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My Weekly Marketing
Join conversations about marketing, business, and life-in-between with marketing strategist Janice Hostager and a variety of world-class entrepreneurs! We will fill you with step-by-step training, marketing strategy, and life experiences from where life and business intersect. We'd love to have you join the fun!
My Weekly Marketing
Breaking Solopreneur Isolation with Carly Ries
Solopreneurship can be empowering, but also incredibly isolating. In this honest conversation, I’m joined by fellow fractional CMO Carly Ries to talk about the emotional toll of working alone and how it quietly impacts our business growth.
We explore what it really takes to stay grounded and connected as a solo business owner, plus simple ways to create community, regain momentum, and get out of your own head. Tune in if you’ve ever felt stuck behind the scenes of your own business.
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I'm Janice Hostager. After three decades in the marketing business and many years of being an entrepreneur, I've learned a thing or two about marketing. Join me as we talk about marketing, small business and life in between. Welcome to My Weekly Marketing.
Janice Hostager:I don't know if you're anything like me, but I can kind of be my own worst enemy. I mean, the voice in my head can be brutal, especially if I'm starting something new or going out in an area where I have maybe a little less confidence. Essentially, that's every day, since I'm an entrepreneur, we're always learning, helping, changing, leading and growing, so overthinking and staying in our head can be detrimental. Our brains are really good at playing it safe, so it will do its best to talk us out of anything that's even remotely risky and, as you know, there's nothing safe about being in business. That's why staying connected to other people who understand is such an important element of entrepreneurship. For me, the value of having entrepreneurial friends came to light when I talked to my husband at the end of his day. I'd lament about something that happened or didn't happen like I wanted it to, and he'd listen patiently. Now he teaches entrepreneurship at the university level, so he could sometimes give me some really good advice, but it wouldn't relate to what I was going through, because my issue wasn't really about business. It was about the challenges of isolation. Running a business solo can sometimes feel like a solitary journey, but it doesn't have to be that way.
Janice Hostager:My guest today is Carly Ries. She's a fellow fractional CMO and marketing expert with nearly 20 years of experience working with everything from local shops to Fortune 500 companies, and since 2020, carly has worked with a solopreneur hub called Lifestar and co-hosts the Aspiring Solopreneur podcast. She's also the co-author of the soon-to-be-coming-out book called Solopreneur Business for Dummies. Important disclosure I did have some tech issues during this recording, but the audio does improve partway through the episode, so please bear with me and keep listening, and be sure to stay to the end, where Carly talks about ways that you can connect with other entrepreneurs online, all for free. Now here's my talk with Carly. Hey, Carly, welcome to My Weekly
Janice Hostager:Marketing.
Carly Ries:Oh, Janice, I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Janice Hostager:So when we talked a few weeks ago about coming on the podcast, you recommended this topic. So tell me about, because you're a fractional CMO just sort of like me. We have very similar background, actually, in that. So tell us about your entrepreneurial journey, though that made you focus on this and how you got into talking about isolation and things that entrepreneurs go through.
Carly Ries:Yeah. So I, after college, went and worked for Corporate America, like so many of us do, and my now husband, boyfriend at the time he was working remotely. This is back in 2013, 2014. He was like what if we were able to travel full-time while working full-time? And I was like that sounds so cool, let's become digital nomads. So, full-time while working full-time? And I was like that sounds so cool, let's become digital nomads. So I was still working for Corporate America, but I was on the road and I was traveling around the country, which sounds so cool.
Carly Ries:Until you find out that I was working 15, 16-hour days and didn't see anything that we were traveling to go see. We were in Yosemite Valley and I was in the RV working the whole time. We were in middle-of-nowhere, illinois, and I was working the whole time. We were just all over the country and I wasn't able to enjoy it and I was like there has to be a way to be able to work, and work full-time, while also enjoying everything that life has to offer. I'm a millennial, so maybe we're just impatient. We're just like we want to enjoy everything while we're working. So I really was like what can I do to get that lifestyle? What can I do to move forward with my professional career but go to the beach if I want to on a Saturday instead of working all day on a Saturday?
Carly Ries:Well, I ended up going out on my own, and at that point I had years of experience and I knew I went out as a marketing consultant and I had the tools in my toolbox. But we were on the road and I'm very extroverted and I realized very quickly it wasn't the meetings that I missed, it wasn't the timesheets that I missed, it was people, and it was being around people. And as great as it was being with my husband on the road, there was this feeling of oh my gosh, am I doing this alone? There was a feeling of not only isolation from happy hours or isolation from the work culture, but that I don't have anybody to ask if I don't know how to do something. I don't have an IT person.
