Forged In Fire
Hosted by Nate Pharmer-Eden and Cole Farrell, Forged In Fire is where real entrepreneurship meets raw, unfiltered stories. This isn’t your typical business podcast—we skip the fluff and dive straight into the heat of what it really takes to build, run, and grow a business. From late-night doubts to game-changing wins, we explore the trials, setbacks, and breakthroughs that entrepreneurs experience at every stage of their journey.
Whether you’re a seasoned business owner navigating new challenges or someone with a burning desire to launch your first venture, this podcast offers powerful insights and practical lessons for everyone. No sugarcoating—just honest conversations about what it takes to forge success through the fire.
Get ready to be inspired, learn from real-world struggles, and gain the tools you need to make your entrepreneurial dreams a reality. This is your front-row seat to the highs, lows, and everything in between. Are you ready to step into the fire? 🔥
Forged In Fire
Episode 34: Holly Seybert Explains Why AI Can't Replace the Human Touch in Strategic Copywriting
What truly separates effective marketing from forgettable noise? The answer lies in powerful, persuasive copywriting – and few understand this craft better than Holly Seibert, founder of Holly Seibert Copywriting.
In this captivating conversation, Holly shares her unconventional path from marketing major to HR professional to successful copywriting entrepreneur. After experiencing two corporate layoffs, she realized the illusion of job security and took control of her own destiny. "Nowhere is safe," she reflects. "If your job is going to get eliminated, it's going to get eliminated. Having that control and being on my own was really what I needed."
Holly breaks down the psychology behind effective copywriting – that perfect blend of art and science that connects brands with their target audiences. She offers three immediately applicable strategies that will transform your business messaging: focus on benefits rather than features, keep your language clear and casual instead of complex, and always include a specific call to action. These fundamental principles work across industries, from tech startups to local service businesses.
As AI tools reshape content creation, Holly provides a refreshingly balanced perspective. While acknowledging AI's usefulness for research and brainstorming, she highlights why human copywriters remain irreplaceable: "AI is a machine. It doesn't understand the creativity and emotional connections of your audience." This explains why copywriting job openings have increased 22% despite AI's rise – companies recognize that truly persuasive messaging requires human insight.
For entrepreneurs struggling with productivity, Holly emphasizes the importance of avoiding "shiny object syndrome." Rather than chasing every new tool or trend, focus on revenue-generating activities and simplified systems. Her own success comes from implementing consistent daily habits, including identifying her five most important tasks each day using a pen-and-paper planner.
Ready to craft messages that truly connect and convert? Listen now to transform how you communicate your value and build meaningful relationships with your audience.
Forget what you've heard. Forged in Fire is where real entrepreneurs come to share the untold truths of success the late nights, the crushing setbacks, the moments that change everything. No fluff, just fire, ready to step into the heat and unlock what it really takes to build a business. This is where legends are made.
Speaker 2:Welcome back everybody to another exciting episode of Forged in Fire. I am your co-host, nate Farmer-Eden. Allow me to introduce my counterpart, cole. How we doing brother, come on stage.
Speaker 3:Doing good man. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I'm doing good. I'm doing good, man. The family was sick for like the last, I don't know. It feels like month, but I'm finally starting to come out of it. So I think I'm getting well. I think so. It feels that way. How about you?
Speaker 3:man. What's going on? That's awesome. We're doing good over here. Today's one of those days where, like, wake up, sun's shining, everything's good. Look at my phone. Everything starts burning to the ground and we're doing better. Our day's slowly turning around, but you know, there's always those good days. So it is what it is, but I'm excited to be here. I'm excited for this guest. There's a lot to go into. This is one of my favorite topics, so it's going to get interesting. But a few housekeeping things first, right, as we know. So first leave us rating review Helps us grow, helps us educate more people, so that would be awesome. Second, please subscribe so you can get the next episode and the one after that.
