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Hi everyone, and welcome to Less Chatter, More Matter. It's the podcast where we leave out the waffle and get down to the business of communication. Now, speaking of getting down to business, today's episode is [00:01:00] all about that. Business. If you remember from episode three, I talked about why I started my business and how that came about.

And if you missed that episode or want a bit of a refresher, head to heymelcomms.training/003 and I'll also pop the link in the show notes today. I'm going to talk to you more about the how, or at least some of the how, because there's a lot around starting a business. So we are going to break it down into a few things you can do now to get ready.

If you're thinking about starting a business yourself or going out on your own to consult or freelance, whatever that looks like to you, these tips will hopefully help get you started. And these are what I deem the fun things. There's certainly other things you have to do and some of those are kind of boring, but they are also super important and we will cover those in some other episodes.

But these are all things that I wish I'd known before I [00:02:00] kicked things off for myself, or they're things that I kind of discovered along the way. Now if you haven't already, I encourage you to go to my website, so go to heymelcomms.training/freebies, and I'll also put a link in the show notes and from there you'll be able to download my two checklists: five fun things and five boring things you should consider before starting your business. Now, you'll want those checklists as a reminder of what I'm going to share with you today. So let's say you've got those lists downloaded and in front of you. Hopefully you're not driving while you're doing that, that would be good too. I will preface this with, this is Mel Loy's view of the world. It is not necessarily everyone's agreed list, but these are the things that have worked for me. And look, I get asked all the time about how to start a business or how do I start freelancing so I know these are the things y'all are interested in and just quietly, I love that so many people are interested in going out on their own.

That's so cool. [00:03:00] It really shows that sense of entrepreneurial spirit and just wanting to do things differently and do things on your own terms, and that's really cool. So let's get amongst it because those of you who know me or who have now been listening for a little while know that I hate faffing around and wasting time.

So let's get into it. You've made the decision you are going to try going out on your own or even you're just testing the waters with the side hustle first, and that is so awesome. It is a courageous and exciting decision to make. But where do you even start? How do you start a business? There is a lot that goes into it, but let's focus today on the fun things that will help you keep that sense of excitement and momentum going.

So number one is develop your brand. This part is all about developing a sense of who you are or who your business is and how that will show up. So you might come up with a business name or just decide [00:04:00] to use your own name as the brand. There are benefits to going either way, so for example, if you have plans to expand your business at any point, or you're going in as a partnership, then probably think about a more generic business name.

Look, it may still include your name in some way, but a more generic name will mean the business won't be all about you, which will be great if you want to grow or shape or even sell your business in the future. Now, a side note here, make sure you check to see if the name is already taken, and also check if any domain names you want to use for your websites are already taken as well, because that can often just help you make a decision about a name, because if it's already been used, well, you can't use it, so you're gonna have to find something else.

Making yourself the brand instead also has its upsides. Your personal brand is easier for people to connect with because after all, we're humans. [00:05:00] So you are more likely to be able to build a following of people who like and trust you. It can also be easier for you to grow your business from the ground up as prospective clients know you and they know that they're working with you, not being handed off to somebody.

The flip side of that is if it's just you, they may think you, you don't have the capacity to be able to support them, so just keep that in mind as well around who your ideal customer is. Now, if you want to be working solo and you don't want to expand into any other type of business model, then use your name again.

It's much easier to just go with your own name. People recognise it, they know you. Uh, there's typically not going to be another business with your name. I would hope, and certainly you'll have more domain name options open to you as well. Now, both options for business names are valid. It really depends on if you want to remain the primary face of your business or if you want [00:06:00] to expand and grow to eventually be hiring people or you know, you just wanna change the way your business runs at some point.

Personally, when I got my branding done for Hey Mel, I did it with flexibility built in. So the brief I gave to my graphic designer and just a shout out here to Lisa Dot Design, I asked her to not just create logos that had Hey Mel in them, but also to create a set of logos that just had HMC or HM comms. So I future-proofed it.

So at some point in the future, if I want to, I can transition my personal brand out of the business identity. I've also bought a bunch of domain names, so I've got the heymelcomms.training. That's my main domain, but I've also secured the .com, the .com.Au, et cetera, et cetera. So I've given myself flexibility.

The other part about that is it's much more difficult for people to set up fake sites in the name of your business or your name because you own most of the domain names already. [00:07:00] So it, it does help to prevent fraud as well. Now, again, speaking of domain names, think about those names that you may need to buy when you're doing this.