Carly Ries:I was so used to delegating. I was working in a marketing agency and I was on the strategy side, and so we had a PPC team. We didn't even have a social media team at this point because social media was still so new, but we had different departments that you would delegate to, and I was like, oh my goodness, a social media team at this point, because social media was still so new, but we had different departments that you would delegate to. And I was like, oh my goodness, I thought I had all the tools in my toolbox, but I didn't realize how much I delegated and I felt very alone and I didn't know where to reach out to for these resources when I needed them. And so now, working for a company that focuses on solopreneurs and running a business of one isolation is a big thing that I talk to people about, because you depend on a community for the success of your business, whether you realize it or not. And so that's where I am today.
Janice Hostager:Very cool and that is so true. I mean, I think, anybody that's run a business for a while and, unless you're an extreme introvert, I think of my husband, who would just be happy, as a clam, just hold up in an office all day, just like working, because he does research, he's a college professor, he's got a PhD and so that's his thing, like he loves to just explore the you know the topic and go deep in things. But a lot of us, especially if we are even a little bit introverted, we get that feeling where the walls are closing in on us and we just gotta get out and talk to real people. So what do you feel like? How do you think that affects productivity and mental health.
Carly Ries:It's cute, I think. Well one. I mean. When you talk about isolation, people think like, oh well, who do I interact with if I'm working by myself? And I think they immediately think they have to join networking groups or go to those awful young like young professional or professional happy hours that are just so uncomfortable. And that's not the case. When I think of isolation, I think of accountability partners and finding somebody that once a week you just grab a whether it's in-person or virtual cup of coffee with, and that's getting that human interaction. But also saying, oh, I have to meet this deadline for a client or I want to get my marketing plan done, but I'm really bad at holding myself accountable. Have an accountability buddy, and then you get that social time while also being more productive.
Carly Ries:I have found working from co-working spaces for people that are on their own, just being in that kind of office environment, knowing that everybody's there trying to get something done, can really help motivate you. You don't even have to interact with them. There's just something about being around people that are working that makes you want to work more too. I actually there's an app that I have called Coffitivity, and it's just. It's a background noise from a coffee shop and they put it on my computer even when I'm at home and I feel like I'm around a bunch of people that are at a coffee shop with their laptops up and it just for whatever reason it really helps to get things done.
Carly Ries:So I think having these accountability groups, surrounding yourself with professionals, but also surrounding yourself with people that like to do things that you like to do outside of work whether you're a runner, join a running group or, if you like doing improv, join an improv group and be around people that like doing those things, so that you can take a break from the workspace and come back re-energized, re-motivated to get your work done because you did something you enjoyed outside of work for a little bit. So I do I for introverts or extroverts, I think there's something to be said about establishing a community of sorts for your mental well-being, but also your productivity long-term.
Janice Hostager:I totally agree with that on so many levels. But yeah, I actually have kind of thrown together an idea of just creating a business buddy and I have one, like she's a friend, she's an entrepreneur. We get together, probably not every week because we don't have time for that, but I do have get together with a monthly. Now we can just we talk about business, we can talk about stuff that's going on in our lives and have personalized, because we all know that those boundaries are a little blurred, especially if we're working from home. Right, we've got kids that affects us. We've got husbands that affects us. We've got friends that that affects us. We've got husbands that affects us. We've got friends that affects us, you know. So I think that you're spot on. I think we all need some human interaction and, oh, sorry, Go ahead.
Carly Ries:No, go ahead Even for those introverts in our life, our husbands, my husband's the exact same way. He could go camping and be in the middle of nowhere for a week and be perfectly content. But when you're working by yourself, since you're so siloed, you have nobody telling you when your ideas are good or bad. You will think all of your ideas are brilliant, but until you vocalize them to somebody else or share your ideas with somebody else, you may be going down the wrong path and nobody's there to stop you from it. So, even if you're introverted, find that accountability person to say, yes, this is the right way to go, or no? What are you thinking? Pump the brakes, which is huge, which I forgot to mention from productivity for those introverts out there.
