if you're in a group and speaking with people and people's feet are turning away from you, is because you're were about to leave the conversation.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

It's really interesting actually, to look at those small things that are so something people don't think about doing, but they're very saying, because we, we can learn a lot from body language.

Speaker 1:

Very cool. That is very cool. And you know, one thing we talked about solopreneurs, uh, and, and this podcast is based on customer service. And when you're a solopreneur, you are the brand, you are the personality and you are customer service. There is no one else. You're not giving someone an 800 number and say, if you're not happy call this, uh, you are the business. And I know you you'd mentioned earlier that you have a background in branding, right. So you, uh, and I think you said you got your master's degree in branding

Speaker 2:

And service management. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, there, there it is. So you, you've got this service management component, uh, you've got this branding component and now you've got this, uh, consulting and coaching component. How do you help when, when you're a solo preneur, uh, and you are the brand, these things become much more important, right?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. But they also actually become much harder because for me, at least what I, this is my personal experience. Right. Because I'm in a, let's say delicate situation. If I go back to, when I wrote the book, I wrote my story. But the thing is that it was also my husband's story. So I needed his permission, right. To ask him if I could do this. And it was having to tell him how I felt about that. And that was actually much harder than having to write it and let everybody else know. Right. But the, the thing about how much you give of yourself in your business is really something that's important to think about because in general, I'm a very, very open person. So I don't mind people, for example, knowing where I live or like everything, I, it doesn't, it doesn't really matter to me. And I don't mind people knowing my life. I definitely tell it. Right. Um, but my husband might not feel the same, but that's, that's of course the intone view of that, of that problem or whatever you want to call it. And, but it's something to think about it, at least in your business, as a solopreneur, how much are you when you're branding yourself? How much are you giving of yourself? How much is personal? How much is private? Um, because you can give your personal, you can give your personal story, just shouldn't, shouldn't involve people in your private business that held up to, okay. So what you're telling, especially on social media, I mean, most people are on social media today promoting themselves and marketing, like the brand that you're showing people, the person that you're showing people on your social media, is that the same person they're meeting when they then call you when they have a call with you, or is that someone totally different? Is the message you send out there in writing in your posts, in your emails, like wherever, is that the same as the person that they will meet when they then speak to you? That needs to be the same, because if not, they're going to feel like they have been lied to, and that's not a very good start of a relationship.

Speaker 1:

Right? Yeah. And that, that, you know, I talk about that a lot in, in a lot of the episodes, you know, about a big part of confidence is just being genuine. Uh, you know, if you're genuine, uh, it's a lot easier than if you're not. Uh, and you know, I've, I've been really fortunate that despite being in sales nearly my entire life, I feel like I've never had a sales job. I've, I've never felt the pressure to sell something for a commission. Even when I was in jobs with commission sales, I just felt like my best path to making money would be serving the customer the best I can, because then they'll keep coming back buying more and more, as opposed to just trying to get that one and done so I can get a check. And it's, uh, you know, all those, even like the high school sales jobs I've had, I think have all had a big impact on how I look at that. Uh, but the, you know, I do think that being genuine and building long-term trustworthy relationships is the most important thing in sales and in service. Uh, because again, like most solopreneurs, you are the service part of your business, uh, and you need to not only sell, but you need to be able to serve your customers as well. Uh, and if you don't build these relationships, you're, you're going to have a tough time.

Speaker 2:

And I think you're so right. And I think it also works into marketing because as an example, the other day, I was watching a video, I wanted to learn something about, uh, Facebook marketing, right. And I was looking at this video, which was a 20 minute video. It ended up just being a video of this guy, instead of like, he told me for signing up that I would learn something about marketing or using Facebook advertisement. He was just pushing, using 20 minutes to push his course that I could then buy. And I didn't learn anything. He wasted my time. Right. I'm never going to buy it from him. I don't trust him that was putting it to service right. In the surface spectrum. That was so bad service of him. And I even, I even considered actually writing him and saying, you know what, there's a so bad. I didn't, because that's his choice. Right. I'm still kind of wondering if it would be nice of me to actually do it right. But I don't know. But, but think that service is not just a one-to-one services, also, your message. Do you actually live up to the promise that you're making? Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And one of the things you mentioned earlier was, uh, when we discussed, before we started the podcast, was that the importance of taking action? Uh, so many people say, I have this great idea, or I want to do X, Y, or Z, and they just never do it. They never take any of the needed to even begin the process of getting into that. And I think what's important that you, you just mentioned was part of, part of taking that action is some type of proof of concept should be there. So for example, with your, your Facebook incident here with, with that video, that person should feel confident that they can tell you just about everything. Uh, because the reality is there, aren't there, aren't a whole lot of secrets. I mean, I can tell you, and you probably already know exactly how a McDonald's runs. Uh, that doesn't mean that just because you know, every secret of how they run their business, you can go start a global, fast food chain tomorrow. Uh, it, you know, th th there's really not a whole lot of secrets. It's really all about taking action. And I would feel confident with this podcast. And, you know, you write a book, you you're giving coaching, you can give away the advice I can give away the content on the podcast. I can walk you through it. Step-by-step, but that doesn't mean that you're still not going to want help, or you're going to need the accountability, or you're going to need the cheerleader to help you get through

Speaker 2:

It. It is the key word right there, accountability. And we tend to be afraid. I've done this as well. And we're being afraid of sharing our small gold nuggets with the world because, oh, then I'm not going to earn any money. But what that does is create trust. And, you know, it's such a small, there, there are people who's just going to take whatever they can for free and run with it and do things, but that's fine because they wouldn't want to be your customers anyway. They're never going to be your customers. Right. So the P and then you've helped them. And that's great because, well, at least for me, I, I aim at helping people. So that's amazing if I can help people, I would love to earn money at some point on that as well. Right. But I'm not going to, for that customer, no matter what. So my other customers that I earned money from, they're the important ones. That's where I want to keep my focus and the other ones just, yeah, go do that. That's amazing that you can implement. I'm going to focus on that group of people who need help implementing, and even I can do that in different layers. Right. Because then there's the people who just want a course where I can do a video course fixed temple. And, um, and the, the, no. So these are the steps. Here's more in depth of what you can do. There might be a workbook and stuff like that. That's one type of people, right. And then there's the people who want the handholding all the way. And that's, that's the ones that are, have a really hard time getting things going in the first place. Those are typically the people who feel stuck and they will need someone help. Someone's help no matter what right. To get there. They, and I'm like that. That's why I also do partnerships because if I am accountable to someone else, I work so much better. So when I have a sales campaign with my Danish partner, it works so much better than when I have a sales campaign for my own business membership, which is like four people, because I haven't gotten any further with that. Right. I, I made it, but I never got any further because it's just me. And it's not as motivating for me. I, I don't know if I get stuck in my head. W well, that's usually where we get started, but it's not actually, not that I don't know what to do. It's just that I feel like, okay, so there's these four people. I want to do it amazing for them, but it seems like that more people are getting something from what I'm doing here and here and here. Right, right. So it's all about figuring out where is it that I need help and where is it that I can help others? I don't know. I think I got off track somewhere. No, I I'm.

Speaker 1:

I'm following where you're going. And I think as, as we start to run out of time here, I think I want to mention, you do have a Facebook group, right. Which is facebook.com/groups/smart business planning. So this is the smart business planning Facebook group. Uh, and, and one of the services you offer is this accountability,

Speaker 2:

And it's not cold, smart business planning when you're getting in there, it's called get S done. Yep. Planning and running a business as a solopreneur. Right. And I'm trying really hard not to curse. I understand.

Speaker 1:

I understand. And of course you have your website, smart business planning.com where people can learn more about you and the services that you offer. And what I think is amazing about today's world is you are literally helping clients throughout the world, get through these things. And I think that's totally awesome. And it's, it's such a, it's really such a incredible world we have today that I can be sitting here, uh, in my home and talking to you today and having this honor, uh, for someone who's, who's, you know, on the other side of the globe, and it really is, it's something special. So two questions I always ask all of my guests, the first is what is the biggest mistake you've ever made? Uh, that became, uh, an important learning experience. Okay.

Speaker 2:

So now that you know my background, right? Promise me not to laugh, I'll try marketing how important marketing is. So when I wrote my book, I was really good. I started marketing it while I was writing it. Right. And I, I pre-sold a hundred copies. So that was amazing. That's fantastic. But actually doing the marketing afterwards, that marketing is 50% of your business. Right. It's so important. And I keep needing to relearn that lesson because I get all of these ideas. I love that. That's also why I'm great at what I do, because I get all of these ideas and I can help people run it based on their, um, their area of expertise or what they're working with. Right. Um, but I, I, for myself, I tend to forget that I need to do some work and myself and yeah. So definitely remembered to do that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Well, you're here now and you are marketing yourself. You're killing it. You're doing a great job. The second question I ask everyone is what is the best piece of advice you've ever gotten? The one

Speaker 2:

I remember at least is also going back to my book. My, uh, an LP teacher was telling me when I wrote that, because I only wanted it to write it or, or have it come out as a paper bag. And she was like, but remember, Deanna, not all people learn the same way, so why not have it as an ebook or an audio book or all of these other things. And it really got me thinking that remembering that not all people are the same is really important. Not that we need to ask solopreneurs Cade due to everyone, but we need to be very aware if, okay, so I have chosen to only cater to people who learn this way or who experienced this thing, or like, whatever it is remembering to be aware that we're all different. That's probably the easiest way to say that and figuring out that difference that is that you're marketing to.

Speaker 1:

Right. And that, that self-reference criteria. And no matter how aware of it, you are, I am, it seems that I still always tend to apply it and think, well, I wouldn't do this, or I think that's stupid. And, and it's, uh, it's, that's a really easy one to, uh, be a victim of. And it's a really hard one to overcome. Uh, but I think that's a great, great, great piece of advice. And, uh,

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it also might be that you're just choosing that your core customer or the ideal client is like you,

Speaker 1:

Oh, I wouldn't want to have to deal with me all day. It would be a nightmare. Right, right. That's fantastic. So I thank you so much for, uh, joining us today. I really appreciate it. Uh, of course there will be all the links to the Facebook group and the website in the show notes on marketing and service.com website. And, uh, do you have anything you want to leave us with?

Speaker 4:

I'm just really happy. I got to be here. It's been amazing. Thank you. And if people want to get to know me or have a chat, come on.

Speaker 1:

Awesome. Deanna Lund. Thank you so much for joining. It's been an app on her, and I wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Please follow or subscribe. If you enjoyed it, if you really want to do me a personal favor, then please leave a review. It means so much for me, and it keeps me moving with this. And I hope you enjoyed the show today. Thanks so much for listening. Have a great day.

Speaker 4:

[inaudible].