Speaker 2:And, lastly, sit back, relax, enjoy the show and the one after that, and, lastly, sit back, relax, enjoy the show. Here we go. It's going to be amazing. Today we are joined by Holly. Holly is a copywriting expert and runs her own business doing so. So, without further ado, holly, come on stage. How are we doing?
Speaker 4:Hey guys, how are you?
Speaker 2:Doing awesome. Thank you so much for being here. So please tell us a little bit about yourself. What got you here? What brought you here?
Speaker 4:Absolutely so. My name is Holly Seibert and I am the owner founder of Holly Seibert Copywriting, so I've been in marketing for, oh gosh, over a decade. I was a marketing major in college, kind of took a dotted line to get where I am now, started my career in human resources and talent acquisition and let me tell you, though you want to learn business acumen, then HR is really the way to go, but it was always in marketing in some way, whether that was managing an employer brand or overseeing know, overseeing copy content and social related to careers eventually made my way into customer success or took on more of a sales role, but once again, that copy marketing portion was always there, and then, you know, I mean anyone in a W2 position. It's kind of like there has to be something more right. I went out on my own last year.
Speaker 4:I always love the messaging concept of marketing or copywriting and getting that branding and connecting brands with their target audience. I just always loved it. Connecting brands with their target audience. I just always loved it. And so went out on my own as a freelancer and it's been fun. I have worked on projects that I don't think I would not have had the opportunity to do had I still been in a corporate role, and so, yeah, it's been amazing.
Speaker 3:That is awesome. I want to dive into that a lot more. So you mentioned you've always been in marketing. It sounds like you've just had a drive for it, something you liked. Is there something specifically about it that draws you in, or is it just kind of like an innate thing that you just are drawn to it? Like, for instance, I just love real estate. I couldn't really tell you why I love apartment buildings. It's kind of a weird thing, but I just do so. Do you have the same kind of thing, or is there something specific about it?
Speaker 4:I think, you know, that's so funny because I think back to, like I mean, I was in college a long time ago. But you know, even in classes like a retail class, you know that the psychology behind it and why stores set up the way they do, when you look at an ad, why is it said? It's it's like the psychology of it and getting that connection, you know, from a company to the audience and getting them to take that action, and so I think that that's just like the tip of the iceberg, but kind of like you said, you know, you're just like there's just something about it that's like oh yeah, you want to, you want to talk about that.
Speaker 3:So it's funny because one of the things that I noticed that you have and I just started putting it together as we're doing this is a lot of our guests that are successful entrepreneurs just ask that why? It's just they have this thing that they like, whatever it is, and then they just can't stop asking why and it eventually turns into something big and successful. So I like that you do that, and I'm sure Nate can agree. It's something we always see.
Speaker 2:Thousand percent, and I guess I'm the same way like that especially. We're thinking of what you were doing back then and then going through college and all that, so making that actual transition into running your own solopreneur business. What kind of struggles and trials and tribulations did you go through?
Speaker 4:take us through some of that journey yeah, I mean, um, well, I, I was, I was not the happiest human, um, and I don't wanna, I don't wanna bad mouth, you know any? Any organization? I, I, I wasn't happy and it was, was that constant like, come on, what, what is it? What's missing here?
Speaker 4:But so much is mindset, getting out of that employee mindset, because then you hear, oh well, well, your health insurance, oh well, they contribute to your 401k and it's like, but you can still contribute to the 401k as a, as a business owner, as a freelancer, it's that mindset that you know you're not just going to sit there, you know and do your work and go home at four or five whenever it's like I want to, I want to work hard and I want to do it for me. And getting out of that like this is now a business, because, as a freelancer and I think any solopreneur kind of listening to it is that, yeah, it's not a hobby to me, it's a business, even though right now it is just me. And I think any solopreneur or freelancer don't think of it as a hobby. It's a business even though it is just you. You can be a department of one, of all departments and it's just you.