So you've decided on a business name or a professional brand. It's also time to think about the look and feel of that brand. So the colors, the fonts, and the logos. This is always really fun when developing these with a designer or even just in Canva. Think about the colors that represent your brand personality.

So if it's a really fun brand, you might want to use a lot of bright or fluro colours, but if it's a more serious brand, you are going to tone it down a bit. So this is where I'd really suggest getting professional support from a designer. Give them a really good brief, you know, create a Pinterest board with the things that really appeal to you, and you can take that through them when you brief them.

A good designer is also going to provide other elements to you, like icons or the shapes and things that you'll use on your graphics and that sort of stuff as well. So [00:08:00] again, really highly recommend you do that if you've got the funds. If not, jump onto Canva, find some inspiration, but this stuff is just the shiny stuff.

So remember that a brand is so much more than just colours and names. It is every touchpoint a person is going to have with your business. So you have to also think about the messaging, how you'll talk about what you do and who you serve, and how, what that tone of voice looks like, what experience a person has when they contact you by any channel.

What kind of typography and imagery makes sense for your brand as well. And remember, you don't actually need to get it right straight away. I mean, more than two years later in my business journey, I'm still tweaking and refining some of this stuff, and that is so okay. Brands do evolve.

Number two: build your website. Your website is your digital business card. It gives you [00:09:00] credibility when you start out and when you start introducing people to your business. So any conversation that you have with a person, you might only have, let's say, 30 seconds to tell them what you do and how you do it and what value you add.

But online they have plenty more time. They have more time to consume the information and think about what you do and how you could work for them. Trust me, prospective clients are using your website. They are reading it. I've actually been surprised a couple of times by the level of detail some of my clients or prospective clients have gone into when reading my website.

You know, they've mentioned something in a conversation like, oh, I saw on your website, blah, blah, blah. I was like, oh, wow. They're actually reading it. So that was a pleasant surprise, you know? Well, that work didn't go to waste, but it also was a reminder of how important that messaging is. Now, like your brand, don't expect to get your website perfect for day one. It is just your starting point for day one. [00:10:00] As long as it describes who you are, what you do, and how you serve your clients, you are pretty much on the right track. Now, if you are an e-commerce business, obviously you're going to have to think about the functionality you need there to take sales.

But if you're just starting out and starting to build brand awareness, you may not need to worry about that right away. The other thing to remember about websites is they are so important for SEO or search engine optimisation. If someone googled you, they're probably unlikely to be shown your Instagram profile.

So you know, you might have 12,000 followers, but that will do nothing for your searchability on Google. They might be more likely to find your LinkedIn profile just because of how highly indexed LinkedIn is on Google. But we'll get to that at another point. But if you've done your work right, they will likely find your website.

There's some tips and tricks for optimising SEO for your website. I'm definitely not the expert, but there are things that I've [00:11:00] learned that have helped, and I will share those in a later episode. But the point for today is start a website. Just have one. Now also on websites. Don't try and go too technical too soon.

Just use a really simple tool like Squarespace or Wix or something similar, nice and simple, something that you can manage yourself for the time being.

Tip number three of the fun things to do is to uplift your online presence. Now, this isn't fun for everyone, but it was fun for me and it still is. You have to get a start on getting people's on people's radars before they even know you are ready to offer a service.

This tactic worked really well for me before I left my last corporate job. I mentioned it back in episode three, but as a reminder, when I knew there was a possibility of being made redundant, I started working away at lifting my profile on LinkedIn. I updated my profile. I started sharing more valuable content more frequently.

That [00:12:00] showcased my expertise. I shared other people's contents with my thoughts. I engaged in other people's content as well. So in short, I became much more visible among my potential future clients. Now for me personally, LinkedIn was the platform of choice because the people I wanted to be my clients were there.

That's not the case for every business. It might be that your ideal customer is more likely to be on Instagram or Pinterest, for example. So go with your audience, go where they are, and start getting on their radars and delivering value for them. It will take a little time to build a rhythm and some content, so you should definitely get this one underway, pronto.

All right, stay with me. Number four, meet potential future clients or partners. Now, this worked really well for a friend of mine just recently actually. She knew she was going to quit her job and start consulting, but like many of us, she was really worried about not getting work right away. Does that sound familiar?[00:13:00]

Look, the truth is, if you are awesome at what you do in your current permanent job, you will be awesome at what you do anywhere. Your awesomeness will be valued by. So that's not for you to worry about at all. You're gonna be okay because you're already awesome. In my friend's case, she was worried about this, but she reached out to some senior leaders she'd previously worked with who had moved on to other businesses, but they knew her and they knew her skillset really well.