Janice Hostager:Yeah, yeah. Well, it's interesting that, of course, my brain's going like three different directions right now, but I do want to talk to you about, you know, getting feedback, because I've been putting together a new online course and my problem is because I'm such a marketing nerd. I think that everybody wants to learn all these things about marketing, but in reality, you know, you want to get from point A to point B in the quickest, easiest way possible, right? So I face the same thing and I go to a co-working space a couple times a week just to do some deep work on this course. Otherwise, I would never get it done at home. Even my dog distracts me.
Janice Hostager:It's sad, but the thing that I have found which is kind of interesting is that I will not necessarily vocalize, but I will be using chat, gpt to help me with some of that Like. Like, okay, here's my outline for this module. Is it too much, is it too little? And it will tell me. It's like you know this all sounds great. It's giving me affirmations. This is a little scary, but you know it all sounds great. But I think you should take this out and this out and instead add this and this and it's like thank you.
Janice Hostager:You are my you know, my ai business coach. But it's important to do that, whether that's ai or if it's just a human. You know, because my, my, my business buddy will also do that for me. She was like what are you doing, you know? For for me she's more of a uh, like a leadership coach and and more of a mental health person. She's like stop doing all this thing, you need to focus on this. So she tells me the hard lessons I need to hear, the hard things I need to learn here. She won't necessarily affirm me so much.
Carly Ries:Yeah, and the thing is, you could be a professional in your space. I mean, we're both marketers and it's funny because sometimes I need to take my own advice as a marketer and get out of my own way. I mean, I'm so by the books that a friend of mine who's not in marketing could be like well, have you thought about this? And I'm like, well, that doesn't fall into the SEO. Like that's not how you do meta descriptions and page titles and all that. And it's like, oh yeah, the human side wants this. But since I'm classically trained in marketing, I want to go this way. But you do have to. It's better to get some feedback from something that's not necessarily in your space. Yeah, to show you what you may not be thinking about because you're so one track minded Totally.
Janice Hostager:So my calendar is stacked up like Lego blocks. I'm assuming many entrepreneurs' calendars are kind of like this. So it seems like when you can find a way to delegate or automate or eliminate a task, something new fills that void right. So it's not just a matter of oh, I got that off my plate, now I've got this free time. Do you think that that kind of contributes to isolation? Are we putting too much on our shoulders? Do you think that we just like don't build in time for relaxation and thought?
Carly Ries:I'm actually going to share a personal story that doesn't even have to do with work, but I've started incorporating it in my professional life. We have a free weekend. I feel like I'm like, okay, we could go to this museum, we can go hiking, and I just block it off. My husband likes room for opportunity. He doesn't want to plan things. I am the planner, he is the. Let's go with the flow, see what happens. And so this is about a year or two ago.
Carly Ries:I was looking at my calendar and there were blocks on Saturdays and Sundays that said room for opportunity, and my husband had put those on the calendar to be like, look, we have plans, quote unquote, but we don't have plans. And it was like this is a good time for you to just take a minute, not plan anything, because something's already on the calendar, and just see what happens that day. And I was like you know I need that in work. So I have started putting workouts on the calendar like real, like I've been wanting. I know everybody says this is the year I get in the best shape of my life, but I really wanted to make that a goal this year and so I have it as a set meeting on the calendar.
Carly Ries:The contractors I work with know you do not interrupt me at this time. I look at it like I had a meeting with you today. I like I have an interview. Mm-hmm, I do not move it. And you have to do that with first for any kind of personal time, even if just blocking off Monday mornings to go sit in a coffee shop and let your mind wander. I have also found that if I put hiking on the calendar, my best business ideas come away from the computer. When I'm on my computer, I'm focusing on my to-do list, on the tasks that I need to get done. When I'm off on a hike, I'm thinking big picture. I'm thinking that thing I was focusing on is pointless. Why am I still working on it? I should be doing this instead. And that's where the big picture thinking comes from. And so many people don't give themselves the time to do that. And that's where I personally have seen the biggest shifts in my business have been away from the computer.
Janice Hostager:Oh, I 100% agree. Yeah, even when I'm like traveling, it's just because I'll usually say to myself, okay, I'm going to grab a book and finally get this book read, or I'm going to be working on this on the plane, and I just don't give myself those boundaries, I don't set those boundaries well. So I too have been this last year, have been setting gym time on my calendar and when my calendar tells me to do something, I'm going to do it. You know, even if I have other work that needs to be done, because you burn out, you know, and then you're no good to anybody, and especially client work and all of those things can easily creep in and fill those voids. And also we all have ideas right of things we want to implement in our own businesses, so those can fill our voids really easily. So I love that. I love that you're doing that. I think that's so important.