Speaker 2:It's so good. Let me ask a follow-up, because this is so good, so could you hit on something that I just got to dive into? So, going from that exact mindset shift of W2, they'll take care of you. They've got your back to now. It's just you wearing all the hats and you. So what was that like for you? Like all of a sudden now having to make sure that you're tracking your own KPIs. You're now making sure that you're doing all the finance, the budgeting, the marketing. How did that all go?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean, I think, and I think, because of my kind of like, I said the dotted line in my career that you know, oh, I was familiar with all these corporate yes, corporate departments. But kind of taking that down and you know, of course, you know, joining those freelancing networks and their sites out there and kind of having that communities you know people to lean on, ask questions that have been there is absolutely vital. I, I don't think I could have been where I am today alone, um, that you absolutely need that community, um, and so, yeah, you know that and I also, you know, didn't mention, is that I was actually laid off twice, um, different organizations, different reasons. One was a bankruptcy entire organization was let down, entire organization was let down. The other one was an acquisition Our entire team was let go, they took it offshore, and so I'm like nowhere is safe, you're not going to sit there all cozy in your corporate job.
Speaker 4:I was just like you know what, forget this, I'm doing it myself. So, yeah, and I think, having that mindset that like no, nowhere is safe, if your job is going to get eliminated, it's going to get eliminated, and so having that control in a way to a point and being on my own, that's really, I mean, what I needed. It's all mindset really. It was, it was. It's all mindset really. I love that.
Speaker 3:We harp on mindset all the time and I just think it's like the, I would say, debatably the most important thing in business just all around, because if you don't have the right mindset it's going to be so incredibly difficult to succeed. And there's a couple of things I just want to go back to that you brought up and I think it's huge to touch on, like the employee mindset and not just as an employee. That's fine, that's all well and good, but it's just the fact that, like in school, in our whole education system, we're trained to follow. We're not trained to lead. It's handed an assignment, do it this way, it's just given. And so trying to break out as an entrepreneur and trying to like learn how to lead and how to do things differently and not just follow rules but actually expand, is so difficult.
Speaker 3:So I love that you mentioned that, um, and also like the hobby versus business, I think, like you said, to have that control and to have the pieces you need to treat it like a business. It's a money generating machine. It's not just like let's go paint on the side and do whatever in our free time, like we're taking this seriously. So that's so big um. There's so much more I could dive into there, but I'm going to digress. I want to go into some copy stuff because I'm just way too excited. So can you give more? Just give us some fundamentals, I guess, on copy. What are things that if somebody knew nothing when they're listening to this and they're like my messaging sucks, I'm getting nothing, where do you start?
Speaker 4:Sure. So I think a lot of people hear copywriting and they think of like the legal, like copywriting with an R. This is copywriting, like actually writing, and it's really an art and a science. I think of it as both. It's like a hybrid, but it's really writing that persuades, influences. You want that audience, that person reading it, to take an action. Yes, people think of buying a product, absolutely, but maybe that's just to sign up for your newsletter, Maybe it's to listen and subscribe to a podcast, maybe you're a company and you have employees and you need to pitch them on a new program that you're rolling out. You're still, you need to get them on board and you need to persuade them. That's copywriting. And so, in a nutshell, it is really the art and science of writing that persuades or influences.
Speaker 4:And any business needs copywriting. I mean your website that's the biggie. Emails, social media I know that that's the big one. Ads, digital ads or print ads If you're a brick and mortar and you need to, you know, get your message out. You know. Print ads oh my gosh. Sales pages, landing pages those are a huge one. The list goes on and on.
Speaker 3:We have a quick interruption question. So would it be fair to say that, like, as you improve on your copy, let's say your written copy, your, like, your speech would also kind of improve with it? Or those completely separate? Yeah?
Speaker 4:your speech, um, I mean I, I guess in a way, um, I will say with copy, I mean especially, I think in like, like I take an ad, for example, a headline might not always be, you know, grammatically correct, but it's meant to grab your attention. Um, but as far as like your speech, as in, just to confirm you, you mean like, basically, how we're communicating.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I just mean like okay if somebody can write excellent copy, let's just say someone starts from zero and they slowly improve. When they're talking to, let's say, a client or a potential client, are they going to be better articulated because they've now had practice writing it consistently, or maybe not. And it's completely unrelated to something I'm curious of.