All she did was just advise that she was going to be starting consulting soon. She wanted to have a chat about any projects they thought she. Right away, she had two coffee meetings set up and consulting offers on the table in a matter of weeks. She could name her price because these clients had previously worked with her.

They knew how good she was. They knew she needed her skillset and they trusted her. That's so important. So the lesson here is look at your network of professionals, former colleagues, even friends and family, and think about who might be [00:14:00] interested in working with you. Pick five people and just go for it. Look, the worst that can happen is they say, thanks, but not right now.

That's literally the worst that can happen. That's not bad, right? So either way, whether or not they take you up on your offer of a coffee, they know that you are available for work and they, may, may well contact you later down the track. That certainly happened to me multiple times. So get out there, meet some people.

Okay, next tip. And this one is actually probably the most important one. So if you've tuned out a little bit, tuned back in. Build your support network, this is a really big thing. Start to build your support network. Now, this is a group of people or groups of people you can learn from or learn with. In my case, I set up some coffee meetings or virtual meetings with people I'd previously worked with, or who I knew through friends who had gone out on their own as consultants or started their own businesses.[00:15:00]

And honestly, they were so generous with their time and knowledge and they let me pepper them with questions endlessly. And look, I tried to learn everything I could from them about what to do and what not to do because honestly, I had no freaking idea. I also started attending events and networking events, so particularly for women in business and small business owners to meet other people who were at various stages of their journey of business ownership.

And many of these events had really great guest speakers to learn from. And a shout out here to the Belle Evolution. If you're in Brisbane and you're a woman in business or thinking about it, come along to those events. They're great for networking and just learning. I learned so much from those events. I'm also now part of a mastermind group with five other female business owners where we meet at least once a month.

We have a really awesome WhatsApp group. We brainstorm together. We ask each other questions. We are working with each other in some cases. We're helping each other out. You know, we've become each other's clients, which is [00:16:00] awesome. It's really great to. Their opinions and experience and advice on certain things as well that are happening in my business or in each other's businesses.

Like even just a couple of weeks ago, I popped a question in the chat that I have with my mastermind group around pricing and got some awesome feedback and ideas from them that was just invaluable to me. So importantly, it's really nice to have that close group around you who are your biggest cheerleaders, and they want you to succeed.

I also signed up for a course with Leanne Hughes, so shout out to Leanne here, her Booked Out Facilitator course. So this was again, a small group of people who are consultants, workshop facilitators, who wanted to learn how to do it better. But also, Leanne brought in a lot of kind of the business ownership aspect of that as well.

And again, I've built a really lovely network of people there who I continue to tap on the shoulder for ideas and advice. So have those groups. You don't just have to have one. You can [00:17:00] have plenty and they will all give you different things. The thing is, when you've got those groups of supporters around you, it just makes it feel like it's really worthwhile because this can be a hard slug and it will give you some more confidence.

Yes, I can do this, I, this can work. Somebody else has already done it and it worked for them. Great. So get that support network going right now. So that's my top five things to do, or the top five fun things to do when starting your business. To recap, they are number one, develop your brand. And remember, it's not just the shiny things.

It's how you show up for every touchpoint a person has with your business. Number two, build your website. That gives you credibility. Number three, uplift your online presence. So go where your potential clients are and start talking. Number four, meet potential future clients or partners. Reach out to just five people in your network and [00:18:00] see if you can have a chat.

Remember, the worst they can say is not right now. Thanks. And number five, build that support network. Absolutely crucial. Particularly if you're doing this for the first time, you're doing it by yourself and you have no idea around all sorts of things to do with business, like pricing or insurance, or how to deal with clients or whatever that looks like.

Get that support network in place. Now, in future episodes, I'll go into more detail around building the website, developing your brand, uplifting your online presence, SEO, all of that. But for now, hopefully this high level view of the top five has given you enough inspiration to get the ideas flowing.

Now, don't forget, you can head to my website and download these checklists for free. So go to heymelcomms.training/freebies, or look for the link in the show notes. That's it for another week. As always, if you haven't already, I would love for you to subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating. [00:19:00] It means you'll never miss an episode, and it will help me spread the word further about how to be an effective communicator and to start your own business.

Hopefully we can reach more people like you who perhaps are thinking about taking that next step and going out on your own. In the meantime, please send me your feedback. I love it. Love it, love it, and any questions you might have. You can also check out the blog on my website for other juicy tips and insights.

See you next week and keep doing amazing things.