Carly Ries:Well, and with calendar blocking, the two things that I have found work for a lot of people is to like you and I, we have this on the calendar for one hour. I put it on the calendar for two because I was like this leaves room for me to prepare. Before the cause it was it was 30 minutes before one hour and 30 minutes after. It gives me time to prepare, come up with any questions I might have for you, and then afterwards one leave room for if you and I just felt like talking for a while, which I feel like you and I could very easily do, since we're basically the same person. But also, okay, that's 30 minutes, I don't have to rush into something else. I can start on a to-do list. I could go for that hike and just padding the must-get-done things so that you have that time for the email to respond to the social comments you need to respond to, because those creep in and you don't have time allocated towards it. So I like padding the actual things on my calendar with the fluff. But also, as business owners, we're go-getters and so, like we were saying, we fill our calendars.
Carly Ries:But, as aspirational as we are, things change throughout the week and you can have an entire week blocked off and get to Thursday and realize you didn't actually do a lot of things that you had scheduled Monday through Wednesday, because you just kind of over it. So every night before I go to bed or not even before I go to bed, but before I start winding down with the family and everything the last thing I do as part of the workday is I look at what I actually did from the calendar that day and then see what I need to rearrange the next day. So you stay on top of it. So you're still calendar blocking, but you're just doing it. You're revising it as the week goes so that you don't drop the ball on anything.
Janice Hostager:Right, yeah, that's a good way of doing it. I tried just so many different methods. I've tried the calendar blocking for tasks. I use Blue, which is kind of a newer app. It's sort of like Asana. I've used Asana, I've used ClickUp, I've used a to-do list.
Janice Hostager:I mean there's a lot of ways to kind of keep track of everything and even, like pencil and paper, you know just anything that, just so you don't lose track of all the different types of jobs that you need to get done, especially for clients, because that's always my worst fear is that I'll have committed to something and totally just spaced out on it, which happens when you get too busy.
Janice Hostager:Yeah, oh yeah. So what do you think about in terms of mental health, like, especially self-doubt? I notice that in times when I'm really isolating and really focused on just nose to the grindstone, getting stuff done, I start. My mental health definitely goes down for sure, and especially the feelings of self-doubt start creeping in because I'm not getting affirmations from anybody else and I guess that probably speaks to my own psychological makeup, because that I need somebody to say good job, everyone's so. Oh goodness, we're the same person for overcoming feelings like this, especially if you're feeling alone in your journey, like other than, like you mentioned a buddy for sure. What about networking groups, like? I know that there's some that aren't great, but do you recommend people join them anyway, or a mastermind or something like that?
Carly Ries:Yeah, I found that some people are more comfortable to start online just because there's that awkward feeling of going into that new room and being like hi, I'm Carly Reese. What's your favorite color? You know if there isn't a nice breaker or something. So I'm all for networking groups if you're comfortable in that setting, but there are a lot of online communities that you can join. I'll probably do a shameless plug for art at the end of the episode, but I definitely think it's worth surrounding yourself with people.
Carly Ries:But going back to the imposter syndrome, I think is what some experience when we're going alone. Yeah, I am marketers. When I went out on my own, I thought I knew everything and I very quickly realized I didn't. And I know a lot. But instead of focusing on what I do know, it was well, I don't know this. What was I thinking? I jumped ship already. I need to go back, and I think the first thing people need to remember is everybody experiences this. Everybody has that in their head. That's like what are you doing? And that's just kind of the name of the game. So if you can accept that early on, then that's a first step.
Carly Ries:I've also found that when your doubts come in, that's often before a big breakthrough and you're just scared of what you're trying to push forward. Whether you're about to launch something or pitch a new client so many times or ask for a pay raise or an increase in your rates, people are like I don't deserve this pay increase, I don't deserve this. But then when they ask for it, they get the pay increase and it's just that little guy on your shoulder just trying to tell you can't when you really can, and so there's comfort in numbers. Everybody goes through this. I also encourage people to just take baby steps or be productive in some way when they're starting to get these feelings of imposter syndrome, even if it's cleaning your kitchen, like, just do something productive. Because that feeling of accomplishment will make you feel like, oh okay, like I could conquer this. Maybe, since I have the momentum with cleaning my kitchen, I can at least draft the email task for the rate increase. I don't have to send it, but at least I'm going to draft it. That'll make me feel good. And then, when you're feeling good about that, you're like all right, I have some confidence going. I'm going to hit send and then hit send and just continue to be productive with those baby steps and eventually you'll get to the thing you're trying to achieve, even when that voice in your head is telling you you can't.