Speaker 4:I don't know if I can 100% or if I have the right answer to that. I guess it would depend. There's a lot. I feel like there's a lot of factors there that I'm thinking of because there's different types of writing. Right, you have copy we're persuading, we're influencing. And then you have like a blog post. To me, it's content Is it educating, Is it entertaining? And then you have like a blog post To me, it's content Is it educating, Is it entertaining? Are we telling a story? Are we building a brand? It's written for a different purpose, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it makes sense. So many questions, but you and I we talked about this months ago, but I want the world to know thoughts on this. Where do we stand with copy versus AI right now? Because there's so many different tools that folks have been utilizing with, like chat, GPT and all these other instruments that are just like you know what. We'll just throw it on in here and then we're just going to throw it out to the world and I don't even have to think about it for blogs and whatever else. Where do you stand from your perspective on folks utilizing that?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean AI.
Speaker 4:I mean it's not going away, right? Is it absolutely? Is it a useful tool when running a business? Yes, I use it for like scheduling. I use it for you know, I have all this stuff I have to do. Can you write me a schedule? Or, if I'm working in a new industry for research, absolutely, it can be very, very helpful.
Speaker 4:When it comes to copy, I use this example and I actually just got an alert today on my phone from LinkedIn that copywriting job openings have increased 22%. That was as of this morning. That's what LinkedIn told me and honestly, I've been seeing that for the past few weeks, and the reason that I bring this up is that I think years ago say I don't know two years ago, when really AI was becoming mainstream, is that companies like you said oh, we can get rid of our teams and use this robot and it'll be great. And I think people are realizing that that's not the case. I mean AI, it's a machine.
Speaker 4:You put stuff in, it gets stuff out. It's not a human. It doesn't understand the creativity, the emotional connections of your audience, and so it really can't hit that psychology piece that I was bringing up because it's a machine. Now is it great if you're stuck on a sentence like where am I going to go with this as a tool? To go with this as a tool, absolutely, but to completely replace humans? No, I really don't see that, and I brought up the job opening thing because I really think companies are realizing that, that they're like we have to, we need these people back and so, yeah, that is my answer on AI.
Speaker 3:I love it and I think it's good because it's funny, because you know, a year, two years again, whatever the timeline is, I think there's a lot of fear surrounding this in many different industries. Is AI going to demolish this industry, that industry? What's going to happen? And I think a lot of people push for that and there's good, bad ugly to it, you know for against it, whatever it may be. But I think it's good to know that you're just like you're saying there's always going to be a place for the human element and there's always going to be that piece to come in. And, like you said, it's just hard to really I don't know for a machine to do it, so it's interesting.
Speaker 3:Speaking of I'm curious of the nitty gritty Again. I just like thinking of the nitty gritty again. I just like thinking of the person that's listening to this going like, okay, I need copy. Should I hire an expert? Should I try doing it myself? If I try doing it myself, what are some things I should pay attention to? Can you speak to that a little bit?
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely, and yeah, I do agree. You know I feel like copywriting and this is absolutely no I. Everyone all has their expertise, is it's like? I feel like sometimes it's the last thing that people think of. You know, you create these like graphic designs always seem like the cool kids, right? You know they're like creating these super sexy websites, but if your messaging isn't on point, people aren't going to stay on your site, and so they really.
Speaker 4:I think it is something that does need to focus, and if you're not ready to invest in a copywriter, a professional copywriter, that's fine, you know, if you want to go at it yourself. I would say three main takeaways. Is one focus on whatever you are offering a service or a you know a product, focusing on the benefits of that rather than a feature. I'll give a really bad example of like I don't know a pillow. Say, your pillow is stuffed with I don't know organic bamboo. Okay, cool, what does that mean? What's in it for me? What's in it for your audience? Does that mean they get a really great night's sleep? Does that mean they don't have pain in the morning? I'm not a pillow expert, but focusing on the benefit of that service and product, I would say that's the number one. Number two is keep it clear, keep it casual. Maybe your tone is casual, but I think a lot of times, depending on the industry, people get super complex and they're using this fancy jargon because they want to sound credible and they want to sound like experts. But it can really take away from your point and your audience is sitting there going what, what are they? Oh, okay, that's what they're trying to say. So to me, concise and clear words is always the best thing. And then I would say number three is always have that call to action. What are you trying to get these folks to do? Do you want them to buy the product? Do you want them to subscribe, follow like it, share it? Have a really clear and concise call to action.
Speaker 4:I would say those three tips, kind of to get started. And there's a ton of resources out there. And I would say too you know, if you do this as a solopreneur or you know a business owner and you're like I'm just not sure if this is right, yeah, maybe that's something you look into. You know is is hiring a professional, um, or a lot of times I know a lot of solopreneurs. I'll use an example like I don't know coaches. There's a lot of really successful coaches out there, but a lot of times it's just them, um, and it's they kind of hesitate to hire a professional because it's well, no, it's me, this is my brand. No one can say it like I can say it. I will tell you that a good copywriter is going to, they're going to nail that brand voice and that tone and you're not even going to like, it's going to sound like you. A professional copywriter, a good one, will be able to do that. So hopefully that was that was a lot. Hopefully someone got something out of that.
Speaker 2:So this was amazing so far. Oh, my goodness, anybody that's listening. That was a mic drop moment. Make sure that you pause, rewind, play this whole thing back to this point. So far, two questions, and they kind of can flow into each other. But right now, what is your target avatar look like, in terms of who it is that you would like to work with? And then two coming from somebody that's worlds better than I am when it comes to this copywriting and all of that. What is it that you're doing to be able to attract any type of new business?
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Wait, I want to add on a three to that. How did you decide on your avatar? New business.
Speaker 4:Yeah, wait, I want to add on a three to that. How did you decide on your avatar? So I would say that you hear this a lot too is people will define a niche and they will kind of silo themselves in a particular niche. I like variety, and so, as far as industry wise, you know I'm very. I have worked in a variety of industries, from, I mean, pet care to the events industry, saas, tech.
Speaker 4:But what I will say is, as far as the size of the company, I really love that like small to medium size, that where they're like I need, I need help, you know what can I do? Um, and so to me it's about the, the person or the size of the company, not so much the industry, but the, the organizations that are really ready to take it to the next level. Or they're like yeah, you know, I do need to invest to really redefine my brand messaging, connect with the audience, do all the things the tone guide and the brand voice that really value that. And they're ready for that Because, like I said, not everyone's going to be ready for a copywriter, and so, yeah, I would say like the small and medium sized business that's, or even a solopreneur that is kind of ready to take it to that next level. Oh my God, what was the second question?
Speaker 2:So it all kind of blends together. But the other question or I guess part two to that was what are you doing to be able to market? That's right.
Speaker 4:So currently, right now, I do cold pitch. It's tedious, but it works.
Speaker 3:It's the direct line to work.
Speaker 4:Dive into that more. What was that?
Speaker 3:Dive into that more, give me more details. What exactly does that look like?
Speaker 4:So I will kind of you know one. I never just send out those blanket templates that are like hi, I'm a copywriter, you have work, let me help you. No one wants to read that. It's really about finding someone that I think would be you know. Hey, you know, let me reach out to this person and always try to find the good email, a good email to send, not the you know, generic ones, but sometimes that's what you're, what you're given. Um, always kind of making it known that I've looked at their stuff. Um it, I'm a real person, I am not a bot. Um, and then I always want to give them an idea. Um, and then I always want to give them an idea.
Speaker 4:You know, hey, saul, you haven't updated your blog posts in you know a year. Uh, did you know a blog post can help with SEO, you know? And just kind of providing some kind of value, um, and then, uh, hey, want to connect on a call. Keep it, keep it brief, keep it friendly. Everyone's time is valuable. But, yeah, cold pitching is something that I do, still do. I have gotten clients from it.