Carly Ries:So I think those are huge. It's just like like hit the ground running, get some stuff done and then also do something to put a smile on your face, or just put a smile on your face, whether you're doing something to make that happen or not, and just that, those endorphins I'm not going to get science-y because I don't know the terms I'm looking for, but just that feeling of feeling good can do wonders for your productivity and can get you out of that funk of I don't deserve this, I'm not good enough. When, really, if you go for a run, go paint, go do whatever makes you happy, you come back and you're like that makes me so happy, I'm feeling so much better. I can totally put this in my head. So just kind of getting yourself in a good mindset, get that momentum going, can do wonders, when that voice will inevitably start speaking to you. It's just the nature of the beast.
Janice Hostager:Yeah, yeah, I mean, I have had 30 years of marketing under my belt and I still think, oh my gosh, I don't know about enough about this to be advising somebody on this. And I've been in, I was an art director, I've done copywriting, I've done PR, I have done, just you know, print buying, I've done like the whole entire gamut almost of ads I've done. And I still feel like that sometimes, you know, it's like I just what if I dropped the ball on this? And I think it probably has its root in perfectionism or who knows, I don't know. I think you're right. I think most every entrepreneur goes through that, especially solopreneurs. Uh, if you're just, if you spend too much time in your own head, I think so I I love that. You recommend just doing something. You get a quick win, like clean the kitchen.
Carly Ries:it's like okay, I can do this, I can do the bigger things, right when I also, um, I think, oh gosh, I just lost my train of thought. I was going to say something so insightful and now I forgot. Um, it'll come back to me at some point. But yeah, I mean, just just remember that everybody goes through it. And oh, I remembered, um, use it as a way to stay on your toes and not become complacent.
Carly Ries:As a solopreneur or an entrepreneur building something, if things are working, you kind of just kind of like it becomes clockwork. You kind of get stuck in your ways and you forget that you need to evolve with where your business is evolving. You need to keep up on your continuing education and when you've got imposter syndrome, it's kind of a kick to be like, oh, if I'm not comfortable with this, it's because something's changing and I need to get comfortable with this. For example, I'm a millennial. I should love social media, or so I've heard. I'm not comfortable with it.
Carly Ries:I mean, so many of my peers are creating reels, and obviously the generations below me. It's like second nature to them, but I'm really uncomfortable with creating reels. I don't have TikTok. Maybe I'm an anomaly, but I know I have clients that need this. And so when they came to me and they're like what do you recommend for reels? I was like well, what do you recommend for me? I don't know, I have no idea. And instead of caving into that imposter syndrome of I don't know, I spent a night learning about reels and learning about videos on social and ways to not go viral but ways to expand your reach and all of that. And now I feel better about me as a marketer because I learned something new and I wouldn't have felt that way if I didn't have that little guy being like you don't know what you're doing.
Janice Hostager:And it's so true.
Carly Ries:So that's what you need to stay current in whatever profession you're in.
Janice Hostager:That's a really, really good idea because, for sure, in marketing, oh my gosh, it's like shifting sand under your feet every single day. In fact, I was on a podcast yesterday with just someone who was talking about the changes that take place daily in Facebook ads and I know I have felt like so stupid because I've been doing Facebook ads for years and I go in there and something's changed, something new has changed. And if it's like that in marketing, I'm sure it's like that in every profession, especially now that we are going into a time of life where AI runs so many things and integrated with so many things. We're all learning at this point.
Carly Ries:Yeah, it's exciting. It's the new frontier, even though a lot of us are a little nervous about it. If you embrace it, it could be great for you.
Janice Hostager:Yeah, yeah, let's see here A little more editing. Here I think I kind of covered everything, so I think these are some really great ideas for just staying connected and feeling a lot less like we're holed up in four walls and have, you know, with our own thoughts, which is sometimes the most dangerous place to be in the world. So tell me a little bit about your business, lifestar, because I think that you really are hitting a niche there that I think is important to address for sure.