Speaker 4:I also do some inbound as well. I have a blog on my site Networking, always love to connect on coffee chats, even if it's not going to be about work. There are people that I connect with every month and it's almost just like a you know adding to my community and maybe one day they'll have work. Maybe they won't, um. So yeah, that's kind of the two right now, because it's always like I'm writing for other people and I never have time to write for myself. But those are kind of the two main areas that I'm writing for other people and I never have time to write for myself. But those are kind of the two main areas that I'm focusing on.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. I I've been diving so deep into cold outreach recently and I it's. It's just fascinating to me and I like that. You said, um, these three things that I've keep hearing over and over again, which is personalizing the message, making them aware that you're paying attention to them and they're not just a Joe Schmo, like you said, to giving value, like you said, having an idea here's something to add on value, just free off the bat. And then, obviously, the call to action is critical. So I just love that you brought that up.
Speaker 4:And I will add I mean I've worked on sales teams before, even when I was a recruiter. I mean it was sales and it's no one likes that salesy or a lot of the companies I'm reaching out to. They don't want to be, they don't want to know they're being pitched. And it took a lot to kind of pull back on that that salesy approach and just being like, hey, they're dropping in here's a gift, you know, and on my way, drop it in, here's a gift, you know, and on my way. So yeah, kind of finding that balance was definitely a challenge for me.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. So I want to kind of go back into a different direction, which is when it comes to your business side. How are you tracking things or what works for you? Meaning like, how do you track clients, how do you track numbers, how do you track everything you do?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I try to. I was falling into the trap when I first started of getting distracted. There are so many shiny things out there, especially for new business owners, and a lot of it can take away from you taking action on actually, you know, doing revenue generating activities. So for a while I actually worked on a, on a Google sheet, to track my leads. Now that was not productive for me at all Cause I was used to a CRM or an ATS and I was like this is not going to work. I need to be in a CRM. So I actually use there's a, there's Google it. There's plenty of free versions out there. There there are ones.
Speaker 4:When I was in recruiting, I knew of Zoho recruit. They also have a CRM. I know HubSpot has a CRM. They have a lot of resources, for I wanted to be able to accept online payments. So that was the thing Keep track of leads, have my business email. I had that set up, had my website they're from the same provider and then payments. I personally use Wave Financial. In my copywriting group. It was recommended to me and I was like well, if it's good enough for all you wonderful people, it's good enough for me and that right now I'm okay, I'm good. Do I want to add all the fun and shiny things I do? But to me it's so important to not get distracted and focus on, like you know, actually driving business and driving results. So those are kind of the three like main tools that I use.
Speaker 2:I love this so much. Oh my gosh, this is something that we talk about consistently Mints and, of course, things that are driving and moving the needle forward. So often, just like you put, we get that shiny object syndrome where we stop and we we're like pause in the moment and we all this busy work, but is it actually productive at the end of the day? If it's not moving the needle forward, you're wasting time. So I we agree a thousand percent and a lot of it was.
Speaker 4:I had heard about this copywriter. You know it was on a podcast and she was easily making over six figures and she had Google docs and a Gmail and that was it. And I was like, oh my gosh, and I I always kind of that kind of brings me back home Like you don't need the all the fancy things. You know you need to take action, Like thinking and dreaming can only get you so far, but it's, what can I do to move forward? And, like you said, move the needle.
Speaker 2:On that same topic. Before we dive into, we have a special gift for you. But before we get there, one last question on this topic. So where do you see yourself in the next let's just call it one to three to five years what's your future outlook? How do you want the company to expand? If you want it to expand?
Speaker 4:Talk to us a little bit about that. Yeah, I would. As I said, right now I am a freelancer, so for all you solopreneurs listening, listening out there, that's cool to be a department of one. For now I I would like to get to six figures. That is my goal for this year. Replacing my full-time income was number one.
Speaker 4:So that did that kind of that next one, you know, moving into that next kind of income level as far as usually, as far as a copywriter, I don't know, I don't know if that is for me. I definitely don't want to go back to being an employee, I can tell you that, but right now I think a lot of my goals are income-based. I also want to point out that I don't necessarily work a full-time schedule every week. I try. I do have two elementary-aged kids at home, so work-life balance is important to me and enjoying outside and everything. So, yeah, I'm working about a 30-hour week right now, and that was something that I was never able to do in the corporate world. And so, yeah, as far as goals go, like I said, those income goals for me right now are next on the radar and then, I don't know, we'll take it from there.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. I feel like one of the things that we always hear guests ask themselves and other people is, at that point, if they want to expand to a team, it's do you want to do your thing, aka copywriting, or do you want to manage your team? Who does the copywriting? Because it's a monumental job shift. If you start an agency or you start, let's say, a team for lack of a better word then you're just managing that and you're pushing everything, but you're not so much doing the thing anymore. So I guess we'll see.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and, and I will say, you know, right out of college and it was like your career path was well, if you don't take that manager role, you're that's not successful. You know, and I was a manager and I don't know at the time it it didn't, it didn't check all the boxes for me in terms of fulfillment. So, yeah, I, I think it's. It ebbs and flows really for people's career path. So, love it, love it.
Speaker 3:Nate. I think she's ready, I think it's time.
Speaker 2:I think you're right, here we go.
Speaker 3:Holly looks concerned. All right, holly, here's what's happening. All right, here we'll see what happens. Anyways, here we go. What separates top performing entrepreneurs from the?
Speaker 4:rest of the crowd. All right, I don't want this to be taken out of context. But not waiting for permission, just going for it and taking action.
Speaker 2:Holy cow.
Speaker 4:Okay, that was good, that was the mic drop moment, I'm like did I get it wrong?
Speaker 2:No, there's no wrong answer, but that's one that we've not heard yet, and I really really like that one. But okay, okay, reset.
Speaker 3:Here we go. I'm fighting to not say anything. I'm fighting Go ahead.
Speaker 2:My bad, bro. Yeah, that was my fault. Okay, fault, okay, here we go.
Speaker 4:number two what's a daily habit that's contributed to your success. I still use a pen and paper planner. It looks like this nice I have tried all the electronic things, this buddy here. If I don't have my top five to-dos for the day, my day is not done. So if that means I'm down here at night working on it, those next, those five to-dos, absolutely must be done in order to move forward. So 100% my daily planner.
Speaker 3:I am so excited we call them MINS. Right, your Most Important Next Steps. And same thing three to five things every day that move the needle forward, that actually expand your business, create revenue, whatever you want to say. So I love that. That is so good. Again, all the super successful people we talk to do just that. And I like the old school vibe I just sitting here with sticky notes and a pen. So I agreed, agreed. Anyways, I digress. What is a piece of advice that you'd give to yourself if you were starting again?
Speaker 4:Oh, starting again, I would tell myself and this is going to be simple, it's going to be okay, you're fine, you're going to be okay. That's not really advice, but I think just kind of that, because I'm a very anxious, energetic person and sometimes it's just that it's going to be okay. You know, just do the things, do the hard things, get out of your comfort zone. And, as you, the more you get out of your comfort zone, the bigger your your comfort bubble is. That was super cheesy, by the way, but it really does it. It helps.
Speaker 2:So again, so good. Cola, we talk about this all the time. Growth lives outside of that comfort zone. Being able to expand and being able to grow that bubble Everybody listening. Play all this stuff over again. What is your favorite?
Speaker 3:Tally. For how many times Nate says dial the episode back? We're racking them up.
Speaker 2:That's it. That's it. What is your favorite business book?
Speaker 4:Oh, my favorite business book, oh man, um, that's tough Actually. You know what? Hold on, I think it was sitting here. Do I still have it? Actually, you know what? Hold on, I think it was sitting here. Do I still have it? No, I don't. But can I tell you I am going to pull this one up because it's here.