Carly Ries:Yes, well, I'm biased and I agree with you, but when you hear about entrepreneurship, you hear people that want to make their millions and sell and you want to get investors make this whole thing. And then, on the other end, you hear about freelancers or the gig economy and people that just want to take projects here and there, and we felt like that there was a big gap missing of people that want to be entrepreneurs but don't want to hire employees. They just want to run a business that fits their lifestyle, allows them to pick their kids up from school, allows them to do that midday hike or go to Europe if they want to, while still making a good living. But they don't have to be the next gazillionaires, they just want to make a living that supports their life. So that's exactly what Lifestar does. Lifestar with two R's. We help solopreneurs really just navigate the ups and downs of solopreneurship. There are people that don't know how to do lead gen or sales or they need productivity hacks, and we provide community, we provide a space for them to bounce questions off of experts and we really just give them the tools and the building blocks they need to run a successful company of one.
Carly Ries:So I've been working for this company. I was on a podcast yesterday and he was like well, where do you see yourself? There's no part of me that I mean. I'm a fractional CMO, I only contract with Lifestar. I could do other things and certainly have the freedom to do so, but I love this company and I love what it stands for, and I think we're just at the beginning. So, yeah, I can't wait to see where this all goes. So you weren't involved in starting the beginning, so, yeah, I can't wait to see where this all goes.
Janice Hostager:So what? So you weren't involved in starting the business. You came on a little later right, I was.
Carly Ries:I was ground level. So the CEO, joe Rando, is the most wonderful human being on the planet and his vision for this is truly to help people, like he just cares people. He's one of those guys that says he cares about making the world a better place, but he actually does, and he had this app idea back around 2019 or so and there were some ups and downs with that. He brought me on originally to promote this app, and then we found this need and I came on the first week of March 2020. So it was a very interesting time to start a new position. But over the years, we pivoted away from the app for a variety of reasons and now we've created this community instead. So I was on the ground level. I just wasn't here during the app development portion, but I was at the beginning of Lifestar and what it currently is today and was instrumental in finding our new niche.
Janice Hostager:And what I love about it is that it's free to start right and you can jump in and really connect with other entrepreneurs right.
Carly Ries:Yes, so we have this intro tier which is lifestarcom backslash intro cleverly named and it has a community of entrepreneurs and people are engaging in that community throughout the day, just random questions. We even have a water cooler segment where you can join this water cooler Zoom link and just pretend like you're at an office water cooler since so many of us miss that and the Zoom link is always open and one of our team members is always on there, hilarious, like chatting with somebody. But we have like yeah, we just we have Monday meetups where you can chat with other people again just to get like, combat the isolation but get those questions answered that so many of us have. So that's free. We have monthly events. We have that networking event, solopreneur Problem Solvers, where you bring one of your challenges with you and then you go into a breakout room and you try to solve your challenges together and help others and it's just really cool how many collaborations come out of that.
Carly Ries:And then we have a monthly educational event called Success Sessions where we have an expert come in to talk about next week it's taxes because we want people prepared for the entire year, not just scramble that month before. So we have that. People talk about marketing, pr, and all these are designed specifically for solopreneurs, not just the general education. You would get around these topics. And then we have free resources tools. It's just a great way to get started, and all of that that I just mentioned is completely free and always will be. That is a promise made by the CEO.
Janice Hostager:Oh, very cool. It's just perfect timing too. It sounds like it started in 2020, when everybody was feeling the walls closing in right, oh yes, during COVID, yeah. Well thank you so much, carly, for chatting with us today, and this is such an important topic. I really am glad that you filled us in on some options that we have, because nobody wants to be stuck alone and feeling uninspired when they have opportunities that are easy to connect to. So I appreciate it.
Carly Ries:Well, I appreciate you and thank you so much for having me on the show.
Janice Hostager:Okay, there's one more thing I want to add. There are actually 41 million solopreneurs in the US, so if you're feeling isolated or discouraged, please reach out to someone who understands. You're feeling isolated or discouraged, please reach out to someone who understands. Remember you are not alone, so don't sit too long in your discouragement. For information about anything we talked about today, including the link to the free Lifestar community, visit myweeklymarketingcom. Forward slash 110. In the ever-changing world of marketing, there's always something new to learn, so be sure to subscribe so you'll always stay up to date. Thanks so much for joining me today. I'll see you next time. Bye for now.