Speaker 4:I still and I'm not being paid by these people but this one right here, this copywriting for dummies, I'm blurred. It's blurred. This thing, it sits right on my desk. It's the, you know, those four dummies books. This one, I mean, it is years old and things change, especially in marketing, like you sneeze, and it's not relevant anymore, you know, and so. But there is stuff in here that is just like, yeah, it's that back to basics, that once again shiny things, kind of just, oh, no, you know what, yeah, I need to come back to this and let me start again. Let me start back to the basics, and so you know what? I didn't think this was my favorite, but the fact that it sits on my desk and I look, there's the bookmark. I'm going to have to give kudos to writing copy for dummies.
Speaker 3:So love it, absolutely love that. What is your favorite part of owning your business?
Speaker 4:Um, definitely the. I mean the work-life balance, the flexibility, sometimes the work-life, sometimes work-life balance does get out a little. It gets out of whack but it does, it teeters, but definitely the and the fact that all the hard work that I'm doing is, yes, I'm helping other companies and I do. I love that part of it. I always thank my clients, Thank you for allowing me to be part of your business. But all this hard work I'm doing, it's for me, it's not for pleasing a C-suite exec. It's for me. So that's definitely rewarding.
Speaker 2:I love it. What is something new that you've implemented that's helped drive your success?
Speaker 4:new that you've implemented that's helped drive your success Something new that I've implemented, honestly, and I write for other clients, but I've recently started implementing my own content strategy. Once again, it takes time it really does so. It's not necessarily a skill that's new to me, but when you're writing for yourself and it's your name on there, it's so. It's not necessarily a skill that's new to me, but when you're writing for yourself and it's your name on there and they're like it's, it's a whole new level of okay. So implementing a content and blog strategy on my own site is something that I actually started in last month, so still a work in progress.
Speaker 3:Love it. That's really good. There is so much to recap here. I love recapping and I have an absolute full sticky notes, so I'm gonna try to do my best to hit the big stuff that I think is most important. One your journey, which is really cool, starting out in HR, kind of getting your footing, going into sales and then finding that passion for like branding, messaging audience and going into sales and then finding that passion for like branding, messaging audience and going into the freeware freelance world and just kind of taking the step doing it. And then here we are, um, and then I love that we dove into mindset, we dove into the hobby verse business, the fundamentals, um, how to track, kind of some basics on copy and just kind of outreach. There's so much good stuff we talked about, so, anyways, two final things for you. One, any final advice? And two where can people find you or contact you?
Speaker 4:Yeah. So, final advice, I feel like I like to just give general, because there's so many different businesses out there and you know people are all in all different parts of their journeys. But I mean, I I may not, maybe not seem it right now, but it will be okay. Um, and to have the confidence in yourself, I know when I launched my site and now my, I had been in sales. I have cold called people, I have been in like whatever. But when it's you that I have never been that terrified. I'm like, oh my God, I'm going to launch it, I'm going to. Oh my God, oh my God. And then I did it and it was like I did it and so you can do it. I know that's so cheesy and it should be on a coffee mug, but like you can do it and it will be okay. So, and to contact me, I'll give you, or my site is probably the easiest way, which is hollycybert, that's S-E-Y B as in boy E-R-T, copycom.
Speaker 2:Holly, this has been amazing. Thank you so much for coming through for Forest on Fire. This has been an honor, a pleasure and a privilege. Our house is your house. I'm excited to be able to have you back in the next couple of months to be able to hear some of those next action items, the next steps that you've taken. So again, we just want to say truly appreciate you coming through. For those that are listening, please get home safely. Make sure that you tune in to the next episode of Forged in Fire. You guys, we'll talk soon. Peace.
Speaker 1:Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Forged in Fire. If you enjoyed today's raw, unfiltered stories, don't forget to like, subscribe and leave us a review. Your feedback helps us bring more real-world insights to entrepreneurs like you. Be sure to join us next time for even more lessons, struggles and breakthroughs on the road to success. Keep forging ahead.